FAYETTEVILLE -- A new scholarship program offering yearly awards of $10,000 will draw students from underrepresented parts of the state to study business at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, said Matt Waller, interim dean for UA's Sam M. Walton College of Business.
The college's enrollment has increased in recent years to approximately 5,800 students, said Waller, who will take over as permanent dean May 1.
"But if you look at certain parts of the state, like the Delta and the south, we have very low representation here," he said.
To help those students and others, UA began working last year with Arizona businessman Morton Fleischer, Waller said.
Fleischer collaborated with Arizona State University to establish the Fleischer Scholars program, which provides a summer residential learning experience to economically disadvantaged Arizona high school students interested in business.
Waller said UA now is establishing a need-based scholarship program, with an emphasis on getting banks to sign on as sponsors.
Not only would community banks find rising talent, Waller said, but financial institutions taking part would also receive credit under the federal Community Reinvestment Act, enacted in the 1970s to encourage banks to meet the needs of communities they serve.
"It turns out these scholarships can count toward their CRA credits," Waller said, with two banks signed on so far.
Funding exists now for only a few scholarships, Waller said, but the first awards will be given out this fall.
Signature Bank of Arkansas is pledging $30,000 each year for the next five years in scholarship money, said Gary Head, chairman and chief executive officer of the Fayetteville-based bank, which has branches in Washington and Benton counties in northwest Arkansas and Monroe County in the eastern part of the state.
"What we intend to do is hopefully find some qualified kids that will have the opportunity to go to college," Head said.
Head called Fleischer a good friend, adding that a few years ago Fleischer struck up a friendship with former UA Chancellor G. David Gearhart, who retired last year.
This past summer, Fleischer funded a new residential summer program at UA called Spirit Scholars. It brought more than 30 low-income high school students to campus for a week of activities and mentoring to encourage their interest in business and help them prepare for college.
Seventeen students from that first cohort plan to attend UA this fall, Waller said.
Waller said it's still "really early in this process" with the new scholarship program, as UA stays in weekly contact with Fleischer.
"He wants this to be rolled out across the country, but he wants us to be the prototype case," Waller said.
Over the next three to five years, UA could have up to about 100 Fleischer scholars, Waller said.
"That would start making a real difference. And it is a stretch goal, but I think it's worth taking a shot," Waller said.
Metro on 04/27/2016