Dr. David Rankin addresses the Honors Seminar Class
Dr. Rankin visited both sections of the Honors Seminar. He started out by saying that the job president carried pluses and minuses. One of the big pluses is the Honors College, he said. Another plus is SAU's size. It's big enough to provide a "comprehensive mix of people" but not so big as to cause size-related problems. Rankin noted that he lives on a 100 acre farm several miles away but can be on campus in minutes and he only needs to stop at two stop signs. Another plus is the opportunity to construct new facilities. The new Science Building is "second to none" he said. He also listed the new funding for an agriculture buiding, a livestock arena, improved baseball facilities, a new softball facility, and a new weight room as pluses.
Rankin also said he was surprised to find out that SAU's graduate school was the fastest growing in Arkansas. He learned that while attending a meeting in Little Rock. The expansion of the graduate school is another plus for SAU he said.
He answered a question about the lack of parking by assuring the student that there would be about 60 new spots near Honors Hall soon. Also, the parking lot behind Peace Hall would be paved sometime in the summer.
Rankin pointed out how SAU's state support only covered about 40% of total expenses. The rest has to be made up by tuition and auxilliary enterprises such as the cafeteria and bookstore. Students pay about $10,000 a year for all their expenses at SAU. But for that amount they have access to nearly everything they need including police protection and medical care.
Rankin concluded by reminding everyone that he has an open door policy. Recently, he said, he has been taking more calls and e-mails than ever before from parents. That's been a change from when he first became president nine years ago, but it's one he is happy to accommodate. The world is a much smaller place now because of e-mail and Web pages, he noted.
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