News Updates
University of Arkansas to Recommend No Tuition Increase for 2009-10 Academic Year
The University of Arkansas is developing a budget for the 2009-10 academic year that would result in no increase in tuition over the current year’s level. Chancellor G. David Gearhart will recommend the plan to keep tuition flat to the university’s board of trustees at its April meeting in Monticello. If approved, it would mark the first time in 24 years that the University of Arkansas has not raised tuition. The intention to hold tuition rates at current levels would be contingent upon the Arkansas General Assembly following through on the governor’s recommendation to restore $2.3 million of the $5 million cut from the university’s budget this fiscal year, and no additional unforeseen economic factors.
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University of Arkansas Ranks Among Top 50 Schools for Number of Merit Scholars
The University of Arkansas is 50th among higher education institutions for the number of National Merit Scholars admitted in the current academic year, according to the National Merit Corp., which has released its report on the National Merit Scholars for 2007-08. Forty-six National Merit Scholars enrolled in the University of Arkansas this fall as part of the incoming freshman class. The University of Arkansas is tied with Georgetown University and California Technical Institute in the number of its freshman National Merit Scholars. Read more »
Energy Savings, Building Upgrades are Part of New Program at University of Arkansas
The University of Arkansas has awarded a $20.9 million contract to Energy Systems Group of Evansville, Ind., to design and install facility improvements that reduce energy consumption and address deferred maintenance issues in 56 buildings on the Fayetteville campus. The energy performance agreement between ESG and the university guarantees that energy savings over a 13-year period will cover the cost of building improvements. ESG will reduce the university’s total annual energy consumption on campus by 30 percent. Read more »
University of Arkansas Creates Commission to Focus on College Affordability, Efficiency of Operations
To increase efficiency in all aspects of operations at the University of Arkansas with an eye toward affordability, Chancellor G. David Gearhart has created a commission charged with reviewing spending practices and eliminating duplication of services at the university. The new Commission on Affordability and Cost Containment is charged with identifying and recommending ways each college and administrative unit can be more efficient in the delivery of academic programs and services – with particular focus on services and expenditures that are not essential to the academic mission of the university. Read more »
University of Arkansas Task Force to Study Needs of Student Veterans
A newly formed University of Arkansas Veterans Task Force convened last week to begin assessing the needs of student veterans on campus, and of students who are currently serving in the military. “The guaranteed benefits that veterans will receive for their service will enable many more men and women to pursue, or in some cases resume, a college education,” said Chancellor G. David Gearhart, who will serve as honorary chair of the task force. “We should expect to see more veterans enrolling at the University of Arkansas, and we should be prepared to meet their needs.” Read more »
Research and Innovation
Special Nanotubes May be Used as a Vehicle for Treating Neurodegenerative Disorders
Electrical engineering researchers at the University of Arkansas have demonstrated that magnetic nanotubes combined with nerve growth factor can enable specific cells to differentiate into neurons. The results from in vitro studies show that magnetic nanotubes may be exploited to treat neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease because they can be used as a delivery vehicle for nerve growth factor. Read more »
From Arkansas to Ireland: Graduate Student’s Work Leads to World Archaeological Congress Presentation
Who would guess that a little over two years after beginning graduate school at the University of Arkansas that Chris Angel would be speaking at an international conference about his research on the Bedouin city of Um Sayhun, Jordan? Although neither Angel nor his professor, Tom Paradise of the University of Arkansas is an archaeologist, they were invited to speak about “Emerging Global Technologies” this summer at the 2008 conference of the World Archaeological Congress in Dublin, Ireland. The team examined a growing town in the southern Jordan desert designed by a nomadic clan. Read more »
Researchers Use New Target to Tackle Question of Nutrient Source in Watershed
Researchers at the University of Arkansas have for the first time adopted a technique used in marine environments to examine the sources of excess nutrients found in streams in the Illinois River Watershed. The Illinois River Watershed is the site of a mystery – high nutrient loads that have muddied the waters between Arkansas and Oklahoma. The nutrient loads themselves are not contested, but the source of these high amounts of nitrogen and phosphates are, and currently the sources of the nutrients are not explicitly identified. Read more »
University of Arkansas Model Suggests Origins of Mars Gullies
University of Arkansas researchers have used chemistry and geology to create a model that may explain the mystery of how modern-day gullies form on the surface of Mars. Research professor Vincent F. Chevrier and graduate student Travis S. Altheide of the Arkansas Center for Space and Planetary Sciences looked at the possibility of brine – a concentrated solution of water and salt – as a potential gully carver. Water ice and salts are both found in various locations on the planet, and certain brines have much lower freezing points than water and therefore have the potential to exist and flow on Mars. Read more » |
Attending the University of Arkansas provides a great education. Working for the university does as well. In the nearly 11 years I have been back on campus, I have continued to be amazed by the scope of its activities. While I do my best to keep abreast of all that is going on, I am constantly delighted, surprised and fascinated by the day-to-day events unfolding on our campus. These events not only have local and statewide impact, but increasingly have ramifications felt across the region, nation and world – and perhaps even other planets!
