Sponsored Student Programs Honors Faculty, Staff; Recognizes Graduating Students

A group photo of participants in Sponsored Student Programs.

Gordon Beavers with Gloria Flores Passmore.

Pam Delaney with Gloria Flores Passmore.

Alex Marino, a graduate student, shows off his award for service.

Former Chancellor Dan Ferritor with Gloria Flores Passmore.

The University of Arkansas Graduate School and International Education is pleased to announce the recipients of the annual Sponsored Student Programs Appreciation Awards.

This year’s recipients were acknowledged for contributions towards Sponsored Student Programs at large:

• Faculty Appreciation – Gordon Beavers, associate department head and graduate coordinator, computer science and computer engineering
• Staff Appreciation – Pam Delaney, student insurance representative, Academic Health Plans
• Alex Marino, graduate student in history and graduate assistant. 

Since 2010, each year an award has been presented to a faculty member and a staff member who have facilitated an aspect of the sponsored student process, encouraged or mentored the program’s sponsored students in the previous or past years and have exemplified outstanding contributions to this program.

Beavers and Delaney were presented their awards at the Sponsored Student Recognition Dinner on Monday, April 7, at the Alumni House.

In addition to those honored, special guests included Dan Ferritor, chancellor emeritus and vice president for academic affairs for the University of Arkansas System; Larry Foley, professor of journalism, and Wawan Yulianto, doctoral student in comparative literature and cultural studies as a ‘special appreciation’ for their respective efforts in initiating, producing, directing and translating the documentary, After the Tsunami. 

This 30-minute documentary shows how former presidents Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush worked with the Fulbright Foreign Student Program to create the Bush-Clinton Fulbright Tsunami Relief Program Scholarships, which are helping to restore the human capital in the Aceh Province of Indonesia and to rebuild what could not be replaced with asphalt and brick and mortar. After the Tsunami follows graduates who have returned home to the town of Banda Aceh, most of whom were placed at the University of Arkansas and Texas A&M University and are now working in the fields of education, agriculture, government and business. One U of A graduate runs an orphanage for children who lost their families in the tsunami.

In addition to honoring the filmmakers, Student Sponsored Programs recognized the sponsored students who are graduating in the spring or summer terms with bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degrees as well as those visiting student researchers and non-degree visiting students who will be returning to their home country after being with the U of A for one term or one year.

Lyvia Neves Rebello Alves, a student sponsored by the Government of Brazil as a non-degree visiting student shared: “I have had a great experience here at the University of Arkansas, and actually I cannot imagine another place to go and experience everything that I have experienced here. I will carry this for all my life. The University of Arkansas definitely is my second home. And as Dorothy says in the Wizard of Oz: ‘There is no place like home.’”

Manuel Sanchez, a graduate student in electrical engineering and a Fulbright Scholar from Panama, said, “This is a dream come true because since I was a child I always wanted to travel all around the world in order to meet people from all around the planet. Here at the U of A, they bring the world to you. … This diversity of culture encouraged me to share mine. … Because of this I decided to join a group of international students, the Fulbright Scholars at University of Arkansas.” He eventually served as the president of this group in the 2013-14 academic year. 

Sponsored students are those who are funded by foreign governments, the U.S. government, domestic and international agencies, private companies, and corporations. These international students, upon completion of their degrees, return to their home countries and serve as important links between the United States, Arkansas, and the University in business, government, education, and industry.