On Wednesday, Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas (UA Cossatot) and the University of Arkansas at Monticello (UAM) unveiled a new partnership designed to expand affordable higher education opportunities in Arkansas. This initiative allows UA Cossatot students to earn bachelor’s degrees from UAM while remaining in southwest Arkansas and benefiting from some of the state’s lowest tuition rates.

The agreement will enable UA Cossatot students to pursue a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from UAM through coursework offered on UA Cossatot’s campuses. The degree offering is pending approval from the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the Higher Learning Commission.

The University of Arkansas at Monticello Student Nurses Association (UAM SNA) recently received the Stellar School Chapter Award at the 74th National Student Nurses’ Association (NSNA) annual convention. 

UAM SNA attended the convention in Houston, Texas, from April 8 to 11. The delegation included Brianna Barnett, instructor of nursing at UAM; Kaitlyn Clark, a senior from Hamburg, Arkansas; Jacob Courson, a junior from Star City, Arkansas; Ashley Owen, instructor of nursing clinicals at UAM; Graci Philips, a senior from Star City, Arkansas; and Emma Scott, a junior from Magnet Cove, Arkansas.

According to the NSNA website, “the NSNA Stellar School Chapter Recognition Program recognizes NSNA school chapters that demonstrate ongoing involvement in NSNA, including a strong commitment to shared governance and professional development of their students and faculty. The awards are open to official NSNA school chapters that have maintained constituency status for the previous five years and meet specific criteria for recognition.” 

The University of Arkansas at Monticello (UAM) has received a $500,000 grant from the Windgate Foundation to establish the Weevil Wellness Center, a state-of-the-art, integrated health facility dedicated to serving UAM’s students, faculty and staff.

The grant, which runs through March 2027, will enable the transformation of 2,500 square feet of campus space into a facility offering behavioral health, urgent care and family practice services, delivered collaboratively by UAM and Mainline Health Systems, Inc.

UAM Counseling Services and Mainline Health Behavioral Health Clinic, both currently located in the Gibson University Center, and Mainline Health UAM Medical Clinic, currently located in Maxwell Hall, will relocate to the new center, which will be housed in an unoccupied portion of the Visual and Performing Arts Center, previously the Student Union. The building recently benefited from major upgrades funded by the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council.