Debby Head and Libby Pollett have taught a combined total of nearly 50 years in Shelbyville, Kentucky.  They taught several grades, but were happiest team-teaching 2nd grade.  Debby and Libby founded Head-Pollett Consultants in 1985 to provide workshop training, model teaching and curriculum alignment.  In 1994, they founded bby Publications, which has published over 40 of their books.  Debby and Libby are known for developing short, enticing routines that provide rich explorations in geometry, place value, time, money and number literacy.

Debby and Libby partnered with the University of West Alabama (UWA) in July 2009, to continue to create new ways to make learning a joyful discovery for both children and teachers.  As partners with UWA, Debby and Libby continue to write and consult with schools across the country, assisting these schools in the implementation of local, state and national math standards.  As part of its 175-year history, UWA maintains a tradition of excellence in training teachers.

Dr. Tina Naremore Jones, professor of English, has been a faculty member at the University of West Alabama for 17 years.  She also serves as the executive director for the Center for the Study of the Black Belt and Dean of Educational Outreach.  This division houses, not only the Center, but bby Publications and Continuing Education.

Jones holds a Ph.D. in American Literature from the University of Southern Mississippi.  She received a Masters of Arts in Teaching and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of West Alabama.

She also has a background in journalism and served as the faculty advisor for UWA's weekly student newspaper, The Life, for 12 years.  She was the co-editor with Dr. Joe Taylor of the anthology Belles' Letters: Contemporary Stories of Alabama Women, which is now in its fifth anthology.

She is the 2007 winner of the Gilbert Outstanding Award for Teaching and a past winner of the Loraine McIlwain Bell trustee professorship award.

She is the mother of 7-year-old Jordan, and she and her husband, Britt, own and operate Backwater Gallery and Frame in Livingston.

The University of West Alabama (UWA) has served not only as a center for teacher training and higher education for 175 years, but also as a gathering spot for community and cultural events, including symphonic performances, dramatic productions, and outdoor activities.  Tracing its beginning to the charter of Livingston Female Academy in 1835, UWA is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the state.  The university is located in Livingston in Sumter County, just 20 miles from the Mississippi state line and 57 miles from Tuscaloosa, in Alabama's Black Belt region.

Approaching the twenty-first century, the school renewed its commitment as a regional institution focused not only on providing a quality education but also on improving the quality of life for the citizens of West Alabama.  To reflect this commitment, the name was changed to the University of West Alabama in 1995.

The student population consists of approximately 4,600 students, of which, about 1,600 take courses online.  The student body has a racial diversity of 60 percent Caucasian and 39 percent African American.  Approximately 55 percent of the student body is female and 45 percent male.  Students still study in small classes averaging fewer than 60 in traditional lecture classes and 25 or less in writing classes.  As the university approaches its 175th anniversary in 2010, the campus continues to remember its past, while meeting the challenges of today, and setting its sights for the future.