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Teaching & Learning

A primary mission of the University of Arkansas is teaching. As research universities go, the university falls toward the smaller, more personal end of the spectrum. More than 85 percent of all undergraduate class sections have 50 or fewer students. Despite this more intimate instructional environment, the university has more academic programs than many larger universities: nearly 200 academic degree programs at the baccalaureate, master’s and doctoral levels.

Faculty

The campus culture places high value on excellent teaching. At this mainly residential campus, the faculty numbers nearly 900, of which almost 95 percent are full-time. Nine of every 10 faculty members hold either a doctorate or terminal degree in their field, and more than 60 percent of the faculty is tenured.

The instructional mission is aided by the Cordes Teaching and Faculty Support Center, a program run by faculty for faculty. The center involves as many as 400 faculty and nearly 200 teaching assistants per year in regularly scheduled programs, seminars, workshops and an annual off-campus teaching retreat as well as individual assistance to update and enhance their teaching methods.

This emphasis is buttressed by the University of Arkansas Teaching Academy, which consists of faculty recognized by their peers, colleges and the larger university for teaching excellence. In 2000, the academy began producing Inquiry, the first undergraduate research journal published by an Arkansas institution of higher learning.

Students

The University of Arkansas is working to increase the size and quality of its student body and is seeing success on both counts. Total enrollment has increased more than 20 percent since the late 1990s, with enrollment projected to grow beyond 20,000.

With that growth in quantity has also come enhanced quality of the student body, as measured by college board scores. In 1997, the average ACT score of the freshman class was 23.5; over the next 10 years, it had risen to 25.5. Further, the average high school grade point average of the freshman class increased from 3.40 in 1997 to 3.58 over that same period, while the proportion of entering students from the top 10 percent of their high school class has increased to more than 32 percent.

The university’s growing academic stature is exemplified by student accomplishment. University of Arkansas undergraduates have won Goldwater Scholarships, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowships, Fulbright Scholarships, British Marshall Scholarships, Truman Scholarships, Udall Scholarships, and Rhodes Scholarships.

The Honors College

In 2002, the University of Arkansas Honors College was established, courtesy of the $300 million gift from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation. Of that sum, $200 million endowed 75 renewable Honors College Fellowships and 75 Honors College Academy Scholarships for exceptional entering freshmen. Also established were endowed faculty chairs and professorships that will eventually result in more than 100 new positions, and endowed special funds to support study abroad and undergraduate research opportunities.

In sum, the $200 million portion of the gift immediately established the Honors College as the most endowed college of its kind anywhere in the nation.

The immediate increase in honors student enrollment was striking, with participation quickly growing from 1,350 to more than 2,000 as more of the state’s most talented students chose to pursue their undergraduate education at the University of Arkansas. The Honors College serves all undergraduate majors. Students enjoy small classes, priority registration, special housing, increased interaction with faculty and enhanced opportunities for hands-on research.

The Graduate School and Doctoral Programs

Graduate education plays a major role at the university. The university confers degrees in some three dozen doctoral programs and approximately 90 master’s programs. More than 3,500 students pursue graduate study and law degrees at the university, with advanced degree enrollment targeted to grow to approximately 5,500.

The Graduate School is benefiting from a new $100 million endowment, part of the historic $300 million gift from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation. The gift supports endowed fellowships for graduate students, a research fund for graduate students, funds for library support to the Graduate School and eight new faculty research chairs.


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