Academics News
- Posted 05.06.26
- 3 minute read time
For years, Armand Barnard found his voice on stage and on screen. But beyond the spotlight, his ambitions run deeper: to understand people, not just perform for them. At UWA, the international student is taking another meaningful step toward his goal of becoming a psychologist.
- Posted 05.04.26
- 4 minute read time
Owen Vander Wal of Fairhope, has discovered that being coachable on the field, translates directly to the workplace鈥攁 lesson he鈥檒l put to the test this summer.
- Posted 04.30.26
- 4 minute read time
Aliyah Roney of Millry, Alabama was recently recognized with the University of West Alabama College of Education Grit Award, a testimony to her perseverance and commitment to learning.
- Posted 04.28.26
- 3 minute read time
Working as a mental health technician at a psychiatric hospital in Tuscaloosa led Syndi Stevenson to study psychology at the University of West Alabama.
- Posted 04.27.26
- 6 minute read time
Dr. Vania Assis grew up in a small town in Brazil where she rode horses, tended pigs and chickens alongside her father, even helping butcher cattle when the need arose. Now an assistant professor at UWA, Assis is committed to studying and protecting amphibians and educating others about this endangered group of vertebrates.
- Posted 03.16.26
- 6 minute read time
The University of West Alabama is working to move paraprofessionals into certified teaching roles more quickly to help address teacher shortages across the state through its competency-based education program.
- Posted 02.13.26
- 3 minute read time
The University of West Alabama will receive $1.8 million in federal funding to strengthen nursing education and workforce development, thanks to the appropriations leadership of U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.). The funding will support UWA鈥檚 Alabama Rural Nursing Enhanced Technology Project, which will provide the Ira D. Pruitt College of Nursing with updated high-fidelity simulation training equipment for nursing students.
- Posted 12.16.25
- 3 minute read time
T.J. Runyon has always been fascinated by human behavior. His journey has taken him from studying fossils alongside James Lamb at the University of West Alabama鈥檚 Black Belt Museum to now earning an undergraduate degree in psychology during Fall 2025 commencement exercises.
- Posted 12.15.25
- 4 minute read time
For 22 years, fraternal twins Claire and Grace Hall have shared everything鈥攆rom bedrooms to best-friend status. So when the Trussville, Alabama, natives transferred to the University of West Alabama, neither questioned whether they would continue life side by side.