Master of Arts in Teaching Coordinator Praises UAM

Senior Staff Writer

Photo by Susan Pruitt

Thanks, UAM! - Master of Arts in Teaching Coordinator Donna Hunnicutt thanks UAM for her education. Hunnicutt cites technology as one of her strengths.

   Receiving her doctorate from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2007, the University of Arkansas - Monticello’s Master of Arts in Teaching program coordinator praises UAM for her education.

   Raised in Enon, Ark., Donna Hunnicutt graduated from Drew Central High School in 1989, the same year she enrolled in college at UAM. She said she decided to attend UAM because it provided a more personal experience.

   “Had it not been for UAM, I would not have been able to attend school. I did not have that 36 ACT score and I fell in that gap for financial aid. Mr. Ray gave me a scholarship to debate for him and I could work. This was really my opportunity. I have a true understanding of what that ‘Century of Opportunity’ means,” Hunnicutt said.

   Hunnicutt received a bachelor's degree in Speech Communication and Business Administration from UAM in 1993. As the first person to graduate UAM’s Master of Arts in Teaching program in 2002, Hunnicutt taught P5 at Dermott Elementary and Business for 7-12 at Kingsland High School. Two weeks before school started back where she taught, she went to the School of Education to get information about the Educational Leadership program. She debated whether she wanted to work on her doctorate or on a second master’s degree in Educational Leadership.

   “I walked in Mrs. Jordan’s office and I am talking to her and the dean at the time said, ‘Do I hear Donna Hunnicutt?’ and I said, ‘Yes, Ma’am.’ She said, ‘Come here, I want to talk to you about something.’ We talked and she said she thought I was the person she wanted for the position and I had a job at the University all of the sudden,” Hunnicutt said.

  After accepting the dean's offer, Hunnicutt quit teaching to work on her doctorate during her first year as director of Off-Campus Master of Arts in Teaching program at UAM. She said the next year she taught two courses each semester in the program. During the fall of the following year, Hunnicutt became coordinator of Graduate Programs while maintaining her title of Off-Campus MAT coordinator.

  Hunnicutt said prior to coming to UAM to get a MAT degree, she worked different jobs. She said she worked as a finance manager at a car dealership and as a business manager for a large farm in McGehee. She said one day she woke-up and told her husband she wanted to teach.

   "I told my husband, 'I'm not happy doing this. I always wanted to teach and let people talk me out of it. I'm going to teach,'" Hunnicutt said.

   She said she left a high-paying job to take a position as an aide, so she could get into school and teach. She said the aide position paid a $5,000 a year salary.

   Hunnicutt said there is a shortage of teachers in this region. She said this region has shortages in teachers of Life Science, Physical Science, English and Math. She said when recruiting teachers, she often sees teachers who do not want to live in a small place or an impoverished place.

   "What happens here is that, unless you grew up here, when you come into the Delta, you roll through Lake Village..."I don't want to live here." When you come to Monticello, Monticello is the big town compared to the rest of everything around. We see it when we interview faculty to come from another state. They ask us, 'Where is the nearest mall?' Well, it's two hours to Little Rock. That's what happens when you are recruiting teachers also," Hunnicutt said.

   Hunnicutt said every faculty member of the School of Education, but five went to school at UAM at some point. She said the faculty believes in "growing your own." She said she loves the Monticello area.

   Hunnicutt said those interested in pursuing a MAT degree must:

• set up a meeting with her
• pass the Praxis: Reading, Writing and Mathematics
• pass the Praxis in your content area
• have at least a 2.7 overall GPA or a 3.0 GPA in the last 60 hours of your work
• 30 hours in content area unless pursuing Middle-Level Education
• complete and send application for MAT program
• complete and send application for admission to UAM
•  include transcripts from college of highest degree received

   Upcoming events in the School of Education include:

• Feb. 11 - School of Education's "Centennial Celebration"
• March 17 - Hot Dog Picnic on the School of Education front lawn
  
• April 20 - Pinning Ceremony
• May 4 - Annual Stakeholder's meeting

   Hunnicutt said she sees herself as a "tech geek" and cited technology as one of her strengths. She maintains all of the data and analysis for the School of Education.

   "She is the guru of database systems and is coveted by the state of Arkansas. They wanted to buy it. She is remarkable in her abilities," Sue Martin, Recruitment Retention coordinator, said.

   She said she thinks her colleagues probably view her as a perfectionist. She also said her advisees think she is intimidating when in a professional atmosphere because she takes her job seriously.

   "(Donna) has been and is an outstanding asset to the School of Education; helping those of us who have difficulty with technology, designing the data collection and management system used to store the data that the school must keep and serving as NCATE coordinator," C. Morrell Jones, professor of Elementary Education, said.

   In her spare time, Hunnicutt enjoys painting, riding horses and hunting. She has several dogs, but claims her West Highland terrier, Riley, and coon dog, Romeo, as her own. She also has a rabbit named Fluffy.

   Hunnicutt teaches Capstone Research, Technology for School Leaders and Research and Assessment for the Masters of Education program.

   For more information on a future in teaching, visit the School of Education's Web site.

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