Heather Young, Ph.D.
Clinic Research Coordinator
Heather D. Young is an associate professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Arkansas. She is a former public school elementary educator and literacy specialist with over two decades of experience teaching, coaching and mentoring teachers. Dr. Young serves as the research coordinator of the University of Arkansas Clinic for Literacy and teaches both graduate and undergraduate literacy coursework. She has a master’s in Reading Education from the University of Tennessee and a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Arkansas.
Kristi Mascher, Ph.D.
Clinic Programming Coordinator
and Literacy Camp Director
Kristi Mascher is a teaching assistant professor, where she instructs graduate students in the areas of literacy, curriculum design, differentiation and gifted/talented. Currently, she serves as the UACL Programming Coordinator and Literacy Camp Director. She values working collaboratively with the P-12 community to develop effective educators who are pedagogically strong and anti-bias in practice. Kristi has served on state-level committees to promote equitable practices in EPPs, and to design evaluation tools for preservice teachers that reflect the complexity of teaching in 21st-century classrooms. She is a former kindergarten and gifted education teacher and holds certifications in Elementary Education, Early Childhood Education and K-12 Gifted Education as well as a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Arkansas. She has a deep interest in community education and believes that education is the key to social change.
Rhett Hutchins, Ph.D.
Clinic Technology Coordinator
Rhett Hutchins has served as technology and materials acquisition director for the University of Arkansas Clinic for Literacy since its inception in 2015. He completed his doctoral work in Language and Literacy Education at the University of Georgia in 2014. He worked with the literacy clinic at Georgia from 2009 to 2012. Dr. Hutchins has a particular interest in maintaining a wide range of materials for children’s and young adult literature for usage and assistance to the undergraduate and graduate programs housed in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. He currently serves as program director for the Educational Studies program as well.
Megan Chaffin, M.Ed.
Graduate Assistant
Megan Chaffin is a graduate assistant for the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, working on her doctorate in Literacy Education. She received her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Baylor University. Megan spent eight years as an elementary classroom teacher, where she taught first grade most of her career.