FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — For the eighth consecutive year, the University of Arkansas led the state with 38 students being named as award recipients of 2004-05 State Undergraduate Research Fellowships (SURF). UA students set an overall record one year ago, when 39 students were named SURF award recipients.

The SURF program was created in 1992 with a start-up grant from the National Science Foundation and is intended to foster active student/mentor relationships. After two years, funding for the fellowship shifted from the science foundation to the state of Arkansas.

“Having almost 40 students named SURF award recipients two years in a row is tangible evidence of the University of Arkansas fulfilling its vision of being a student-centered research university,” Chancellor John White said. “I am pleased our faculty members are encouraging undergraduate students to engage in research and development.

“Hands-on research experiences will advance the careers of faculty and students,” he said.

Awards range from $1,200 to $2,900 for the student. The student’s faculty mentor receives $1,000. Undergraduate students with a 3.25 grade-point average from any discipline planning a research or artistic project for the coming year are eligible to apply.

“It’s interesting to reflect on how much the SURF program has evolved in a little more than a decade,” said Collis Geren, dean of the UA Graduate School and long-time member of the state SURF committee. “In 1993, the first year these fellowships were awarded, the university had three award recipients in Fulbright College and three in the College of Engineering. Now, the university has had almost 40 recipients from a variety of fields in consecutive years.”

To be considered for the fellowship, a student must be nominated by a faculty mentor. Nominees submit a five-page project/research proposal and additional letters of recommendation.

Of the 38 award recipients, 23 students are enrolled in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences; three students are in the College of Engineering; three students are in the Bumpers College of Agriculture, Food and Life Sciences; and nine students are enrolled in the Sam M. Walton College of Business.

“The research projects which these grants support will allow our honors students to engage in various studies involving important business topics,” said John M. Norwood, associate professor of accounting in the Sam M. Walton College of Business. “This fellowship will give them valuable experience and will provide important information to the business and academic communities. The fact that so many Walton College honors students received these grants is a testament to the outstanding educational experience that our honors students are receiving.”

“The SURF grants have proven to be an effective way for undergraduates to engage in research activities that will make them more competitive for graduate, medical, and law schools and for top positions in their fields,” said Suzanne McCray, associate dean of the Honors College. “University of Arkansas SURF recipients have gone on to be Rhodes, Marshall, Barry Goldwater, Morris Udall, and Fulbright Scholars as well as National Science Foundation Graduate Fellows. The SURF grants link students with faculty in meaningful research that will provide a foundation for future inquiry.”

The SURF program grant is administered through Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Ark., and the annual Arkansas Undergraduate Research Conference is held at Henderson State’s campus where most UA SURF recipients present their research. A journal of student papers is published from those proceedings.

For more information on this year’s conference, scheduled for April, visit http://old.hsu.edu/dept/unr/.

For more information about these UA students, their proposals and their faculty mentors, contact the UA Honors College at 575-7678.

2004-2005 State Undergraduate Research Fellowship Recipients

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Student	Major	Mentor
Haley Beverburg	Physics	William Oliver
Melinda Bond	Anthropology	Jerome Rose
Elizabeth Bulla	Mathematics	John Ryan
Allison Burbank	Biology	Jeannine Durdik
Clayton Coffman	Biology	Fiona Goggin
David Deitz	Chemistry	Neil Allison
Aletha Edmondson	History	Tricia  Starks
Lynn Endicott