Higher education notebook

Student loan relief extended a month

Relief from repayment of federally held student loans — and interest on those loans — will extend by one more month, per a directive Friday from the U.S. Department of Education.

President Donald Trump instructed the department to extend relief from loan payments Aug. 8, which the department did, through Dec. 31.

Friday’s directive extends the reprieve, first granted in March, through Jan. 31.

The directive is meant to help lessen financial burdens on people during the coronavirus pandemic.

Borrowers can still pay on their loans. Interest won’t accrue on the debt that remains during the relief period.

For those who have defaulted on their loans, collections are temporarily stopped. Any wages garnished related to the federally held loans will be returned to the borrowers.

Hardwood forests partnership focus

Two University of Arkansas System entities and the Five Oaks Ag Research and Education Center will partner to explore ways to improve the state’s bottomland hardwood forests and certain species, according to a news release.

The University of Arkansas at Monticello and the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, which wrote the release, are partners. The Division of Agriculture funds UAM’s Arkansas Forest Resources Center.

Five Oaks Ag Research and Education Center formed as a charity this year. The Five Oaks Duck Lodge neat Stuttgart is owned by George Dunklin, a former member of the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission.

UAM, as part of the partnership, will add a graduate certificate program in conservation, property and land management, including a new Wetland and Waterfowl Habitat Management Graduate Certificate.

ASU strategic plan gets trustees’ OK

Arkansas State University System trustees have approved ASU’s new strategic plan. Called “Discover 2025,” the strategic plan has been implemented throughout 2020. Its formal approval was delayed by the pandemic, Chancellor Kelly Damphousse told trustees.

The plan focuses on five categories: student success, new approaches to teaching and learning, enhancing the university’s research portfolio, community engagement, and cultivating a campus climate that makes everyone feel like a part of the university.

Part of the efforts so far to implement the strategic plan include hiring two new deans to oversee the reestablished Graduate School. Additionally, a task force is examining the university’s general education curriculum, program viability, and test score admission standards, according to a university news release.