Graduation of 4,000 set to take 2 days
FAYETTEVILLE -- More than 4,000 graduates are expected at university commencement ceremonies Friday and Saturday.
The largest ceremony will take place Friday at 3 p.m. in Bud Walton Arena. More than 1,000 graduates are expected at commencement for the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences.
"We decided to move our biggest ceremony to Friday to create a more enjoyable, less rushed experience for our students and families," Dave Dawson, UA's registrar, said in a statement. Last year, UA scheduled a smaller ceremony for Friday.
Other ceremonies, except for the law school, will take place Saturday, beginning at 8:30 a.m. with the All-University Commencement at Bud Walton Arena. The law school ceremony will take place May 21.
Chancellor to see state on 5-day tour
FAYETTEVILLE -- Chancellor Joe Steinmetz will embark on a five-day bus tour of the state beginning May 16.
Steinmetz, UA's top leader since Jan. 1, came to Arkansas from a job as provost of Ohio State University.
"I want to learn more about the people and the places that make Arkansas so unique," Steinmetz said in a statement.
With his wife, Sandy, and other top UA leaders, Steinmetz is scheduled visit 11 communities, including Little Rock, Texarkana, Stuttgart and Searcy.
May's Intersession offering 70 courses
FAYETTEVILLE -- Students have enrolled in more than 70 compressed-format courses offered in the university's May Intersession.
UA introduced the compressed-format Intersession term in May 2013. Students meet several hours each day in classes running less than two weeks. The May Intersession begins May 16 and ends May 27.
Offerings include courses also taught in semester format, such as Principles of Microeconomics, and specialized seminar courses.
Enrollment has grown steadily as UA offers its Intersession term three times each year. In January, the courses enrolled 940 made up of 917 unique students, according to UA.
Researchers receive early-career awards
FAYETTEVILLE -- Several university researchers are receiving early-career awards.
The U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Science named Salvador Barraza-Lopez and John Shaw recipients of $750,000 grants. Barraza-Lopez and Shaw are among 49 recipients nationally of the award.
Barraza-Lopez joined the physics faculty in 2011. Shaw arrived in 2014 as a member of the geosciences faculty.
The Simons Foundation named Andrew Alverson as one of four recipients nationally for an early-career award in marine microbial ecology and evolution. Alverson will receive a $540,000 grant. He joined UA in 2012 as an assistant professor in biological sciences, according to an announcement that year.
The National Academy of Education awarded $70,000 early-career fellowships to Conra Gist and Michael Hevel, assistant professors in the College of Education and Health Professions. Both joined the university in 2012.
$348,758 will aid cyberattack study
FAYETTEVILLE -- A $348,758 grant from the National Science Foundation will help a university researcher study fraud and cyberattacks against social networks.
Xintao Wu received the grant, part of a larger project funded by the National Science Foundation's Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace program.
Wu's work involve modeling threats to help identify specific forms of fraud or attacks, such as account impersonation, and what are known as Sybil attacks affecting the way a computer network communicates.
Wu will collaborate with University of Oregon professor Jun Li and University of North Carolina at Charlotte professor Aidong Lu.
Campus reaffirms emissions pledge
FAYETTEVILLE -- The university has reaffirmed its commitment to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions that scientists say contribute to climate change.
Chancellor Joe Steinmetz on April 13 signed the Second Nature Climate Commitment, which expands on the principles of a 2007 pledge made by UA, the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment.
The new pledge calls for additional campus planning to mitigate and prepare for effects of climate change, such as drought, fires and extreme weather events. UA is among 91 colleges and universities to sign the commitment between Oct. 5, 2015 and April 22.
The most recent emission report states the campus produced about 146,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. The university says it has reduced emissions to 1995 levels.
Metro on 05/08/2016