Nonpro�t Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDPermit No. 479Fort Smith, Ark.

Nonpro�t Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDPermit No. 479Fort Smith, Ark.

Nonpro�t Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDPermit No. 479Fort Smith, Ark.

5210 Grand Avenue • Fort Smith, AR 72903www.uafortsmith.edu

UA Fort Smith reported a record total

enrollment of 7,322 students for the fall 2009

semester, with marked increases in a variety of

key areas. “UA Fort Smith continues to focus

on increasing opportunities for individuals,”

said Chancellor Dr. Paul B. Beran, “and the

numbers indicate that we are succeeding.”

Total students

+8%

Full-time-equivalent enrollment

+10%

Full-time students

+12%

Full-time male students

+17%

Entering transfer students

+30%

‘The Numbers INdIcaTe ThaT We are succeedINg’ sTaTe-of-The-arT

resIdeNTIal complex To opeN for fall 2010

The University of Arkansas - Fort Smith has long been primarily a “commuter campus,” but as enrollment grows and the University draws from an expanding service area, demand for on-campus housing will continue to grow.

To meet that demand, UA Fort Smith is building its first ever dorm-style residence halls, scheduled to be ready for students in the fall of 2010.

Located at the corner of Waldron Rd. and Kinkead Ave., the residential complex—with 446 beds and 110,000 square feet of living space in two separate four-story buildings overlooking a grassy central courtyard—was designed with underclassmen in mind.

Unlike the existing Sebastian Commons apartments, which offer one-, two-, and four-bedroom units with fully equipped kitchens, the new complex houses students in suites of dorm-style rooms with shared living areas.

Residents will participate in a full meal plan at the adjoining 9,500-square-foot dining hall. An airy, modern facility with indoor and café-style outdoor seating, the dining hall will also serve as a venue for cultural, educational, and entertainment programming both indoors and out.

Designed by Allison Architects of Little Rock, in partnership with Little Diversified, the state-of-the-art complex is expected to earn a coveted Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) Silver certification for energy efficiency and clean construction, while cutting-edge communication technology throughout meets the needs of today’s students.

I don’t want to match

somebody’s gift who’s going to

do it anyway. I want this to be

an inducement for people who

wouldn’t give otherwise.

The Newsletter of the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith Foundation | Nov. 2009 | Vol. 1 - No. 1

Ad ancesVUA Fort Smith Foundation, Inc.

The anonymous donor who has pledged to match

$500,000 in new gifts to UA Fort Smith over the next

five years would just as soon keep his name out of the

headlines. “That’s not why I’m doing this,” he said in

early September.

He chose to make his gift in the form of a matching offer

in order to increase its impact. “I have found that I’m

much more apt to give if it’s going to be matched,” he

said. “If I get offers to give from two institutions and the

merits of both are the same but someone would match

my gift to one, well, I’d be quicker to give to that one.”

It’s not just any gift, though, that he’s willing to match;

instead, he wants to match gifts made by new donors

and by donors giving substantially larger gifts than

they’ve made in the past. “I don’t want to match

somebody’s gift who’s going to do it anyway,” he said. “I

want this to be an inducement for people who wouldn’t

give otherwise or who wouldn’t give as much.”

Beyond that, there are no restrictions on the offer. The

donor himself has given widely and generously to UA

Fort Smith—more than $510,000 over the past 20

years to a variety of funds—and he is willing to match

gifts to any fund. His matching contribution will go to

one of his named family scholarship endowments.

“If somebody’s thinking about giving $1,000, $5,000,

$50,000,” he said, “I want them to know it’s going to be

matched. I want them to know they’ve got a chance to

be part of a $1 million gift.”

Contact UA Fort Smith Foundation Executive Director

Marta Loyd at (479) 788-7021 for more information

about having your gift matched.

THIS MANis ready to match $500,000IN gIfTS To UA forT SMITH.

Who is he? Well, he’s not saying at the moment...

advaNces - The Newsletter of the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith Foundation | Nov. 2010 | Vol. 1 - No. 1

From theExEcuTivE DirEcTor

sTep rIghT up, everybody WINs!First Bank Corp partners with College of Business to bring top students inside the boardroom

“Okay, does anybody have any questions about our balance sheet?” asks First National Bank Vice President Sam T. Sicard, as 11 top UA Fort Smith business students scan their own copies and scribble notes.

