UAFS Receives $300,000 Gift from Benefit Bank

Benefit Bank of Fort Smith has provided two gifts totaling $300,000 to the University of Arkansas - Fort Smith to aid the Health Sciences Department.

A $250,000 professorship, titled the 'Benefit Bank Endowed Professor of Nursing,' will provide support outside of the Universities regular budget, while a $50,000 gift will fund the 'Benefit Bank Adult High-Fidelity Simulator', called a 'sim-man,' which will be the second simulator for the UAFS College of Health and Sciences.

Benefit Bank officials say, the gift is to help with a nursing faculty shortage, a shortage of nurses in Arkansas, and UAFS nursing laboratory needs.

'The Benefit Bank Endowed Professor of Nursing will allow the University to recruit and retain faculty that they might not have been able to pursue,' says Rod Coleman, chair of the Benefit Bank Board of Directors.

UAFS administrators say having a second 'sim-man' will be a plus for the University and nursing students currently have a 10:1 ratio of students in the current 'sim-man' lab. The new simulator will result in a 5:1 ratio.