FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Sixty rising
eighth-graders from the Kansas City area will visit the University of Arkansas
campus next week to learn about what it’s like to attend college and to study
the careers of nursing, engineering, business and nutrition.
The students will take part in programs
in the Eleanor Mann School of Nursing in the College of Education and Health
Professions, the College of Engineering, the Sam M. Walton College of Business,
and the School of Human Environmental Sciences in the Bumpers College of
Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences. Their visit is part of the Kauffman
Scholars program and coordinated on campus by Pre-College Programs.
Funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman
Foundation in the Kansas City area, Kauffman Scholars is a comprehensive,
multi-year program designed to help promising, yet challenged, low-income urban
students in Kansas City prepare for and complete a college education. The
program provides support to students beginning in seventh grade and works with
the students until they complete college. Students and families can expect to
be involved in Kauffman Scholars for 10 or 11 years at no cost to the student
or family.
As one of the requirements of the
program, students must attend a summer residential program at a university. The
program allows universities to reach out to underrepresented groups, such as
recruiting men and minorities to nursing. Each student coming to Fayetteville
will participate in one of the four academic majors. The academic assignments
are based on a worksheet the student fills out describing interests and a form
ranking the student’s choice based on brief session descriptions.
“They learn what it will be like to be in
college,” said Gina Ervin, senior associate director of Pre-College Programs. “We
hope to give them an incredible program.”
In the nursing school, the students will
learn about nursing duties, responsibilities and career options in a simulated
hospital room surrounded by hospital equipment. They will receive hands-on
training in assessing vital signs such as temperature, pulse, respiration and
blood pressure.
Students will bake bread and conduct
nutrition experiments when they visit the School of Human Environmental
Sciences. The introduction to the science of cooking and nutrition includes
taste tests, too.
They will design “bling bling” products
and sell them to friends for Walton College Bucks during their time spent in
the business school. The students will work in teams learning to use new technology,
apply math skills and write business plans.
The engineering program offers the
students the chance to build a bridge and a boat, competing with other students
on bridge strength and boat speed.
Other activities will include campus
tours and admission information, an African American studies lecture,
participation in an etiquette seminar with fine dining at Ella’s Restaurant at
the Inn at Carnall Hall, a catered dinner and tour of the Donald W. Reynolds Razorback
Stadium, and recreation at the Health, Physical Education and Recreation
Building. Each institute session will conclude with a graduation, pinning
ceremony and celebration cookout.
One group of students will arrive the
evening of Sunday, July 9, and leave Wednesday, July 12, as the second group
arrives for its three-day stay, going home on Saturday, July 15.