UAFS Foundation raises $31 million toward $50 million goal

A ceremony marking the collection of $31 million in a “silent” campaign by the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith Foundation included comments from the university chancellor about expected student growth.

The foundation held a private meeting Mar. 7 at Hardscrabble Country Club during which Robert A. Young III, chairman of Fort Smith-based Arkansas Best Corp. and co-chair of the foundation’s “Giving Opportunity” campaign, announced the $31 million mark in the effort to reach a goal of $50 million.

“Right now, our university is on the precipice of becoming a first-tier regional university,” Young noted in a university press release. “And we will achieve this prestigious level of success through the cooperative efforts of our students, faculty, staff, administration, alumni and community.”

The groundwork for the campaign began with the silent phase in 2004 with a $5 million gift by Donnie Pendergraft. Young said her gift “inspired others” to give.

One of those so inspired was Chester Koprovic (at right), a Fort Smith businessman with several companies in the steel fabrication business. Koprovic’s $1 million estate-plan allocation
will fund two endowed professorships, “The Beth Koprovic Professorship in
Nursing” and “The Koprovic Family Professorship in Engineering,” according to campaign co-chair Bill Hanna.

“He attended UA Fort Smith, at that time known as Fort Smith Junior College, on the GI Bill,” Hanna said of Koprovic. “Through his first-hand experience on campus, he understood the value of the education he received.”

Also recognized during the event was Fort Smith businessman Chris Whitt, who pledged a $1 million gift a few years ago. He expedited payment on his pledge and allowed $100,000 of it to be used outright to meet the immediate scholarship needs of the university while endowments are declining, according to a university statement.

UAFS Chancellor Paul Beran said the foundation gifts will be used in four areas: endowed scholarships; faculty support in the form of chairs, professorships and opportunities for professional development; technology and instructional equipment; and a university learning and research center which will double the size of our current Boreham Library facility.

Specifically, campaign dollars have been designated with $30 million for scholarships, $7 million for faculty leaders and innovators, $6 million for additional technology, $5 million for a learning and research center and $2 million for ongoing annual support, the university noted in the statement.

Beran told the Mar. 7 crowd of about 300 that student enrollment will reach as high as 9,000 within 10 years. There were just short of 5,000 full-time equivalent students enrolled in the Fall 2008 semester. And within that 10-year window, Beran predicted 1,000 students living on campus, an offering of more than 45 bachelor’s degrees and a core group of master’s level graduate programs.

Campaign co-chair Neal Pendergraft, son of Donnie Pendergraft and the late Ross Pendergraft, said he was impressed by the individuals who continue to give generously even in difficult times.

“In such times, many workers return to university campuses for additional training or to complete degrees,” Pendergraft said in a statement from the university. “There is a lot of
pressure on the university to meet the growing needs of students, faculty and industry. It cannot be done on tuition and state revenues alone.”

The remainder of the campaign to reach the $50 million goal has a “tentative” time frame of three years, said Marta Loyd, executive director of the UA Fort Smith Foundation and vice chancellor for university advancement. She said the tough economic times has caused the university to adopt a softer deadline.