(a) The Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas is authorized to establish and operate, as a part thereof, a campus to be known as the University of Arkansas at Monticello, consolidating and incorporating therein the state institution formerly known as Arkansas Agricultural and Mechanical College, which, together with its board of trustees, was abolished as a separate institution with responsibility transferred to the control of the Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas as a part of the University of Arkansas effective July 1, 1971.
(b) The Board of Trustees of the University of Arkansas shall maintain and operate the campus at Monticello as a major four-year campus of the University of Arkansas, offering at that location the highest possible quality of high educational programs, shall provide for the sound growth and improvement of the quality of the academic programs, and shall expand its mission to include technical education at Forest Echoes Technical Institute, which after July 1, 2003, shall be known as the University of Arkansas at Monticello College of Technology-Crossett, and Great Rivers Technical Institute, which after July 1, 2003, shall be known as the University of Arkansas at Monticello College of Technology-McGehee.