Health Education and Human Sciences | Lion VoicesSeptember 29, 2025

Dr. Camille Wheeler Found Her Calling in Education

Written By: Ian Silvester

Dr. Camille Wheeler strives to ensure that her students in the School of Education at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith successfully achieve the school’s mission of stepping into the classroom as educators who are ready day one.

Her own journey started on a somewhat different path.

Wheeler started off studying architecture at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. After some consideration, she changed her major to human development and family studies, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in 2001.

At first, Wheeler leaned into the social work side of the degree, working for the Department of Human Services as a foster care caseworker and child abuse investigator.

“I absolutely loved it,” she said. “But through DHS, I did see some deficits in schools, especially for our students with special needs.”

Inspired by these shortcomings, Wheeler returned to school to pursue a degree in education. She earned a master’s degree in special education from Arkansas Tech in 2012 and a doctorate in educational leadership from Liberty University in 2023.

After graduating, Wheeler applied to the School of Education at UAFS at the prompting of a friend. She was hired that August as an associate professor. In 2024, Wheeler also assumed the role of coordinator of assessments.

“There was just something about this campus that was different, and honestly, it’s kind of hard to put into words, but everybody was so friendly, so accommodating, so accepting,” she recalled. “You could just walk on campus, and you felt like it was home.”

Now in her third year of teaching, Wheeler strives to ensure her students feel the same way, especially when it comes to faculty guiding students to become the educators of tomorrow.

“Education is a field that you must be called to. You must want to be a teacher to really make it in this field,” Wheeler said. “I want my students to graduate and be excited about their future careers and the pathways they’ve chosen. I want to ensure our students in public school systems are getting quality educators.”

Wheeler believes that it starts at UAFS, which is leading the way in the state of Arkansas, Wheeler said.

The university is piloting multiple programs with the Arkansas Department of Education. It is the first in the state to offer embedded education classes, where college coursework takes place in local public school systems.

“This is something that is unique that you don’t get in other universities across the state,” Wheeler said.

With programs ranging from early childhood to secondary education, there is something for all students to make a difference in the classroom, she said.

“Education really is the only field where we have a hand in every career path that a child takes,” she said. “The reality is, not every student who graduates high school is going to go to college, so we need to be preparing them for whichever pathway they take in life.”

There will always be a need for both trades and professions requiring a college degree in this world, Wheeler said. 

“I think what our students, or any student, has to do is they have to look at what their goals are in life. They also have to decide where they feel like they can be the most successful,” Wheeler said. “As educators, it’s important that we’re not just preparing them to come in and lecture in class. We’re preparing them to teach and meet every need a child has.”

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