University to Celebrate Graduate Education Week With Workshops, Exhibits

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – The University of Arkansas will celebrate its first Graduate Education Week during the week of Feb. 6-10, 2012. Workshops, activities and exhibits will be offered throughout the week to highlight the contributions graduate students make to the university, the state and the world.

“The University of Arkansas has some of the brightest graduate students in the country,” said Chancellor G. David Gearhart. “Our great state benefits from their work as scholars pursuing master’s or doctorate degrees and conducting cutting edge research that enhances the state’s economy. They share new ideas, talents and perspectives and all of Arkansas benefits from having them here. The number of graduate students and their scholarly achievements are major contributors to the University of Arkansas’ highest possible categorization within the Carnegie Foundation’s classification of the nation’s universities and colleges.”

The week’s activities will culminate in the graduate student research competition between 1 and 3 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10, 2012.

“We invite the university community to take time out on that day to view the research posters and presentations of the graduate students,” said James Rankin, the vice provost for research and economic development. “We especially hope our undergraduate students will view the graduate students’ posters, with their class or individually.”

Since 2000, graduate student enrollment at the University of Arkansas has grown 51 percent, from 2,482 to 3,759 in fall 2011.

“We have enrolled many of the best doctoral students in the country with our distinguished doctoral fellowships and doctoral academy fellowships,” said Sharon Gaber, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs. “Over 250 fellows are currently enrolled and over 150 have graduated to date. With the help of these very prestigious awards, we have attracted students away from other top-ten U.S. schools to pursue their doctorates at the University of Arkansas.”

On Thursday of Graduate Education Week, the Graduate School will host a special event to honor the school’s currently enrolled graduate fellows and their faculty mentors.“We’ve been working toward instituting Graduate Education Week for some time now,” said Todd Shields, dean of the Graduate School and International Education. “This will help us put a spotlight on the contributions our graduate students make to the university. And, as part of our Graduate Education Week launch, we will invite graduate deans from around the state to join us for a discussion of graduate education in the state of Arkansas.” A full calendar of events for Graduate Education Week will be available closer to the celebration.