Seated in deep leather chairs around the long table in the boardroom of the iconic First National Bank building, these members of the newly formed First Bank Corp Collegiate Ambassadors Board are getting a privileged glimpse into the inner workings of the banking world.

After answering an insightful question about the fluctuation of FDIC premiums, Sicard goes on to discuss in frank, direct terms how and why FBC is responding to changes in interest rates, the real estate market, and unemployment rates.

“This is real life, putting skills into practice,” says junior marketing major Ashton Peters about his participation on the Ambassadors Board, a cooperative educational effort between UA Fort Smith’s College of Business and First Bank Corp.

Collegiate Ambassadors serve for one academic year and meet monthly, emulating the FBC board. Guest speakers discuss different aspects of the banking industry at each meeting—loan portfolio analysis, trust services, marketing strategies, community involvement.

The benefits for the Collegiate Ambassadors are obvious: they not only get valuable practical experience and an inside glimpse of the banking industry, but they walk away with a $500 scholarship as a thank-you from First Bank Corp for their service.

But what about First Bank Corp? First, the company gains hard-to-come-by insight into the Ambassadors’ generation, says Sicard. The board essentially amounts to a focus group and sounding board for marketing strategies targeting the vitally important college-age population.

Additionally, says Dr. Steve Williams, Dean of the College of Business, the Ambassadors “are some of the brightest people we have,” and the program gives First Bank Corp a chance to get acquainted with them—a sneak preview, as it were, of the best young business minds coming out of the University.

The close collaboration between UA Fort Smith and a prominent local business should come as no surprise. “UA Fort Smith is different from anywhere I’ve ever been in the amount of support we get from the local community,” said Williams. “That’s one of the main reasons I came here.”

Nor should it come as a surprise that the business in this case is First Bank Corp. Sicard is a member of the UA Fort Smith Board of Visitors, and his father, First Bank Corp President Sam M. Sicard, is a member of the UA Fort Smith Foundation Board and a co-chair of the Giving Opportunity Campaign.

“First Bank Corp has been a partner with the University from the very beginning,” says Williams, “and we really appreciate everything they’ve done for us.” Among those things is a $1 million gift given in 2006 to fund generous Scholarships of Distinction for business students.

The Collegiate Ambassadors Board is simply a creative, synergistic way of enhancing a longstanding relationship for the benefit of everyone involved—the Ambassadors themselves, UA Fort Smith, First Bank Corp and, ultimately, the entire community.

NEvEr MorE iMporTaNT ThaN NowRecently, while I was shopping for groceries, a loyal UA Fort Smith supporter greeted me. After a brief visit, he told me he missed hearing from us and wondered if he had been removed from our mailing list.

I assured him he had not and explained that we were in the

process of transitioning to a new Foundation newsletter, Advances. We hope you enjoy this first issue; the next should arrive in early May.

Additionally, we continue to publish Your Personal Update, a one-page insider’s look at newsworthy items, and The Carillon, for folks who may be interested in estate planning issues.

You can visit our web site at www.uafortsmithfoundation.org and click on “Contact Us” to let us know which publications you’d like to receive—and which you’d rather not. We know it’s important to stay in touch, but we don’t want to overwhelm you!

I would also like to take this opportunity to tell you how our donors really helped us through a tough situation recently.

Due to the economic downturn, our endowments experienced a sharp decline in earnings last fiscal year. We depend on those earnings to provide scholarships, and we had hundreds of worthy students who needed the financial help.

Rather than borrow from the University’s operational dollars or raise tuition substantially, we asked individuals and businesses to make gifts that we could spend outright. And the majority of those asked responded in an overwhelmingly generous way.

Thanks to the gifts from these folks, combined with some accumulated earnings in older endowment funds, we were able to provide nearly $825,000 in Foundation scholarships to a total of 334 promising students—just seven students less than the year before!

Since more than half of our students are the first in their families ever to earn a college degree, keeping them enrolled at UA Fort Smith is the best hope for better-paying jobs and a more educated citizenry for our community and state.

So, to those who stepped forward to help, thank you for your investment in our University and our students. Never has your support of higher education been more important than in these challenging times.

