Student rec center
to open Monday
FAYETTEVILLE -- The phased-in approach to reopening the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville campus will continue Monday with the campus student recreation center.
UA's Return to Campus plan, released June 1, listed Monday as the "target date" for a second phase of opening. The campus in March switched to having only essential operations because of the covid-19 pandemic. The plan is for students to return in August for the fall semester.
On Monday, UA's Health, Physical Education and Recreation building will reopen some fitness facilities that are to be available by appointment. Some equipment has been moved to a gymnasium to aid with physical distancing, according to UA.
The Arkansas Student Union on Monday also will open facilities after operating at "minimal levels," according to a UA announcement. But no events or meetings are to take place until August, according to UA.
Remaining closed for now is Mullins Library.
"The library will not be opening on Monday but will reopen at a later date in July," UA spokesman John Thomas said.
Equality advisory
board in the works
FAYETTEVILLE -- Students meeting with University of Arkansas Chancellor Joe Steinmetz to discuss issues of racial bias and inequity on campus will be part of a "permanent advisory board," according to a campuswide message.
The composition of the board will be determined by students and announced later, Steinmetz said in a June 26 message.
Steinmetz pledged to pay out of his own pocket to fill a staff position "to oversee, coordinate and provide support to this effort," his message states.
Steinmetz has said he's been meeting with Black student leaders after current and former students used the #BlackAtUark hashtag to describe their experiences on campus.
"I am absolutely committed to working together to make this a truly inclusive campus," Steinmetz said.
Racial-bias study
grants available
FAYETTEVILLE -- Students and faculty members at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville this fall can apply for grants to study systemic racial bias on campus.
The UA Arkansas Humanities Center is awarding up to $12,000 in "Confronting Our Past/Interrogating Our Present" research grants. A selection committee will award grants of $1,000 each to undergraduates, graduate students and faculty members, with the total grant dollars to be divided equally among those groups.
"Humanists pursue topics to help us understand the structures of the past and present, the philosophies that motivate actions, and the cultures of power," Trish Starks, the center's director, said in an email. "The purpose of these grants is to help us understand how we got to the present moment and give us ideas of how to navigate moving forward."
Grant proposals will be reviewed beginning Sept. 15.
The center is also providing $4,000 in total grant money for "Diversifying Research and Curriculum" teaching or research workshops.
Online bachelor's
options grow to nine
FAYETTEVILLE -- A new University of Arkansas, Fayetteville online bachelor's degree program will be offered beginning this fall.
The bachelor of science program in human development and family sciences will be the ninth online bachelor's program offered through UA's Global Campus. It will be the first online bachelor's degree program within UA's Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.
"We've had online graduate degrees for some time, but this allows us to reach undergraduate students where they are and hopefully makes it easier for them to earn a degree and pursue a career they love," Deacue Fields, dean of UA's agriculture college, said in a statement.
In the fall of 2019, UA had a total enrollment of 781 for all of its online bachelor's degree programs, according to data provided by the university. The first such program was offered in 2012. Students can obtain online bachelor's degrees in areas including communication, accounting and interdisciplinary studies.
An online bachelor's degree program in supply chain management was added in the spring of 2019, and an online bachelor's degree program for licensed practical nurses to become registered nurses was added in the fall of 2019.
More than 60 total online degree, certificate or licensure programs are offered through UA's Global Campus.