Alcohol/Drug Policy at the University of Arkansas

The University of Arkansas is required under federal regulations to adopt and implement a program to prevent the unlawful possession, use, or distribution of illicit drugs and alcohol by students, faculty and staff. To certify compliance the University of Arkansas Substance Abuse Prevention Program has compiled the following set of policies and information for all members of our campus community. To read the full report, please go to the policy.

Transit and Parking Open for Charter Business

The transit and parking department is open for business offering charter bus service for all university departments and sponsored groups. The transit and parking department has two new 32-passenger buses available for excursions, transfers, tours, trips or other general use. These buses are in addition to Razorback Transit buses, which have certain federal restrictions involving charter use. These two new buses can be chartered without federal restrictions. If you have chartered from us before and have recently been turned down, or are a new customer, please consider us as an option for your next group activity. Charter rates are $85 an hour with a two-hour minimum. Information on chartering can be obtained by calling our charter representative, A.J. Bellard at 575-7913.

"Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover"

Students and employees are invited to participate in the University of Arkansas’ “Living Library.”  A living library functions similarly to a regular library, except that the books are real, diverse, human beings, who teach others about themselves and their experiences through interpersonal dialogue. 

For students, this is an excellent opportunity to interview someone different from themselves, and may help to fulfill a diversity requirement for a class.  (Please check with the instructor to be sure.) 

For employees, the time spent having a dialogue with a new book can count as one hour towards their UA diversity certificate.  Participants in the Professional Development Institute can also receive credit towards their certificate. 

For everyone, this is an opportunity to learn from and better understand one another and our cultures.

You may visit http://libinfo.uark.edu/diversity/livinglibrary/faq.asp to learn more about the program, including a list of books and information on how to schedule your session. 

Please e-mail Mary Honoré Tucker at mhonore@uark.edu, or call Mary at 575-7096, to reserve your 45-minute session with a “living” book.  

All sessions with books at the Living Library will be held in the living room of Holcombe Hall, located at Garland and Maple.

The Living Library Program is organized and sponsored by the University Ombuds Office, the University Libraries' Diversity Committee, and the International Students and Scholars Office.

University of Arkansas Campus Security Act Summary

The Student Right to Know and Campus Security Act was passed in 1990 and was amended in 1998 to form the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act. This law requires that certain institutions of higher education distribute to all current students and employees a copy of the required report, and to all prospective students and employees a summary of what is contained in the yearly report.

For prospective students and employees and all others who would like to obtain a copy of the yearly report but cannot print it from the Internet, a copy may be obtained by contacting the University of Arkansas Office of Admissions, Department of Human Resources or University Police. The following is a summary of information found in the 2008 University of Arkansas Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Report.

The report in its entirety is available as a PDF on the Internet at: http://uapd.uark.edu/2008CSA.pdf. Adobe Acrobat 5.0 or higher software is needed to read the document. The software is free and may be downloaded from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat.

A paper copy of the report will be provided upon request.

The report contains:

1. Statements of current campus policies regarding the following:

• Procedures and facilities for students and others to report criminal activities or other emergencies occurring on campus and policies concerning the institution's response to such reports.
• Procedures and policies for the notification of the campus community in the event of an emergency impacting safety and well-being.
• Procedures and information concerning the reporting of a missing student.
• Security and access to campus facilities, including campus residences, and security considerations used in the maintenance of campus facilities.
• Fire safety information for university buildings and residence halls.
• The enforcement authority of campus security personnel, including their working relationship with state and local police agencies.
• Policies which encourage accurate and prompt reporting of all crimes to the campus police and other appropriate police agencies.
• The monitoring and recording through local police agencies of criminal activity at off-campus locations which are recognized by the institution and that are engaged in by students attending the institution, including those student organizations with off-campus housing facilities.
• Possession, use and sale of alcoholic beverages and enforcement of state underage drinking laws and a statement of policy regarding the possession, use and sale of illegal drugs and enforcement of federal and state drug laws and a description of any drug or alcohol abuse education programs provided by the institution.