Best regards,

Marta M. Loyd Executive Director, UA Fort Smith Foundation Vice Chancellor for University Advancement

$2,205,200

$547,956

$5,418,361 $2,252,568

$3,124,630

$410,051 $1,495,246

$193,097

$2,244,391

First Bank Corp has been a partner with

the University from the very beginning, and we really appreciate

everything they’ve done for us.

- Dr. Steve Williams

The Collegiate Ambassadors Board meets monthly with First National Bank Vice President Sam T. Sicard (right). It’s a unique opportunity not only for students like senior Business Administration major David Hartsfield (left), but also for the bank.

2004 - (4th quarter) 2005 2006 2007

NeW addITIoNs sTreNgTheN fouNdaTIoN Team

321

advaNces - The Newsletter of the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith Foundation | Nov. 2010 | Vol. 1 - No. 1

The perfecT (vIrTual) paTIeNTHealth Sciences students practice starting IVs on a cutting-edge simulator, given by Carl and Brenda Davis

$4,725,619

$412,474

$624,095

$1,846,025$1,551,134

$847,323$179,160

$864,040

$2,126,819

$231,869

“When I went to nursing school, we practiced starting IVs on each other, and trust me, that is not a good way to learn,” says Brenda Davis. “So when we saw the IV simulator, I was pretty excited about it.”

She was so excited, in fact, that a few weeks after seeing the $13,000 simulator in use at UA Fort Smith’s Pendergraft Health Sciences Center, she and her husband, Carl, President of Davis Iron and Metal, bought the University a second one.

Using a combination of advanced software, 3D graphics, and a model arm loaded with sensors, the simulator allows students to practice on a variety of virtual patients, from infant to elderly, in a variety of scenarios.

But perhaps the simulator’s biggest advantage is that, unlike fellow nursing students, it will tolerate as many practice sticks as a student needs. “With the simulators, students can practice over and over again until they get that skill perfected,” says Dr. Carolyn Mosley, Dean of the College of Health Sciences. “They improve the quality of care our graduates provide.”

The simulators also help make UA Fort Smith’s Health Sciences programs more competitive. “Most nursing programs are evolving to include more technology,” says Mosley, “but not every program has this kind of equipment.” And that attracts the kind of top students that give UA Fort Smith’s nursing programs a licensing exam pass rate over 90%.

It’s not just nursing students that benefit, though. In fact, nearly all Health Sciences students can utilize the simulators. That means such a gift has remarkably wide-ranging impact, says Mosley.

It’s a point not lost on the Davises. “There are going to be lots of hands on that machine,” says Brenda. “It helps all the students in that college, not just one or two.”

The Davises also believe strongly in the importance of scholarships, and they fund the Laverne Davis Hudson Nursing Scholarship, named in honor of Carl’s late mother, a nurse too. “We were both poor kids,” says Brenda. “I got a full-ride nursing scholarship; that was the way I was able to go to school.”

The College of Health Sciences now has three IV simulators, but, says Dr. Mosley, “we can certainly utilize more.” In fact, gifts of almost any kind of equipment are extremely helpful. “We need more equipment for labs in general—blood pressure cuffs, IV pumps, even things like videos—because we’re growing so fast. Even small amounts can go a long way; we can do so much with anything that anyone gives us.”

“The community has been awful good to us, and we think it’s important to give back,” says Carl Davis, with wife Brenda in their Fort Smith home.

Using advanced software, 3D graphics, and a model arm

loaded with sensors, the state-of-the-art IV simulator given

by the Davises allows students

to practice on a variety of virtual patients.

2007 2009

“There is such energy on campus at UA Fort Smith, and I love that I get to be a part of it,” says chrisTy williaMs, 1 the University’s new Director of Donor Relations. “I look forward to meeting those that invest in the University and the lives of our students and allowing them to see the impact their gifts have on the future.” Williams, who grew up in Lavaca, attended UA Fort Smith for several semesters on her way to a Bachelor’s in Public Relations from Oklahoma Baptist University. A member of the Leadership Fort Smith class of 2010, she previously served as Executive Director of the Single Parent Scholarship Fund of Crawford and Sebastian Counties.

