University of Arkansas System

Last updated

University of Arkansas System
Type State university system
Chairman John Goodson
President Jay B. Silveria
Administrative staff
17000
Students60,000
Address
2404 North University Avenue
, , ,
United States
Website uasys.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.

Contents

Legally, the entire system carries the name The Board of Trustees of the 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

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.

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

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.

PresidentTenure
Noah P. Gates1871-1873
Albert W. Bishop1873-1875
Noah P. Gates1875-1877
Daniel Harvey Hill 1877-1884
George M. Edgar1884-1887
Edward H. Murfee1887-1894
John L. Buchanan1894-1902
Henry S. Hartzog1902-1905
John N. Tillman 1905-1912
John Hugh Reynolds (acting)1912-1913
John C. Futrall 1913-1939
J. William Fulbright 1939-1941
Arthur M. Harding1941-1947
Lewis Webster Jones 1947-1951
John T. Caldwell 1952-1959
Storm Whaley (acting)1959-1960
David Wiley Mullins 1960-1974
Charles E. Bishop1974-1980
James E. Martin 1980-1984
Ray Thornton 1984-1990
B. Alan Sugg1990-2011
Donald R. Bobbitt2011–2025
Jay B. Silveria [3] 2025-present

University campuses

CampusOfficial nameFoundedEnrollmentEndowmentAthletics
(nickname)
Division
(NCAA)
Primary
conference
Grantham University of Arkansas Grantham19514,427
Fayetteville University of Arkansas187130,936 [4] $1.7 billion Razorbacks Division I (FBS) Southeastern (SEC)
Little Rock University of Arkansas at Little Rock19278,103 [5] $136 million Trojans Division I (non-football) Ohio Valley (OVC)
Monticello University of Arkansas at Monticello19103,762$22.8 million Boll Weevils Division II Great American (GAC)
Pine Bluff University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff18733,332$1.9 million Golden Lions Division I (FCS) Southwestern (SWAC)
Fort Smith University of Arkansas at Fort Smith19287,329$38.8 million Lions Division II Mid-America (MIAA)

Medical school

LocationOfficial nameAffiliated campusesFoundedEnrollmentEndowment
Little Rock University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Fayetteville 18792,907$75.9 million

Law schools

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

LocationCampusOfficial nameFoundedEnrollmentEndowment
Fayetteville University of Arkansas, Fayetteville University of Arkansas School of Law 1924445$84.2 million
Little Rock University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law 1975450$43.4 million

Graduate school

LocationCampusOfficial nameFoundedEnrollmentEndowment
Little Rock Independent University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service 200496$0.00 million

Community colleges

LocationCampusPreferred nameFoundedEnrollment
De Queen Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas Cossatot19751,486
Batesville University of Arkansas Community College at Batesville UACC Batesville19971,745
Hope University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana [6] UAHT19651,358
Morrilton University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton UACC Morilton19612,421
Helena-West Helena Phillips Community College of the University of Arkansas Phillips19652,350
North Little Rock University of Arkansas – Pulaski Technical College Pulaski Tech19456,576
Mena University of Arkansas Rich Mountain UA Rich Mountain1973824

Advanced high school

Other system units

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

References

  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. https://uasys.edu/leadership/office-of-the-president/jaybsilveria/
  4. "University of Arkansas tops 30,000 students at Fayetteville campus" . Retrieved August 12, 2016.
  5. "Quick Facts - Administration - UA Little Rock". Administration. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  6. "Unknown" (PDF).[ permanent dead link ]