(a)

1. (1) The Division of Higher Education shall administer the Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) within the policies set by the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board.
2. (2) All formal communications shall be addressed to or signed by the Commissioner of the Division of Higher Education or his or her designee.
3. (3) The SURF Selection Panel shall select recipients for awards.

(b)

1. (1) The SURF Selection Panel shall consist of faculty or administrators at an Arkansas public or private institution of higher education who have earned a Ph.D. or terminal degree in the discipline to be reviewed.
2. (2) Other panel members will be considered who have earned a Ph.D. or terminal degree in the discipline to be reviewed and who have an affiliation with an Arkansas public or private institution of higher education or an education-related entity.
3. (3) The commissioner or his or her designee shall serve as presiding officer of the SURF Selection Panel.

(c)

1. (1) The focus of the Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship is the continued development of undergraduate academic research efforts at Arkansas’s public and private institutions of higher education and to provide funding to encourage students to conduct in-depth research projects in specific fields of study under the tutelage of a tenured or full-time faculty member.
2. (2) The program is designed to assist all students throughout the state.