Tech set to expand
student aid program
Arkansas Tech University will expand its Student Support Services program on its Russellville and Ozark campuses with the help of a federal grant, the university announced Friday.
Grants totaling $3.9 million will support the university's Student Support Services program in Russellville. The money also will be used to establish that program on the Ozark campus and to start a new Student Support Services teacher preparation program on the Russellville campus.
Students apply to participate in support services programs.
The programs help students through their college education by providing tutoring; advice on signing up for classes; guidance through financial aid; lessons in financial literacy; and other resources, according to the university.
The original program in Russellville is designed to serve about 140 students each year, so the two new programs will expand capacity to about 420.
U.S. grant to fund
pandemic project
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will use its $300,000 federal coronavirus recovery grant to document the effects of the pandemic, the university has announced.
UALR and Arkansas State University each received $300,000 federal grants for recovery planning, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported. The universities will work together, along with eight planning and development districts, to form their plan.
Already, researchers have interviewed more than 500 people across Arkansas in varying industries, according to the UALR announcement. They will conduct on-the-ground research for the first year of the project.
So far, researchers have learned that the pandemic's effect on the state's "smaller communities" hasn't been as bad as expected.
The second year of the project will bring in task forces and an advisory group to come up with "economic recovery and resiliency" plans, designed to be used in the event of another pandemic or similarly economically devastating event.
The grant money also will be used for training, resources and planning for varying entities.