Dear Red Wolves,
As we begin the fall semester, I wanted to take a moment to share a few thoughts about what is happening at Arkansas State this year. As you may have noticed, we completed a lot of renovation and building projects around campus this past year (and we have many other projects on tap for the coming year). One thing that I became very concerned about since arriving at A-State in 2017 was the amenities for our incoming students. Our first-year student residence halls (Kays, Arkansas, and University) are really fine but they can be better. This past year, for example, we replaced the air conditioning system in Kays Hall (which cost about $1M). It’s the kind of repair that you never see but it makes a big difference to those who live in Kays Hall (like Beth and me!). We also spent the summer refurbishing all the bathrooms in Kays Hall and the lobbies in A-Hall and U-Hall. We have shut down the top two floors of Arkansas Hall and will be doing renovations there this year and we will do the other floors in A-Hall this summer. All of these renovations are being paid for with money that we have set aside over the years for repairs and maintenance.
Also, I was concerned about the quality of the Acansa Dining Hall. It was very dated when I arrived and I felt like the food options were not as appealing as I would prefer. After meeting with students and our contractor (Sodexo) about these concerns, we decided that changes needed to be made. I am grateful that Sodexo agreed to fund 100% of the cost of the $3.4M renovation to “The Caf” that took place this summer. If you have not eaten there yet, you are really missing out. The food is great and the atmosphere is beautiful!
You may have also seen huge construction projects on the east side of campus. The Centennial Bank Athletics Operations Center is nearing the end of construction. Like the Caf renovation, this project (which includes a new locker room for the football team) is 100% paid for with private funds. While most of the publicity has focused on the football areas within the center, the Ops Center touches every one of our student athletes. The enhanced training room and expanded strength and conditioning areas are open to all of our NCAA varsity athletes. Moving the football offices to the north end zone opens up space in the south end zone, which will be refurbished into space for other programs and administrators. That will lead to new and more equitable spaces for teams in First National Bank Arena. So, it is not just about football – all ships rise with this construction project.
Finally, you probably have seen the construction of the new Embassy Suites and Red Wolves Convention Center (the biggest convention center in Northeast Arkansas). This hotel is 100% paid for by the private investors who are leasing the land from A-State. It is a wonderful partnership and it will provide great employment and academic opportunities to our students in the coming years. This fall, we will begin building a new 3D art building between Pack Place and the Fine Arts Center. Again, this building is funded 100% by private money and we are very grateful for the foundation that is making this opportunity available for our campus. The same goes for the recently completed Welcome Center, which was 100% paid for by our friends at Centennial Bank.
I know that there are always concerns about parking the first couple of weeks of each fall semester. The fact is that A-State is blessed with plenty of inexpensive parking options, but students are not always aware of where those options are. I am glad that SGA is taking this issue on by starting an information campaign that shows where parking spots are located for students, especially our commuters. By the way, to mitigate the effect of the 3D art building on parking, we moved its proposed location from the parking lot directly south of the Fine Arts Center to an area where several older houses are located. That saved a couple hundred parking spots in prime locations.
I close by saying that I wish that we did not have to raise tuition this year. My preference would have been to keep it flat like we did the past year. I am pleased to note that A-State remains very affordable – we rank 21st in cost of attendance among the 25 public and private four-year universities in the state. But tuition increases were necessary to cover needed salary increases for our faculty and staff and to cover increased operational costs. On average, our employees received a 3% salary increase this year, something that had not happened here for many years. When we invest in our employees, we are also investing in our students.
But I want to be crystal clear on this one issue. No tuition dollars or state allocated funds were used to pay for any of the major construction projects that I mentioned. I am so grateful for the friends and alumni of A-State who help make these projects possible. Without private donations and partnerships with private entities, none of these projects would be possible.
I do want to remind you all that we are in the midst of completing our strategic plan for the university. One the key features of the plan will be to focus our efforts on student success and administrative efficiency (how can we do more with less). I will be inviting students to participate in this process in September, and I hope that you will take advantage of this opportunity to help create the future A-State. We face challenging times in higher education, but we will do well to face them together – with honesty and a straightforward approach. You can count on that from me.
I look forward to seeing you all at Order of the Pack tonight!
And, as always, you can contact me direct with any concern or question you have.