College Honors Three Faculty Members

Nov. 3, 2020 | The College of Health Professions recognized three exceptional faculty members this semester.

Theresa Gramlich, M.S., R.R.T., an assistant professor in the Department of Respiratory Care, received the 2020 Excellence in Teaching Award for 30 years of skill and commitment in developing leaders in the respiratory care field. Gramlich has developed and redesigned courses, most recently to meet needs for online instruction as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She’s also a “passionate and meticulous educator” who inspires her students, said her nominator, Tom Jones, M.Ed., R.R.T., chair of the Department of Respiratory Care.

“Ms. Gramlich works tirelessly to remove learning barriers, incorporate learning strategies and create engaging environments that enable students to perform at their highest potential,” wrote Jones in the nomination letter, noting that Gramlich had successfully remediated several students and often provides one-on-one instruction during the summer.

Jason Key, M.Ed., MLS(ASCP)^CM, an assistant professor in the Department of Laboratory Sciences, received the 2020 Excellence in Service Award, which recognizes an educator whose significant contributions through service are instrumental in achieving the UAMS mission.

Key was chosen in part for efforts to develop Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with colleges and universities in Arkansas, Mississippi, Ohio, South Carolina, Missouri, North Carolina, Maryland and even Japan. He also set up the first MOU with Drew Memorial Hospital, which will serve as the focal point for lab training for the underserved areas of southeastern Arkansas and western Mississippi.

Nathan H. Johnson, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Laboratory Sciences, wrote in his nomination letter that Key’s work as the assistant program director for the Medical Laboratory Technician (MLTs) to Medical Laboratory Scientist (MLS) online program has helped hundreds of MLTs from all over the world to advance their clinical skills and their careers. Johnson noted that UAMS is now the “number one provider of formal laboratory education at the Bachelor Degree level for U.S. service members and civil servants.”

Jennifer Vincenzo, Ph.D., M.P.H., P.T., an associate professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, received the 2020 Excellence in Scholarship Award, which recognizes faculty who make significant scholarly contributions.

Despite carrying a heavy teaching and administrative load leaving her only 30% of her time for scholarship, Vincenzo has published 15 peer-reviewed articles over the past five years, wrote her nominator, John Jefferson, Ph.D., P.T., chair of the PT department. During that same time, she also has had 27 peer-reviewed poster or platform conference presentations, an average of 5.4 peer-reviewed presentations a year.

Finally, she has been a primary investigator or co-investigator on six funded grants during her time at UAMS, including a $40,000 Junior Faculty Development Award and the first ever KL2 award to a CHP faculty member.

All of this has been done while teaching classes and handling administrative duties with no graduate students to aid her, Jefferson wrote, calling her scholarly productivity “exceptional.”