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ChancellorOctober 03, 2025
Campus Update, October 3, 2025
Written By: Terisa Riley
Happy Friday, colleagues and students.
Family Weekend: Today marks the start of UAFS Family Weekend. I hope to see all of you at our home volleyball games tonight at 6 p.m. and tomorrow
at 1 p.m. We have a host of other activities such as our employee appreciation event
prior to the game tonight at 5 p.m. In the Srygley Room at the Stubblefield Center,
and the Vietnamese Student Association will be hosting a festival at the Lion's Den
immediately following the game tonight. Tomorrow, we start early with a 5K, and head
over for a fabulous Family Weekend festival in the parking lot at the Stubb. Thanks
to ALL of the fantastic people who work tirelessly to ensure that these events are
fun for all of us.
BIG Thanks: I want to extend my sincere thanks to Andrew Rish at Plant Operations
for his continuous commitment to our campus. Andrew works on many nights and weekends
to ensure that our HVAC system is working, especially before big events. Just last
night, Andrew was here after most of us were at home and in bed in order to ensure
that the boiler system in the Campus Center was working before a big event this morning.
Andrew, we are so grateful for your hard work.
Research Den: Many congratulations to Taylor Martinez, Director of Research and Sponsored
Programs, for hosting a successful, second Research Den this fall. The featured researchers
were Dr. Ben Lawson and Dr. Ragupathy Kannan. It was fascinating to learn about their
research in the fields of the cultural history of waste disposal and ornithology,
respectively.
Congratulations to our nursing students who received their white coats this week!
Thank you to the faculty and staff in the College of Health, Education, and Human
Sciences for your work to make it a great ceremony.
Music: This has been a productive week for the Department of Music and Theatre. Many
of us took a much-deserved break to listen to the Noon Jazz Show on Monday, and enjoyed
a fantastic Faculty Showcase on Tuesday night. We are so lucky to be surrounded by
such talented musicians at UAFS.
Next week will be very busy on and off campus. UAFS will host the Arkansas Association
of College and University Business Officers for their annual conference. Congratulations
and good luck to Vice Chancellor Carey Tucker who is the chair of the organization
this year.
UAFS also will host the "One Pill Can Kill" training which is led by Arkansas Attorney
General Tim Griffin. This event has been scheduled to occur at universities and colleges
across the state to provide training in an effort to reduce deaths due to fentanyl.
Thank you to Chief of Staff Jennifer King for organizing this event on behalf of the
university.
On Tuesday, several university leaders will represent UAFS at the Fort Smith Regional
Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting. The keynote speaker will be Ambassador Leena-Kaisa
Mikkola, Ambassador of Finland to the United States. Finland is one of the countries
participating in the Foreign Military Sales (FMS) pilot training in Fort Smith. I
look forward to hearing from the ambassador as we seek to strengthen our commitment
to this mission.
At noon on October 8, Professor Tom Wing will present his CED (Center for Economic
Development) Talk: Stage Coaches, George Washington, the U.S. Deputy Marshals, and
more. This event will be held at the UAFS Center for Economic Development. It is free,
open to the public, and lunch is provided, but guests should register at the CED website.
There are so many exciting things happening on campus and in our community. I encourage
you to take advantage of all that the beautiful River Valley has to offer.
Go Lions!
Terisa Riley
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