JUNE 2001

Table of Contents

Community Volunteerism by Faculty and Students

Faculty Volunteer Service Award

This prestigious annual award is presented to a nominated UAMS faculty member in recognition of outstanding volunteer service in the community through efforts that extend beyond the classroom, laboratory or clinic. Nominations are based on work during the current academic year or a lifetime of professional service. The recipient is honored at a reception and receives an inscribed memento and a $500 cash award. The program began in 1991, and the distinguished recipients and their areas of community service or interest are shown below:

Partners in Education

UAMS is a proud Partner in Education with the Little Rock School District, and the district regards the university as a model partner. Through Ronald H. Winters, Dean of the College of Health Related Professions, UAMS maintains an active science program for students enrolled in Parkview Magnet High School in collaboration with the school's Science Department chair, Mr. Danny Fuller. Faculty and student presenters are frequent visitors to this school.

Through the sponsorship of the UAMS House of Delegates, about 35 employees – and about 25 students in the UAMS College of Medicine – have served as mentors, readers, and homework tutors to students at nearby Woodruff Elementary School. Most participants in this outreach program give an hour a month to make a difference in the life of child. Principal Janice Wilson maintains a list of students who want a mentor, and according to her the students want and honor their mentor; which is quite a shift of attitude from "I was assigned a mentor because I messed up in school."

On Groundhog Day, selected Woodruff students visited UAMS to "shadow" an employee or a faculty member for a half-day. Students have shadowed a nurse, a chef, a dental hygienist, a rehab therapist, a graphic artist, and other roles of interest to them as a possible career track. UAMS scientists serve as judges for the schools' annual Science Fair. The judging is based on the students' applying the scientific methods to a problem and finding the result.

Neighborhood Involvement

Through the Office of the Chancellor, UAMS has maintained a continuing relationship with the Capitol View – Stifft Station Neighborhood Association since 1996. This organization is based in the area to the east of the campus, and the need for a dialog with our neighbors emerged from the process of eastward expansion of the campus by land acquisition in the Elm, Cedar, and Pine Streets region.

From early concerns about the possible negative effects of UAMS construction projects in the area – loss of housing stock, traffic congestion, noise, on-street parking in the neighborhood by employees – a positive and interactive dialog has developed. The association and the university now regularly share information, collaborate on themes of mutual interest (spot zoning, crime reduction, traffic patterns), and promote a good neighbor policy.

Volunteer Community Service by Pediatrics Faculty

Forty-two UAMS faculty members of this department of 155 physicians and scientists (more than one-fourth) reported 104 commitments to various community organizations and worthy causes. Although this is not a comprehensive listing, these busy physicians and scientists invested considerable time and energy in their community and served as:

• soccer coaches for kids
• leaders of medical mission trips abroad
• members of boards of high-profile non-profit organizations
• appointees of the Governor to health policy advisory committees
• leaders of local, regional, and national professional medical societies and organizations
• volunteer health-care providers to local “rescue missions”
• interviewees on medical topics on local TV news programs
• fund-raisers for charitable organizations
• active participants in minority community service organizations
• judges for science fairs at schools
• Sunday School teachers
• speakers to civic clubs, service organizations, and Chamber of Commerce groups

© 2001 University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Division of Institutional Advancement
4301 W. Markham St., Slot 716
Little Rock, AR 72205
501-686-5685

06/25/01