And they’re off : Ceremony welcomes new students into UA community
Posted on Monday, August 25, 2008
ANDY SHUPE Northwest Arkansas Times New University of Arkansas students sing the UA’s alma mater during the annual Academic Convocation Sunday in Barnhill Arena. University administrators and faculty officially welcomed new students to campus during the convocation.
University of Arkansas Chancellor David Gearhart welcomed his first freshman class at the 7 th annual Academic Convocation on Sunday afternoon.
“ We are ver y, ver y pleased and proud you have joined the University of Arkansas, ” Gearhart told more than 3, 000 incoming students sitting in Barnhill Arena.
Shelia Higgs Burkhalter, director of First Year Experience for the university, said the event was originally created as a front bookend to graduation. Students were told at the beginning of the ceremony to imagine themselves in four years, standing in Bud Walton Arena accepting their degrees while their families proudly watched. She added that the event is usually held in Bud Walton Arena, but was changed to Barnhill Arena this year because of bleacher construction. It will return to Bud Walton Arena next year, she said.
First-year undergraduate students, graduate students and law students made up most of the crowd. University officials introduced faculty and staff to give the students a familiarity with some of the faces they would be seeing over the next few years.
Carter Ford, the president of the university’s Associated Student Government, gave students a rundown of how to succeed during their time at school. He explained that studying and class attendance are essential and that sleep and a balanced lifestyle were very helpful as well.
“ Staying up all night studying before a test is not good, ” he said. “ You won’t remember what you studied; trust me. ”
Ford also joked with the students and told them that calling the Hogs randomly throughout the day was a normal activity on the university campus.
Bob McMath, interim provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs, showed the new students two projects, the Early Breast Cancer Detection project by the College of Engineering and the Camp Aldersgate Design Build Program by the School of Architecture.
Both were worked on by current UA students and applied academic knowledge to real-life situations, and both projects were awarded the 2008 John A. White Award for Faculty-Student Collaboration. He encouraged students to get involved with their chosen academic programs and maybe even work on a project like the two featured.
“ Both projects addressed real human needs and gave students a sense of satisfaction, ” McMath said.
Burkhalter said the number of students who attend the convocation has risen over the past seven years. She said the very first event saw only 900 students, while following years saw a steady rise to 2, 500 students in 2007 and 3, 000 this year.
“ You can tell the message has finally caught on, ” Burkhalter said.
She said that the convocation is a kick off to the university’s Welcome Week, where students go through orientation camps and classes. All those events work together to reinforce the idea of community development and campus program participation, Burkhalter explained.
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