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University of Arkansas System

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
University of Arkansas System
TypeState university system
ChairmanJohn Goodson
PresidentDonald Bobbitt
Administrative staff
17000
Students60,000
Address
2404 North University Avenue
, , ,
United States
Websiteuasys.edu/

The University of Arkansas System is a state university system in the U.S. state of Arkansas. It comprises six campuses; a medical school; two law schools; a graduate school focused on public service; a historically black college, statewide research, service, and educational units for agriculture, criminal justice, archeology; and several community colleges. Over 50,000 students are enrolled in over 188 undergraduate, graduate, and professional programs.

Legally, the entire system carries the name University of Arkansas. Nonetheless, to avoid confusion with its flagship campus in Fayetteville, the system usually refers to itself as the University of Arkansas System and the Fayetteville campus usually refers to itself as the University of Arkansas.

History

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The original and flagship campus was established in Fayetteville as Arkansas Industrial University in 1871 under the 1862 Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act. The system now includes both of the state's land-grant colleges, as University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) was later designated as such under the 1890 Morrill Act; it left the system in 1927, but returned in 1972. The Division of Agriculture and UAM's forestry programs also contribute to the system's land-grant mission. The Division of Agriculture includes the statewide Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station (AAES) and the Cooperative Extension Service (CES). AAES and CES were managed by the dean of the College of Agriculture and Home Economics on the Fayetteville campus until 1959, when the Board of Trustees established the statewide Division of Agriculture as a unit of the U of A System.[citation needed]

The University of Arkansas System as an organized educational alliance (system) could be said to date from the founding of UAPB (1873) or perhaps UAMS joining the system (1911). The Division of Agriculture was established in 1959 as a statewide system unit with its own line-item appropriation from the state Legislature. University of Arkansas President David Wiley Mullins, along with the Board of Trustees, brokered a series of mergers in the late 1960s. The Little Rock and Monticello campuses joined the system in 1969 (UALR) and 1971 (UAM), and UAPB returned to the system in 1972. In 1975, a University of Arkansas Board of Trustees policy officially adopted the name "University of Arkansas System" as an alternative identification for the system, along with the present names of the campuses, in order to allow the Fayetteville campus to continue its identification as the "University of Arkansas". The policy has been amended over the years as other campuses were added. [1]

In March 2014, the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees created eVersity, a 100% online university aimed to serve students who were unable to access traditional higher education campuses. The University of Arkansas System eVersity was the first and only public, online university in the state of Arkansas.[1] In November 2021, the University of Arkansas System acquired Grantham University, a for-profit online college based in Lenexa, Kansas, for $1[2] It was renamed the University of Arkansas Grantham, into which eVersity was merged to become one institution. University of Arkansas Grantham now serves as the only 100% online institution for the entire system.

The administrative offices for the University of Arkansas System are located in Little Rock.

University presidents

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Up until 1982, the president was the chief administrative officer of the Fayetteville campus and the University of Arkansas System. In 1982, the position of chancellor was created to be the top administrator at the Fayetteville campus, and the title of president referred only to the University of Arkansas System.

President Tenure
Noah P. Gates 1871-1873
Albert W. Bishop 1873-1875
Noah P. Gates 1875-1877
Daniel Harvey Hill 1877-1884
George M. Edgar 1884-1887
Edward H. Murfee 1887-1894
John L. Buchanan 1894-1902
Henry S. Hartzog 1902-1905
John N. Tillman 1905-1912
John Hugh Reynolds (acting) 1912-1913
John C. Futrall 1913-1939
J. William Fulbright 1939-1941
Arthur M. Harding 1941-1947
Lewis Webster Jones 1947-1951
John T. Caldwell 1952-1959
Storm Whaley (acting) 1959-1960
David Wiley Mullins 1960-1974
Charles E. Bishop 1974-1980
James E. Martin 1980-1984
Ray Thornton 1984-1990
B. Alan Sugg 1990-2011
Donald R. Bobbitt 2011–present

University campuses

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Campus Official name Founded Enrollment Endowment Athletics
(nickname)
Division
(NCAA)
Primary
conference
Grantham University of Arkansas Grantham 1951 4,427
Fayetteville University of Arkansas 1871 30,936[3] $1.7 billion Razorbacks Division I (FBS) Southeastern (SEC)
Little Rock University of Arkansas at Little Rock 1927 8,103[4] $136 million Trojans Division I (non-football) Ohio Valley (OVC)
Monticello University of Arkansas at Monticello 1910 3,762 $22.8 million Boll Weevils Division II Great American (GAC)
Pine Bluff University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff 1873 3,332 $1.9 million Golden Lions Division I (FCS) Southwestern (SWAC)
Fort Smith University of Arkansas at Fort Smith 1928 7,329 $38.8 million Lions Division II Mid-America (MIAA)

Medical school

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Location Official name Affiliated campuses Founded Enrollment Endowment
Little Rock University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Fayetteville 1879 2,907 $75.9 million

Law schools

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(Neither one is officially independent of its parent campus, though the Bowen School of Law is on a separate campus from UALR proper)

Location Campus Official name Founded Enrollment Endowment
Fayetteville University of Arkansas at Fayetteville University of Arkansas School of Law 1924 445 $84.2 million
Little Rock University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law 1975 450 $43.4 million

Graduate school

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Location Campus Official name Founded Enrollment Endowment
Little Rock Independent University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service 2004 96 $0.00 million

Community colleges

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Location Campus Preferred name Founded Enrollment
De Queen Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas Cossatot 1975 1,486
Batesville University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville UACC Batesville 1997 1,745
Hope University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana[5] UAHT 1965 1,358
Morrilton University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton UACC Morilton 1961 2,421
Helena-West Helena Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas Phillips 1965 2,350
North Little Rock University of Arkansas – Pulaski Technical College Pulaski Tech 1945 6,576
Mena University of Arkansas Rich Mountain UA Rich Mountain 1973 824

Advanced high school

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Other system units

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Bags of long grain rice from the UA Division of Agriculture Research and Extension - Rice Research and Extension Center

References

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  1. ^ "University of Arkansas System eVersity - University of Arkansas System". uasys.edu/. Retrieved 2023-10-16.
  2. ^ Adame, Jaime (12 August 2021). "$1 deal to add online school to University of Arkansas System receives board approval". www.arkansasonline.com/news. Arkansas Democrat. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  3. ^ "University of Arkansas tops 30,000 students at Fayetteville campus". Retrieved August 12, 2016.
  4. ^ "Quick Facts - Administration - UA Little Rock". Administration. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  5. ^ "Unknown" (PDF).[permanent dead link]
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