After suffering from a very bad last week the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff has some great news buzzing on campus.
UPAB’s School of Agriculture, Fisheries and Human Sciences, or SAFHS, has been given federal funds in the amount of $1.5 million through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) 1890 Capacity Building Grants Program that will help fund future research projects conducted by university professors, according to reports.
Dr. Edmund R. Buckner, associate dean for Research and Extension Programs at UAPB, cheered on the university’s huge success in obtaining a federal grant, something he says has been difficult to do lately, commenting, “We are very pleased that our research and Extension faculty have been successful in procuring grant funding to help conduct their work.”
“Federal grant funding is becoming more difficult to obtain. Our faculty’s success in competing for increasingly scarce funding highlights our commitment to the university and the people we serve,” Buckner said.
Last week Pine Bluff faced public scrutiny when multiple news outlets reported how the UAPB athletics program wrongly allowed more than 120 student-athletes to compete and practice while being ineligible under NCAA rules and regulations.
Read more on federal funds and UAPB’s athletics program:
In a press release UAPB Chancellor Dr. Laurence B. Alexander made a comment on his disapproval in the additional penalties smacked on by the NCAA, saying “[The university] remain disappointed even with the reduced penalties imposed by the Committee.”
Alexander added that the university may seek an appeal to the initial decision made by the NCAA to hold more penalties against the athletics program than what the university previously self-assessed and self-reported to the non-profit association.
So after being slammed by the NCAA for allowing as many as 124 ineligible athletes to compete UAPB seems to be finally back to normal.
Just another day in the week.
