Coston Named Bumpers College Finance Officer

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Deena Coston

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Deena Coston has joined the staff of the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas as finance officer, Dean Mike Vayda has announced.

Coston joins the Bumpers College on April 18 after working as controller for Central Arkansas Water in Little Rock since 2003. In that position, she supervised the accounting staff, financial statement and budget preparation, reviewed invoices for payment and managed daily operations, among other duties.

In her U of A role, Coston will manage all financial transactions and obligations for campus funds allocated to the Bumpers College, financial planning and reporting as part of the dean’s leadership team, providing oversight of campus allocations to departmental budget units within the college, and coordinating with financial officers in the Division of Agriculture for management and policies of oversight in jointly funded units.

Coston, who is a certified public accountant, earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Arkansas at Monticello in 1977.

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.