High school students interested in learning more about attending the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) in Conway are being welcomed to campus on Saturday and again one day next month.
UCA will host Bear Facts Days for prospective students on February 16th and Saturday, March 9th, beginning with registration from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m.
Bear Facts Days provides an opportunity for prospective students and their families to tour the UCA campus; meet UCA professors and current students; attend information sessions on financial aid and scholarships; and visit residence halls.
The February and March sessions are the fifth and sixth Bear Facts Days for this academic year.
Students and their families need to register in advance to attend and may do so online (
click here).
“From the time they step foot on campus, staff and faculty are standing outside Reynolds Hall shaking everybody’s hand,” said Ron Patterson, director of undergraduate admission. “It’s an exciting time for UCA and prospective students from across Arkansas and surrounding states because we can share with them the experience of being a UCA bear.”
The day includes the Bear Fair, which is an open event set the Student Center with information tables. Visitors have the opportunity to meet one-on-one with staff, faculty, and student representatives from academic units, student services, and student organizations.
The day ends with campus tours of academic and residential buildings.
Patterson said prospective students and their family members can speak directly with faculty members who have the potential of being their teachers later the same year. In some cases, the visitors may be speaking with a department chair, college dean, or other university administrators, as everyone supports Bear Facts Days.
“Our academic sessions speak volumes as parents and students can meet a faculty member from their department,” he said. “It’s the accessibility of our faculty on that day that really makes the difference.”
Faculty accessibility, genuine Bear Pride, the beauty of the campus, and campus community support of Bear Facts Days are all factors in making the event memorable for potential students and parents.
“It’s a combination of things,” he said. “All of those things are a wow or aha moment for our prospective students or families.”
