A University of Arkansas at Little Rock professor has donated $25,000 to support and build up the Department of Rhetoric and Writing graduate program.  

Dr. Joyce Carter’s donation will be used for educational needs including but not limited to graduate student stipends, funded teaching assistantships, travel to national conferences, merit-based stipends, and updates to student labs and facilities.

Carter began serving as chair of the UALR Rhetoric and Writing Department in the College of Social Sciences and Communication in July. She is a professor of rhetoric and technical writing and teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in argumentation, hypertext, usability research, publication management, and rhetoric and technology. Carter also is the chair of the Conference on College Composition and Communication and a national leader in her field.

Prior to coming to UALR, she worked as associate professor at Texas Tech University in the Department of English.

“I am continually impressed with the dedication of our faculty and academic leadership to the success of our students and growth of our academic programs,” said Dr. Lisa Bond-Maupin, dean of the College of Social Sciences and Communication. “Dr. Carter is a relatively new member of our college community, and this underscores for me the significance of her generosity.”

Carter’s contribution is a leadership gift for the university-wide campus campaign and another example of the UALR community giving back to its students.

“I am excited to start this fund to support our graduate students,” Carter said. “This fund is an important strategy to grow our graduate program, raise our national visibility, and enable our program to be competitive with other programs.”

Members of the public and the university community are invited to help build the fund by donating online.