University of Central Arkansas

University of Central Arkansas President Lu Hardin today announced that the Walton Family Foundation has awarded a $426,141 grant to plan, develop and implement the Arkansas Public School Resource Center in affiliation with UCA.

The purpose of the Center will be to provide comprehensive services to advance and support school choice initiatives and the implementation of high quality open enrollment public charter schools in Arkansas, as well as providing a variety of support services critical to the fiscal and academic success of rural public schools in Arkansas.

"We are honored to partner with the Walton Family Foundation in this critically important initiative," Hardin said. "Arkansas was, is and always will be a predominately rural school state, resulting in some unique and continuing challenges facing our educational delivery system. Thanks to the Walton Family Foundation, UCA will provide significant leadership in both providing support to our rural school districts, as well as advancing and supporting high-quality choice opportunities for Arkansas children."

UCA Public Appearances has selected eight shows for its 2008-09 season.

"This is a very bright season of great shows that demonstrate the same variety we have presented over the past eight years," said Guy Couch, director of UCA Public Appearances since the 1,200-seat Reynolds Performance Hall opened in September 2000. "We have lined up a group of shows that are sure to please the UCA community, as well as individuals and families in Conway and all over Central Arkansas. This really may be 'The Perfect Season.'"

Thirteen undergraduate students and six faculty members from UCA's Chemistry Department presented research at the 235th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS) in New Orleans last month.

Roger Pauly, Assistant Professor of History, recently saw his book, Firearms: The Life Story of a Technology, re-published in paperback by Johns Hopkins University Press. The book was originally published by Greenwood Press in 2004.

David Welky, Associate Professor of History, authored a book, Everything Was Better in America: Print Culture in the Great Depression, published in April by the University of Illinois Press.

Wendy Castro, an instructor in the History department, recently published an article, "Stripped: Clothing and Identity in Colonial Captivity Narratives," in the journal Early American Studies.

UCA's Department of Music is in the midst of the largest exchange in its relationship with East China Normal University and the Fuzhou Symphony Orchestra.

Thirteen people from UCA, including the groups Pinnacle Brass and the Sunaura Trio, will be at East China Normal in Shanghai or with the Fuzhou Symphony Orchestra in Fuzhou, China, over the next two weeks for concerts, master classes, clinics and conversations with Chinese music faculty and professional musicians.

UCA students Alison Page and Tatum Branaman were among a group selected by the National Academies to represent Arkansas at a national economic convocationin Washington D.C. at the end of April.

The National Association of Schools of Theatre at a recent meeting voted to continue UCA's good standing for an additional ten year period.

Letha Mosley was named a Fellow of the American Occupational Therapy Association last month at the association's Annual Conference in Long Beach, Cal.

UCA’s Community School of Music will hold walk-in registration for the Summer I semester on May 14 & 15 and May 21 & 22 in room 203, UCA Snow Fine Arts Center.

University of Central Arkansas President Lu Hardin and the UCA Board of trustees today broke ground on a new $18.1 million building that will be the new home of its College of Business.

The 82,000-square-foot facility will be completed by the beginning of the fall 2009 semester.

"The new College of Business building will be state-of-the-art, and one of its exciting features is that it will include several large lecture halls that will each be able to accommodate over 200 students," Hardin said. "When the building is complete, UCA's short-term classroom needs should be satisfied."

UCA this Saturday will present its Distinguished Alumnus Award to Dr. Steven Sanderson, president and chief executive officer of the Wildlife Conservation Society. The award will be presented during the 10 a.m. commencement ceremony.

UCA's Spring Commencement will take place this Saturday, May 3, and degrees will be conferred at three ceremonies.

The UCA Board of Trustees will hold a regularly scheduled meeting this Friday, May 2 at 2 p.m. in the Board of Trustees Conference Room in Wingo Hall on the UCA campus.

UCA President Lu Hardin, the UCA Board of Trustees and U.S. Rep. Vic Snyder on Friday, May 2 will participate in a groundbreaking ceremony for the new UCA College of Business building.