Willis, Rob: President

Students were recently asked, “If you were president of Southern Arkansas University, what changes would you make?”  In some ways, I have been a part of the university system for my entire life.  My father taught history and political science; my mother taught chemistry.  Through their experiences, and later, through my own I have seen many things I like and dislike about SAU in particular.

However many things I would like to change, my first priority as president would be to increase funding, and thereby academic enrichment provided by the Honors College.  My experiences here have contrasted starkly with my experiences at UCA's Honors College.  Both programs offer students of higher academic standing a better opportunity to study advanced concepts, perform professional-level studies, and form lasting bonds with their professors and peers.  The advantage I experienced at UCA was that the Honors College was a separate entity and had the ability to define targeted curriculum for its students.  I would very much like to see a program instituted at SAU which includes a fundamental “Core” of studies for the aspiring Honors student.

This core curriculum would be composed of at least entry-level studies of philosophy and the humanities.  My experience upon beginning college was to be immediately exposed to existential philosophy and how that relates to the big questions we all ask at one point or another in life.  Having come from a liberal, scholarly background, this exposure was not as shocking to me as it could have been.  However, I believe that for many students, myself included, this study provides the foundation for independent thinking.  To remain closed-minded, to only study those things which align with one's own personal beliefs promotes a particular antipathy about others that I find particularly disturbing.  The study of other cultures, even if one does not accept their beliefs and practices, promotes an open-minded world-view that is vitally important to success in our ever-more globalized society.

Setting this as a goal, the question then becomes how to achieve it.  I believe that this curriculum would require the hiring of additional faculty to facilitate the establishment of the Honors College as a separate entity, in much the same way that the College of Liberal and Performing Arts is separate within the institution.  This, of course, would require the allocation of additional funds.  I propose that perhaps some budget cuts, or at least reallocation of athletic funds could be utilized for this purpose.  While I understand the financial importance of the athletic program to the university, I question the contribution it makes to the furtherance of SAU's stated goal of, “[educating] students for productive and fulfilling lives in a global environment by providing opportunities for intellectual growth, individual enrichment, skill development, and meaningful career preparation.”  Perhaps this is an unrealistic view, but I think that the millions of dollars being used to finance the various athletic embarkations of this university could be put to much better use by providing students with the intellectual tools they will need to be successful as opposed to financing purely momentary forays into a career that so few will ever pursue, much less be successful at.

In summary, what would I do if I were president of SAU?  I would refocus the curriculum to provide a strong foundation in philosophy and the humanities to incoming students because of the importance I believe this study plays in the formation of inquisitive, worldly minds.  To accomplish this goal, I would reallocate funds from programs at SAU, such as the athletic department, which provide little academic value to those who participate.