Alabama Governor Robert Bentley recently appointed UNA Disability Support Specialist Dr. Mary Bowers to the Alabama Board of Examiners in Psychology as an academic psychologist.

Bowers, who works in the Department of Disability Support Services, will start her five-year appointment to the board in the coming weeks.

“I’m very honored,” Bowers said. “I think it’s an honor for UNA. It’s something I take very seriously.”

Part of Bowers’ duties on the board of examiners will be to approve licenses, review items of legislation for the state legislature and be a governing body for all psychologists in the state.

“There is a lot of trust that has been placed in me,” Bowers said.

Bowers said this position is a way to serve the public.

“The main goal (of the board) is to protect the public,” she said. “(The board) is a regulatory body.”

She said this appointment and her job at UNA allow her to give back to people.

“I think we all want to give back,” Bowers said. “I think that this is a way to participate in the process.”

Bowers started her career at UNA in 2009 after a long stay as a psychologist at Riverbend in Florence. Bowers currently works with students with disabilities on campus and works to ensure ADA standards are followed at UNA.