Aid from $25M gift
available at UALR
University of Arkansas at Little Rock undergraduate students can now apply for the first round of scholarships available from a $25 million donation given earlier this year.
The scholarships will be based on a student's "unmet" financial need, and can be used toward tuition, fees, books, housing or meal plans.
Incoming freshmen and incoming transfer students won't need to apply for the scholarship, so long as they apply for university admission by Aug. 1.
Current students can apply on the university's website, ualr.edu/scholarships/opportunity/.
To be eligible, a student must be an undergraduate, at least part-time and degree-seeking.
They must also have a completed Free Application for Federal Student Aid on file.
The university announced the gift last month, its largest ever in its 93-year history.
Need-based scholarships will account for $15 million of the donation, and the scholarships will be distributed to students over a five-year period.
The other $10 million will go toward an endowed fund for the university's efforts to help students graduate.
$100,000 donation
to go to ASU music
An Arkansas State University alumnus has donated $100,000 worth of stock to the university's foundation for the school's music program, the university announced last week.
Proceeds from the stock's sale will go toward what ASU music department leaders determine are the department's most pressing needs, according to the news release.
Bob Bidewell, a performer in the Little Rock area, has made gifts to the department before, including two of $25,000 and $15,000.
The coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of concerts, recitals and other performances at the university. Some of those events charged the public small amounts to attend.
"This could not have come at a more convenient time," interim department chairwoman Lauren Schack Clark said in the news release. "Music study presents special challenges with social distancing, so our first priority is obtaining the best possible technology and equipment to help us with safety during these unprecedented times."
Pandemic effect on
nonprofits studied
Two University of Arkansas researchers are studying the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic on Arkansas nonprofits, according to a news release from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service.
Kirk Leach, an assistant professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock School of Public Affairs, and Nichola Driver, an assistant professor and faculty director for the Office of Community Engagement at the Clinton School, designed the study with Sarah Kinser, the foundation's chief program officer.
It's an online survey available from June 22 through July 10 examining the virus's impact on nonprofit services, employment and organizational needs. Participants will be asked about their organizations' missions, budgets and ZIP codes, Driver said in the news release.