The department has endowments totaling more than $240,00, consisting of the following:
Departmental Endowments
- Daisy Rhea Abbott Academic Enrichment Endowment
- History Alumni Academic Enrichment Endowment
- Dr. Robert B. Walz Academic Enrichment Endowment
- Mrs. Curtistine A. Walz Academic Enrichment Endowment
Scholarships
- Governor Ben T. and Lucille Laney Scholarship Endowment
- Glenn G. and Carrie C. Martel Scholarship Endowment
- Dr. and Mrs. Robert B. Walz History Scholarship Endowment (2)
- Dr. Robert B. Walz History Essay Scholarship Endowment (4)
Special Projects
- The Elena Solovova and Victor Sheshunoff Russian Exchange Endowment
- Dr. Robert B. Walz Lectureship in History Endowment
- Dr. Robert B. Walz History Essay Competition Endowment
- Mrs. Curtistine A. Walz Endowment for the Center for the Study of Cliometrics and Public Opinion
- Dr. and Mrs. Robert B. Walz Library Endowment for Arkansas History
- Dr. and Mrs. Robert B. Walz Endowment for History Student Travel
- Dr. Robert B. Walz Memorial Student Study Endowment
- Dr. Robert B. Walz Teaching History with Technology Endowment
- Mrs. Maribeth Wetzig Needels Library Endowment for History
Facilities
The department provides two special academic facilities for students and faculty- the Dr. Robert B. Walz Memorial Student Study and the Mrs. Curtistine A. Walz Center for the Study of Cliometrics and Public Opinion. These areas were made possible by endowments of the Walz family.
The Robert Walz Study is a special study and meeting area for students and faculty of the department. It contains a library with history and political science journals, computing equipment linked to the Internet, and a TV/VCR linked to CSPAN. It also has framed charters of student organizations and plaques recognizing Outstanding Graduates named each year by the faculty. The Walz Study serves as both a place for serious academic pursuits and as a place for good fellowship among students and faculty.
The Curtistine Walz Center is a room with computing and other equipment to provide opportunities to conduct quantitative studies and other projedts in history and in political science. A special focus of this center is conducting public opinion surveys of the students of Southern Arkansas University and the citizens of southwest Arkansas. In fall 1995 the first SAU POLL was completed, involving a survey of SAU undergraduates. In fall 2000 the second SAU POLL was undertaken. Two polls of SAU faculty in 1997 and 2000 have also been completed. The Walz Center is also used to prepare web pages for the Internet site on “The History and Culture of Southwest Arkansas.”