2. A description of the institution's campus sexual assault programs, which shall be aimed at prevention of sex offenses, and the procedures followed if a sex offense has occurred, addressing the following areas:

• Educational programs to promote the awareness of rape, acquaintance rape and other sex offenses.
• Possible sanctions to be imposed following the final determination of an on-campus disciplinary procedure regarding rape, acquaintance rape, or other sex offenses, forcible or non-forcible.
• Procedures students should follow if a sex offense occurs, including who should be contacted, the importance of preserving evidence as may be necessary to the proof of criminal sexual assault, and to whom the alleged offense should be reported.
• Procedures for on-campus disciplinary action in cases of alleged sexual assault, which shall include a clear statement that (1) the accuser and the accused are entitled to the same opportunities to have others present during a campus disciplinary proceeding; (2) both the accuser and the accused shall be informed of the outcome of any campus disciplinary proceeding brought alleging a sexual assault.
• Informing students of their options to notify proper law enforcement authorities, including on-campus and local police, and the option to be assisted by campus authorities in notifying such authorities in notifying such authorities if the student so chooses.
• Notification of students of existing counseling, mental health or student services for victims of sexual assault, both on campus and in the community.
• Notification of students of options for and available assistance in changing academic and living situations after an alleged sexual assault incident if so requested by the victim and if such changes are reasonably available.

3. A description of the type and frequency of programs designed to inform students and employees about campus security procedures and practices and to encourage students and employees to be responsible for their own security and the security of others.

4. A description of programs designed to inform students and employees about the prevention of crimes.

5. Statistics concerning the occurrence on-campus, in or on non-campus buildings or property and on public property during the most recent calendar year and during the two preceding calendar years:

• Any and all criminal offenses reported to campus security authorities or local police agencies regarding murder, sex offenses both forcible and non-forcible, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft, manslaughter and arson.
• Arrests or referrals for campus disciplinary action for liquor law violations, drug-related violations and weapons possession.
• Of the crimes listed and other crimes involving bodily injury to any person in which the victim is intentionally selected because of the actual or perceived race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity or disability of the victim that are reported to campus security authorities or local police agencies, which data shall be collected and reported according to category of prejudice.

6. Information regarding the Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act including mandatory registration of convicted sex offenders employed by or enrolled to take classes at the University of Arkansas and the location where information concerning registered sex offenders is maintained.

Reported H1N1 Cases Increase at University of Arkansas, Health Center Adds Staff for Cases

The number of reported cases of H1N1 flu have steadily increased at the University of Arkansas, as was expected, but the vast majority of cases have been mild. During the first three weeks of classes a total of 110 cases were reported to the Centers for Disease Control by officials at the Pat Walker Health Center.

Monday, Sept. 21, more than 142 people made calls to the primary medical clinic at the health center. While this number only represents 0.7 percent of the student population, it was a large enough number to overload the clinic’s phone line, causing delays in reporting and responding to those who are seriously ill.

“At this time we have added staff members who can respond to the increased phone call volume and added two part-time physicians to assist our primary medical clinic medical providers see patients with serious medical conditions, the flu and other illnesses,” said Mary Alice Serafini, assistant vice provost for student affairs and executive director of the Pat Walker Health Center. “The people who call and receive a return call from a certified triage nurse, in most cases, are experiencing mild symptoms and do not need to come to the clinic – in fact they might inadvertently expose more people to the virus by coming to the clinic. In most cases we will advise these people to stay at home or in their room, take over-the-counter medicine for their symptoms, and not to return to work or classes until 24 hours after their fever is gone.”

“We encourage people with a chronic medical condition or other serious medical problems to call the primary medical clinic if they become ill,” said Serafini. “Individuals with these conditions are at higher risk and need to be seen and given medical treatment promptly. We are grateful to our medical teams for their expertise and fortitude. Their dedication to our patients is evident as they handle the increased demand of patients with serious needs.”

The Centers for Disease Control predicts a reoccurrence of H1N1 flu later this fall and winter, and say that college students and others in group living situations will be at an increased risk of getting H1N1 flu.

University of Arkansas health officials are reminding everyone on campus to wash their hands frequently, cover their coughs and sneezes, isolate themselves if they become ill, and get an H1N1 flu vaccination when they become available in October. Seasonal flu vaccine is also recommended and is now available at Pat Walker Health Center for the campus community. 

Lack of Seat Belt Now a Primary Offense; Buckle Up

Failure to wear a seat belt is now a primary traffic offense. This means a police officer can pull a vehicle over if the officer sees that the driver or a front-seat passenger is not wearing a seatbelt. Nationally, about 83 percent of drivers use seat belts, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The percentage of Arkansas drivers who use seat belts, however, is only 70 percent. If all drivers and front-seat passengers wore their seat belts, around 50 lives would be saved each year in automobile crashes. Arkansas is the 27th state to enact such legislation. The University of Arkansas Police Department encourages all drivers and passengers to buckle up to protect life, to prevent injuries and to avoid traffic tickets.

