A new crop of freshmen and returning upper classmen and women arrive at UALR’s growing campus for the start of fall classes Thursday, Aug. 19. Students will find a new six-story engineering building open for business, a serene garden honoring Arkansas’ patroness of the arts, and more signs of dynamic growth.

Final enrollment figures won’t be available until the 11th day of classes, but as of mid-August, UALR Registrar Joyce Hail said enrollment was up nearly 8 percent.

“Last year, UALR enrolled the most students ever in the history of the University,” she said. “With new scholarship opportunities — including new private scholarships and the state’s lottery program — we expect a robust semester.”

According to Bob Denman, executive director of Development, the university has established over 100 new privately funded scholarships.

The new school year brings some faculty changes, including Dr. John Kirk, the new chair of the Department of History who will hold the Donaghey Chair in History. Previously a professor at the University of London, Kirk is an internationally renown scholar of the American civil rights movement. He is the author of the book, “Redefining the Color Line: Black Activism in Little Rock, Arkansas.”

Also joining the history faculty this year is Dr. Charles Romney as the new coordinator of the master of arts program in Public History. Previously on faculty at California’s Whittier College, Romney also worked in the private sector for several years in digital history and documentary film, mostly at the organization Clio Visualizing History. One of his documentaries was screened at the Sundance Film Festival.

UALR’s burgeoning nursing program, expected to break all enrollment records this semester to match Arkansas’ growing need for more health care workers, welcomes seven new faculty member, including a husband and wife team, Mary and Jeff Carmack. She was the assistant director of Arkansas Children’s Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit. He is an experienced teacher in both the pediatric and simulated lab settings with nursing experience in acute, chronic, and intensive pediatric care.

This year, UALR’s College of Professional Studies will offer a new Ph.D. in criminal justice, the only doctoral program of its kind in the state, joining strong undergraduate and master’s degree programs. Dr. Jeff Walker will coordinate the program.

“Criminal justice programs are growing across the country, in both undergraduate and graduate programs, so there are more teachers that are needed,” Walker said. “Federal government agencies, and state government agencies are moving more into research, and they need people to carry out that research.”

The Ph.D. program will require 57 hours of coursework, including core courses in advanced topics in criminal justice, research methods and statistics, and teaching practicum. Students will also take 12 hours of research practicum that includes both writing proposals under the guidance of faculty and seminars in grant acquisition.

Although the new EIT building is finished and open, students and faculty will still be seeing bulldozers and construction crews on campus this school year. Construction is under way on projects financed by UALR’s $62 million bond program approved this spring.

Crews are already excavating for a new honors residence hall on the east end of campus and a new home for the Nanotechnology Center on the west. The construction activity will require some relocating of parking lots, but students will be able to keep up with parking changes with a new online map.