The University of Central Arkansas has announced that 30 students have been selected as the inaugural class for the University Scholars program.
The University Scholars program is a pilot initiative aimed at expanding honors programming to a greater number of students. Currently, UCA’s Norbert O. Schedler Honors College has the capacity to serve only three percent of UCA’s undergraduate population. With enrollment in each Schedler Honors College cohort being capped at 75 and over 800 students applying each year, the university recognized a need to expand honors programming. The University Honors Council developed a proposal, and the University Scholars Program is being introduced to fill this need.
The pilot class of 2018 has an average high school GPA above 4.0 and an average ACT score of 28.
University Scholars students will take a common course in the fall of the freshman year titled “On Expertise: The Necessity of Scholarship and Leadership.”
Each remaining semester in the freshman and sophomore years, students will have the opportunity to take honors-sections of university core courses that will have smaller enrollments, be discussion-based and will focus on developing a specialized skill set. In the junior and senior year, students will complete an honors capstone project rooted in undergraduate research or creative work.
All members of the incoming class were selected using a holistic admissions process that factors in the applicant’s academic performance, service, and leadership potential.
Acceptance into the University Scholars Program comes with an academic stipend, access to a living-learning community in Jefferson W. Farris Honors Hall, and participation in a unique curriculum with ample opportunities for service learning, project-based education, collaborative work, and undergraduate research.
“We believe the skills students will get out of this program are the type of cutting-edge skills that students need in order to prepare them for graduate school and their future professions,” said Dr. Patricia Smith, Honors College interim dean.
The names and hometowns of each student is as follows:
| First Name | Last Name | PermCity | State |
|---|---|---|---|
| Clarissa | Armstrong | Little Rock | Arkansas |
| Gavin | Ball | Rudy | Arkansas |
| Erik | Batt | Van Buren | Arkansas |
| Cole | Campbell | Alexander | Arkansas |
| Katie | Chudej | Mountain Home | Arkansas |
| Nishka | Desai | Clarksville | Arkansas |
| Kimberly | Farber | Malvern | Arkansas |
| Audrey | Ferrari | Conway | Arkansas |
| Sarah | Friedman | Sherwood | Arkansas |
| Emily | Housley | Searcy | Arkansas |
| Olivia | Huett | Conway | Arkansas |
| Maria | Lambdin | Jacksonville | Arkansas |
| Noah | Laury | Fayetteville | Arkansas |
| Leslie | Lingo | Nashville | Arkansas |
| Makena | Manes | Saint Joe | Arkansas |
| Katherine | Martin | Little Rock | Arkansas |
| Mayenssi | Montiel | Ola | Arkansas |
| Kai | Mortensen | Van Buren | Arkansas |
| Emily | Newberry | Springdale | Arkansas |
| McKayla | Phan | Fort Smith | Arkansas |
| Sabrina | Phan | Fort Smith | Arkansas |
| Garrett | Spears | Van Buren | Arkansas |
| Whitney | Storey | Rogers | Arkansas |
| Joel | van Geemen | Sherwood | Arkansas |
| Alexis | Villalobos | Rogers | Arkansas |
| Kaitlyn | Vo | Bentonville | Arkansas |
| Katlyn | Watson | Charleston | South Carolina |
| Chase | Wilcox | Maumelle | Arkansas |
| Julia | Williams | Benton | Arkansas |
| Lindsey | Witting | Conway | Arkansas |
