Harding gains $1M for 3 new projects
Harding University has received a $1 million grant for three renovation and construction projects on the Searcy campus.
The grant is from the Tulsa-based J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation, which has given more than $12 million to the 6,075-student private university. The $1 million will help fund the expansion and renovation of the Ganus Athletic Center, the expansion of the Rhodes Field House and construction of the First Ladies Gardens.
The three projects are estimated to cost $6.5 million in total, according to a news release.
The grant stipulates that the university must raise $5.5 million to finish the projects by April 15. The school has raised more than $4 million of its share, the news release said.
Once the projects are completed, the athletic center will have a suspended track on a new second-floor level of the gym, new floors, basketball goals and partitioning curtains; a two-story weight room; and a new swimming pool corridor. The field house will increase its space by 13,000 square feet, mostly for a new practice facility for the volleyball and basketball teams.
The gardens -- honoring the university's first ladies -- will include five gardens, a colonnade, a water fountain with a sculpture and a space for an outdoor classroom.
Students take look at Net accessibility
Students with the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service are studying Internet accessibility options for those seeking online degrees in the state.
The four students -- Jessica DeLoach Sabin of Little Rock, Kat Short of Hot Springs, Nathan Watson of Fayetteville and Nouroudine Alassane of Bassila, Benin -- conducted the studies in Helena-West Helena, Monticello and Batesville. They partnered with the University of Arkansas System to research broadband capacity in those areas to help "inform the continued development and launch" of the system's online-only university, eVersity, according to a news release.
The study aims to increase knowledge of Internet accessibility so all Arkansans have the necessary resources for online education, the news release said.
The eVersity is set to begin this fall with degree offerings in business, criminal justice, health care management and information technology.
Endowment formed for waterfowl study
Family and friends of a Monticello dentist have created an endowment for waterfowl research and academic activities.
The endowment fund is in honor of Dr. Robert Burch Jr., who took over his father's dental practice in Monticello in 1998. Burch -- a duck hunter and waterfowl enthusiast, according to a news release -- died Jan. 30.
A committee will disburse funds from the endowment with first preference for undergraduate or graduate research, the news release states. The committee is chaired by Burch's friend Christopher Sims, a biology professor at the university, and includes representatives from different schools within the University of Arkansas at Monticello.
Metro on 04/27/2015