Labor Education Staff

Diane Thomas-Holladay is the Director of the Labor Education Program. In addition to planning and overseeing LEP activities in union education and workplace skills enhancement, Diane teaches in a wide variety of areas, including labor and employment law, collective bargaining, arbitration, union leadership, new work systems, economics, and political action. She also teaches a senior level Industrial Relations class for the College of Business. She began her career as a labor educator in 1981 at Black Hawk College in Moline, Illinois. She is a member of the Service Employees International Union, Local 100-A, and a past member of the American Federation of Teachers.

Tom Karson is a Labor Education Specialist, and is responsible for traditional labor education programing including steward training, collective bargaining, arbitration, and union-building. He assists local unions with research for grievance issues, collective bargaining, arbitration, and safety and health. Specializing in workplace safety issues, he is supporting the development of ARCOSH (Arkansas Committee on Occupational Safety and Health), a coalition union safety representatives and others interested in promoting and advocating for worker health and safety. He is a member of SEIU Local 100-A.

Randy Wright is a Labor Education Specialist, responsible for teaching in the areas of steward training, collective bargaining, arbitration, and labor and employment law, including workers' compensation. He was a practicing attorney for nearly 23 years, concentrating in labor and employment, workers' compensation and contract law. He has also worked as a staff attorney for the Arkansas Ethics Commission and as Chief Appeals Referee for the Arkansas Appeals Tribunal, where he handled unemployment benefits appeals. He taught labor law and business law for Webster University and has been actively involved in continuing legal education programs involving civil rights, labor, employment, ethics, administrative law, health law, and related fields. He has frequently been an invited speaker at national seminars on labor law, governmental ethics, civil rights, unemployment, health law, and workers' compensation. He is a member of SEIU Local 100-A.

Mike Gerfen, Coordinator, Workplace Skills Enhancement Program, has over ten years experience in developing and implementing training programs. His educational background is in Industrial Technology. He served over twenty years with the United States Air Force. He is responsible for all aspects of course development and curriculum planning. He is knowledgeable of OSHA regulations and fluent in Spanish.

Tracey Spencer is a Program Developer for the Workplace Skills Enhancement Program. His educational background is in Sociology with a strong history in computer applications. He develops and provides trainings in job development and workplace readiness programs, Web-design and other computer software applications.

Denise Leeson-Provost, Program Developer, comes to UALR with six years of experience in public education, more than two years of adult education, and an otherwise mixed bag of financial management, program coordination, and training experience in English and Spanish. She is responsible for course design and delivery as well as grant development and implementation. Denise received an MBA from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1992 and a BA in Foreign Languages from University of Louisiana at Monroe in 1983.

For More Information

Labor Education Program
UALR Institute for Economic Advancement
2801 South University Avenue
Little Rock, AR 72204-1099
501-569-8483
FAX: 501-569-8538
Email: lep@ualr.edu