The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture is the agricultural research center for the University of Arkansas (UA). The Division has over 1,650 faculty and staff members, including about 250 with PhD degrees in Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service units on five university campuses, at five regional centers, seven research stations, nine specialized units and in all 75 Arkansas counties.

Organization

The Division has five major research and extension program areas:

Administration

The UA vice president for Agriculture is responsible for the Division of Agriculture and reports to the President of the University. Three Associate Vice Presidents for Research, Extension and Academic Programs report to the Vice President. Programs are organized under the following departmental structure with department and unit heads who report to the associate vice presidents: The departmental structure for research and extension programs also encompasses graduate and undergraduate degree programs under the auspices of the respective campuses. Division funding sources in 2013 included: •

Locations

Division of Agriculture faculty, staff and facilities support academic programs are located on UA campuses in They are also based at the following locations. Research Stations and Extension Centers have resident staff to assist faculty from other Division of Agriculture locations with field research and extension projects. Fruit Research Station, Clarksville Associated Research and Extension Units Centers of Excellence

History

The origins of the Division of Agriculture are found in the 1871 charter of the Arkansas Industrial University, now the University of Arkansas. The university was established at Fayetteville under the Morrill Land-Grant Act of 1862. The original Board of Trustees resolved that: ... the leading object shall be—without excluding other scientific and classical studies and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to Agriculture and Mechanical Arts in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions of life...(and)...To prosecute experiments for the promotion of agriculture and horticulture. The Agricultural Experiment Station, College of Agriculture and Cooperative Extension Service were established in 1888, 1905 and 1914, respectively, in keeping with the three-part Land-Grant mission of the University of Arkansas. The agricultural research and extension programs were statewide in scope from the beginning. Extension headquarters were in Little Rock, and several branch experiment stations were established. In 1959, the UA Board of Trustees established the Division of Agriculture as a statewide entity of the University System. The organizational structure provides for direct appropriation to the Division of Agriculture by the Arkansas General Assembly of funds for research and extension administered by the Division of Agriculture as an equal partner to the campuses and other units in the University System.