Phishing Scam Guised as a Virus Warning

The phishing scam artists continue to pelt the University of Arkansas with fraudulent messages meant to confuse or trick campus users into sending sensitive information, such as UARK account passwords, to the attacker. The scam message, sometimes known as a phishing scam, is notable as it appears to be a virus warning message and may be more effective in tripping up our users. 

Campus mail servers did detect that the message was suspicious and tagged the subject line with {SPAM?} to alert the reader of the message.  The best thing to do with these messages is to delete them.  An example of this new variation of a phishing is provided below.

Please remember that the University of Arkansas will _NEVER_ send a message

to our clients asking for their account passwords or other sensitive data. If you should ever receive something like that appears to originate from us (or your bank or similar organizations), please be aware that it is most likely someone trying to scam access into your accounts.  However, we will send out friendly notices to remind you to change your password every 90 days (approximately once a semester) via our PASSweb facility located at passweb.uark.edu

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the IT Security Office via email (security@uark.edu) or via the IT Services Help Desk at 479-575-2905.

Update to Fayetteville Policies and Procedures

The following Fayetteville Policy an Procedure has been updated and may be viewed at http://vcfa.uark.edu/Documents/7021List.pdf.

• 702.1 - Building Executives. The change consists of updated executives, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail listings. 

The entire list of Fayetteville Policies and Procedures may be view at http://vcfa.uark.edu/675.htm.

University of Arkansas Faculty and Staff Now Have Access to RazAlert

The RazALERT and University emergency Web site have recently been updated to include more information for faculty and staff. The left navigation now includes a link to the BASIS Web site as well as to a page detailing how faculty and staff should update their personal information to receive alerts:  http://razalert.uark.edu/14855.php. This page details how to enter information for voice, SMS/text, and TTY/TTD teletype phones. Also, the RazALERT FAQ has been updated so that it no longer states that SMS alerts will be available to faculty and staff in the future, but rather how to receive, opt out of, etc. of these alerts.

Inclement Weather Policy Reminder

The University of Arkansas rarely closes due to bad weather, but it does happen.

Ice and snow storms have caused most of the closures. When these storms hit the university, the administration’s primary concern is for the safety of university staff, faculty and off-campus students who have to drive to campus. Administrators get an early morning assessment of road conditions, on and off campus, from the Arkansas State Police, University Police, and parking and transit workers. Facilities management staff also report on sidewalk and building conditions on campus. Administrators then decide whether to close the university for the day, delay opening for two hours, or keep the university open on a normal schedule.

If the university is closed, or opening is delayed, university relations staff will post a notice to the home page of the University of Arkansas Web site at http://www.uark.edu. A message will be recorded for the university Weather Hotline, which can be reached at 575-7000; that message will also be sent out to on-campus voice mail. In addition, northwest Arkansas and Little Rock television and radio stations will be notified. All of these notifications will be made between 5:30 and 6 a.m.

If students, faculty and staff don’t see or hear from any of these sources that the university is closed, they can assume it is open. There is no notification when the decision is made that the university will remain open and on a normal schedule. 

These same procedures apply when severe weather strikes in the middle of the day, and a decision is made to close the university early before driving becomes too hazardous. Staff members from the office of university relations will send notices to the Web site home page, the Weather Hot Line, individual voice mail and local media.

Even when the university remains open, faculty members have the option of canceling individual classes, and it is the faculty member’s responsibility to notify students of any cancellations.

The university’s complete inclement weather policy can be found at:

210.0 - Inclement Weather Policy at

http://vcfa.uark.edu/Documents/2100.pdf.

Winter Issue of Campus Sustainability Newsletter GO! Available

The new issue of GO! Green Outreach published by the office of university relations for the campus is now available. The newsletter is not printed and only available as a downloadable PDF from http://sustainability.uark.edu.

The publication was devised as a way to keep awareness about sustainability issues high among people on campus, and to provide ideas for people to try at work and home. GO! is now available to anyone who subscribes to Daily Headlines, or visits Daily Headlines on the university Web site.

To submit story ideas for futures issues of GO!, contact Laura Jacobs or Danielle Strickland in university relations at 479-575-5555.

New Phishing Scam Making Campus Rounds

Attackers have used a compromised e-mail account to send out e-mail purporting to be from Uark Support and requested that the e-mail account holder verify their username and password by replying to the e-mail message, which contains the dire warning that the account would be deactivated within 48 hours.

Please note that the only valid place to change your UARK Password is through PASSweb.  The link to PASSweb is on the University IT Services webpage or can be reached by typing into your browser the address www.uark.edu/passweb.

Should someone receive a message similar to the below, feel free to forward it with full headers to abuse@uark.edu.  IT Services will investigate and respond appropriately to protect our campus.