Hyneman’s tenure as UA trustee ends
Jan. 25 was the final trustees meeting for University of Arkansas Trustee Ben Hyneman of Jonesboro.
Hyneman, who has served on the board for 10 years, was its chairman for the past year. Trustee Mark Waldrip of Moro will replace him in that role, while Trustee John Goodson of Texarkana will become the vice chairman.
Trustee Morril Harriman of Little Rock will serve again as board secretary. Kelly Eichler, also of Little Rock, will continue in her role as assistant secretary.
At his final meeting, the board presented Hyneman with a collage of pictures of the UA System’s campuses. He already received the normal going-away present — a gavel — after his last stint as chairman, which ended in 2016.
UAMS works to get cancer designation
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is working to get a National Cancer Institute designation for its cancer center.
The designation is more about cancer research infrastructure and assumes that those applying for the status already excel in cancer clinical care, said Dr. Peter Emanuel, the director of UAMS’ Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute. Emanuel was addressing the University of Arkansas board of trustees during a meeting Thursday on the UAMS campus.
He said the academic medical center has already met most of the requirements but is just shy of the preferred amount of annual grant awards that it receives for cancer-related research. The national institute expects applicants to receive $18 million to $20 million in cancer-related grants annually, Emanuel said. UAMS currently gets $14 million to $15 million in grants for cancer-related research, he said.
To increase its grant amount, Emanuel said, UAMS would need to recruit from six to 12 more scientists, who already have grant funding from the national institute and would bring their projects along with them
If it earns the designation, UAMS would be the first in the state with the status. The closest health care facilities with the designation are St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis and the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
Drug tests expand for transit workers
The University of Arkansas, Fayetteville has expanded the panel of drugs for which it tests its Razorback Transit employees.
UA officials requested approval from the University of Arkansas board of trustees on Jan. 25 to change its drug-testing policy, aligning it with federal regulations and guidelines. The university needs to update its policy as it receives federal funds to operate its fleet of buses on campus and in Fayetteville, said Chancellor Joe Steinmetz.
The updates include testing bus drivers for semi-synthetic opioids, including hydrocodone and oxycodone, according to board documents. The board unanimously approved the changes.