As UA Fort Smith’s new Director of Advancement Communications, Zack ThoMas 2 will edit not only Advances, but also the University’s first magazine, debuting next spring, and Lion Lines, a quarterly electronic newsletter for alumni. Thomas, who holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Arkansas, has taught university-level composition and creative writing at institutions in Arkansas, Alabama, and California and served as editor of a variety of publications. “I never thought I’d have the chance to build a magazine from the ground up,” Thomas said. “The UA Fort Smith story is a compelling one, and I’m excited to help tell it.”

Student and Young Alumni Coordinator kaTiE schluTErMaN 3 holds a Bachelor’s in Marketing from UA Fort Smith, where she served on the Chancellor’s Leadership Council and as Student Senate Secretary, Cub Camp Director, and head RA, as well as competing as the University’s first lady golfer. Schluterman, both of whose parents attended Westark, is a member of the Leadership Fort Smith class of 2009. Before joining the Foundation team, Schluterman served as a brand coordinator and media buyer at Williams/Crawford. “My experience as a student at UA Fort Smith was incredible,” said Schluterman, “and I’m thrilled about the opportunity to start the new student and young alumni programs.”

$1,561,956$145,191

$33,000,000 aNd couNTINg!

ToTal coNTrIbuTIoNs by quarTer To ua forT smITh’s gIvINg opporTuNITy campaIgN.As of September 30, 2009, the campaign total stood at just over $33,000,000—66% of the $50 million objective.

Please consider joining us in our commitment to Giving Opportunity.

2008

back To school WITh a purposeIn her daughter, senior English ed. major and Ross Pendergraft Scholar Sarah Bradshaw has found the motivation she was missing

ImpacT, persoNIfIed

university of arkansas - fort smith foundation, Inc. • 5210 grand avenue • fort smith, ar 72903 • 479-788-7020

“Even with Pell Grants, I still had to pay a lot, and sometimes I couldn’t afford some of my books,” says Sarah Bradshaw, a 24-year-old senior majoring in English with teacher licensure. “Because of this scholarship, this is the first semester I’ve ever been able to pay for all my books without borrowing money.”

The $2,000 Ross Pendergraft Scholarship allowing her to do so is given to a junior or senior with financial need who has demonstrated academic excellence, and Bradshaw has certainly done that. She maintains a 3.53 GPA, has appeared on the Dean’s List all four of her semesters at UA Fort Smith, and recently took office as

vice-president of the campus chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, a selective international English honor society.

As paths so often do, though, Bradshaw’s has wandered some along the way. In the summer of 2007, after dropping out of the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville two years earlier, she was back home in Van Buren, divorced, raising a year-and-a-half-old daughter, and not sure exactly where to go from there.

When Bradshaw’s parents encouraged her to at least visit UA Fort Smith and think about returning to school, she found that she fit right in. “I started here in fall 2007,” she says, “and I liked it, I really did. I was surprised how much, because growing up here I never thought I’d go to UA Fort Smith, but it’s a radically different school now than it was then. It just went really well, and after one semester, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.”

What Bradshaw wants to do is teach English. She’ll spend the spring 2010 semester interning and then hopes to land a job with a local junior high or high school starting next fall. She already has her sights set on a Master’s but wants to wait until she’s Praxis III-certified, which requires at least two years of teaching. If scholarships can be thought of as investments in a community’s future, it’s tough to imagine a more promising security than Bradshaw.

The catalyst for her newfound success? Her daughter, who turns four in December. “She’s the reason I have the motivation to do as well as I’ve done,” Bradshaw says. “I’ve had the experience of working full-time and going to school full-time back when I was 18, 19 years old, and I thought it was just so hard back then. It’s a lot harder when you have a kid, but I do a lot better now than before.”

The UA Fort Smith faculty hasn’t hurt, either. Bradshaw is particularly grateful to Interim English Department Chair Dr. Melissa Whiting, who was instrumental in getting Bradshaw her scholarship, but, she says, “Almost everyone I’ve had for my English and education classes has just been phenomenal. And they know you; you’re not just a number.”

After interning during

the spring 2010

semester, Sarah

Bradshaw, 24, hopes

to begin teaching at

a local junior high or

high school next fall.

To Whom It May Concern:

Words could never truly express my thankfulness for receiving the Ruth Going

Nursing Scholarship.

