UAMS moves its Fort Smith campus
The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock has moved its west regional campus in Fort Smith just a block away.
The new Family Medical Center in Fort Smith is at the corner of South 12th and E streets and is more spacious and up-to-date, according to a news release. The 30,000-square foot building, which cost $10.5 million, is for clinical care, health education services and training for medical residents in primary care, the academic medical center said.
It has 17 more examination rooms than the old facility, with 48 in total. All include a consult room that has more space for teams of physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other clinicians to meet with patients and their families, the news release said.
UAMS will remodel the old building to move administrative operations into one home with new offices, a large conference room and a computer training center.
"From our Little Rock campus to Fort Smith, UAMS is working to improve patient care for all Arkansans for a better state of health," UAMS Chancellor Dan Rahn said in a statement. "This beautiful, new building is tangible proof that our commitment to the people of western Arkansas is as strong as it is anywhere else across the state. We are all united in that goal."
UCA offers grant to future teachers
The University of Central Arkansas is offering a grant for students interested in earning a master's degree in teaching.
The grant would provide up to $5,000 in tuition and other incentives for students to receive a Master of Arts in teaching at the Conway university as long as the students work in an Arkansas school district for three years, according to a news release. UCA is able to provide the grant thanks to a $2.3 million Partnership for Transition to Teaching grant from the U.S. Department of Education in 2011.
UCA was the only school in Arkansas to receive the federal grant, which originally was meant to prepare math and science teachers for the North Little Rock and Little Rock School Districts, according to a news release. But, because of a teacher shortage in the state, the federal Education Department allowed the grant to be used for all 142 Arkansas school districts in critically needed subject areas, the university said.
Those subject areas are art, computer science, family and computer sciences, journalism, library media, mathematics, music, physical science, social studies, Spanish and special education.
SAU plans store in city's downtown
Southern Arkansas University is making a move in downtown Magnolia.
Working with the Magnolia-Columbia County Chamber of Commerce, the university is working to get a storefront in Magnolia Square to offer Mulerider clothes and gifts and that could fit continuing education workshops, according to a news release.
University President Trey Berry said he expects construction to begin in the fall but noted the campus is carrying several other projects, including a new Alumni Center.
Berry showcased an early rendering of the storefront -- which would include the school's colors of blue and gold -- to SAU's trustees earlier this month.
"Two years ago, SAU and Magnolia came together on the Square at the inaugural Blue and Gold Day to celebrate the more than 100-year bond between the city and the University, and we are very excited to be working together to have a brick-and-mortar SAU presence on our historic downtown Square," he said in a statement.
NW News on 05/21/2017