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UAFS was established in 1928 as an extension of the public school system in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and has since gone through distinct phases to become a regional university. Fort Smith Junior College was first housed at what is now Darby Junior High, followed by a move to the new high school, now Northside High School. The college operated within the Fort Smith Public School System until 1950 when it was incorporated as a private, nonprofit institution with its own governing board. In September 1952 the campus moved to 15 acres on Grand Avenue, a portion of its current site. Two brick buildings and one wooden structure that previously housed the county hospital for the indigent and the local “poor farm” were converted to classrooms and offices. The fall semester began with 108 students and 10 instructors.
During the 1950s and 1960s, the college forged ahead in its role as a comprehensive community college - a new concept in Arkansas and across the nation. In the fall of 1965, the Sebastian County electorate approved the creation of the Sebastian County Community Junior College District, the governor appointed a Board of Trustees, and the school again became a public institution. Fort Smith Junior College became Westark Junior College in 1966, indicating the larger area to be served, followed by Westark Community College in 1972. Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, the college developed and grew. The year 1989 brought another significant development: the establishment of a University Center on the Westark campus, allowing four-year institutions to offer junior-, senior-, and graduate-level courses at Westark.
In 1997 the state legislature passed an act praising Westark and its ability to manage change, officially designated Westark as a “Unique Community College,” and granted it authority to offer in its own right up to nine applied bachelor’s degrees developed in response to identified needs in the area and industries served.
The name of the college was changed yet again in February 1998 to Westark College. The next major step came on December 15, 2000, as an agreement with the Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas to merge Westark with the University of Arkansas System as a four-year institution, the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.
The merger, which became official on January 1, 2002, endorsed the concept of UAFS as a unique university - one that offers applied and traditional baccalaureate degree programs, one- and two-year associate and technical programs, and non-credit business and industry training programs. UAFS absorbed five bachelor’s degree programs offered through the University Center and has since developed, and continues to develop, its own bachelor’s and master’s degrees.
The core mission that marks the institution of today - UAFS empowers the social mobility of its students and the economic growth of the River Valley through exceptional educational opportunities and robust community partnerships.
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