Being a nontraditional student and a mother of three (one of whom is autistic),

I have a lot of worries on my “worry list.” Thankfully now I can mark “paying for

my education” off of that list.

I’m not exactly sure who Ruth Going is, but she is my hero, and I thank everyone

involved in allowing me this great honor.

“Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities,

because in each of us there is a private hope and dream, which, fulfilled, can be

translated into benefit for everyone …” —JFK

Thank you,

Angela G.

For each issue of Advances, we ask several Foundation Board Members a different question. This time it was, “Tell us about your first charitable gift—when was it made, who was it to, and why did you decide to make it?”

ua ForT sMiTh FouNDaTioN, iNc. BoarD oF DirEcTors

RICK BEAUCHAMPWhen I was five or six, my parents explained how important it was to put my quarter in the offering plate every Sunday. That’s the first thing I can remember as far as giving. On the way to Sunday school and church, they’d ask my sister and me, “Do you have your quarter?” And if we didn’t, then they’d advance us one. So in my case, charitable giving has always been a way of life. As we grow up and add a few more years, we can see how important it is to support charities and specifically education.

DON FLANDERSThe first charitable gift that I remember was when I was kid growing up and we always tithed to the church. My tithe was a nickel, and I took it to the church each Sunday. And most of my giving now comes out of a tithing account. As I’ve gone along through life I’ve tried to share what I’ve earned—what God has allowed me to benefit from—and tithe along the way. I believe you’re taking a lot out of life, and you need to give some back for other people to enjoy. That’s what I’ve tried to do.

JOANN GEDOSHWell, I was working at the counseling and guidance center, and I saw so many women as a counselor who had no way to make a living after they were divorced or their husband died. My mother was an educator, so I always knew that education was so important, but I’d never really seen the aftermath for a woman who didn’t know how to do anything and had to get started again. The new poor are usually divorced women, unless they’re getting a good alimony check, and those weren’t the women I was meeting. And thinking about getting these women—older women—to go back to college was what really motivated me to give.

Rick Beauchamp, ChairBill Hanna, Vice ChairRobert E. Miller, TreasurerJanice H. Powell, Secretary Cindy BagbyJimmy G. BellKent BlochbergerRobert Y. Cohen IICarl D. CorleyHank FarrellDon FlandersJoAnn GedoshPeggy HadleyH. Lawson HembreeAnnette Landrum, M.D.Marianne Lane-ThompsonJohn McFarlandRoger S. Meek, Jr.Neal R. PendergraftMark RumseySam M. SicardDouglas O. Smith, Jr.Steven SpradlinJohn R. TaylorSusan M. TaylorJames D. Walcott, Jr.William S. WalkerBennie B. WestphalRandy W. WewersChris WhittStanhope WilkinsonJane Warner WilliamsJim WilliamsonJohn T. WomackRobert A. Young III

This one also reminded us that the namesakes of our scholarships are much more than just names. They are sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers, friends and admired colleagues, some departed and some still with us. What they all share in common is that they were deemed worthy by the people close to them of such a lasting honor.

The Ruth Going Nursing Scholarship is funded by Ruth’s younger sister, Nina Abernathy, who worked for UA Fort Smith’s College of Health Sciences until several years ago.

Born and raised in Altus, Arkansas, Going lived most of her adult life in Houston. “She was always a strong influence in my life,” said Abernathy. “She always worked hard. She never went to college or had the opportunity to. She graduated from high school and went to work and then had a family and grandchildren and worked up until she started having trouble with numbers.”

The trouble with numbers was a sign of a brain tumor, to which Going succumbed in 2000.

“I did a nursing scholarship because I was working in that area,” said Abernathy. “My sister wasn’t a nurse. I think she probably would have liked to work in healthcare if she’d had the opportunity, but she didn’t. This was just a way of honoring her memory.”

Abernathy was touched by the letter. “This young lady’s note was really special. I have high hopes for this woman. I really think she’ll do well in nursing and in life, so I’m glad she’s got this opportunity.”

Among the hundreds of thank-you notes the Foundation receives each year from grateful scholarship recipients, there are always a few that stand out, that remind us of the very real ways in which scholarships impact the lives not just of students, but of families and, over time, whole communities. This was one of those: