Gordon, Chelsie: President

The definition of a president is one who sits in leadership, and to lead, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, means to guide, especially by going in advance. In my opinion, in order to be the president of a university, one must first attend a university in order to discern its needs from the eyes of a student. Being a student, I have noticed an area that is severely lacking at Southern Arkansas University. If I were the president of SAU I would work to improve the flow of information to better aid and inform students and incoming freshmen. Information makes the world go around, and without it, people are able to accomplish very little. This certainly applies to students as well as to the rest of the world. While President Rankin does a wonderful job of managing accounts, constructing new buildings, and making himself available, he has paid too little attention making information clear and and accessible at SAU. As an incoming freshman, I struggled and panicked for weeks while trying to figure out what I needed to do in order to be ready for college. Saving my schedule, accessing my e-mail, and understanding what Blackboard and Campus Connect were even for caused me a great deal of stress this past few months because information is not easily accessible and students are not kept as well informed as they should be. As president of Southern Arkansas University are many steps I would take to remedy this problem. 

The first and most important step is to fix the problem of inaccessible information by having every faculty member communicate and work together to be sure they all know what is going on and can answer any student's question. When everyone knows what is going on, information is more accessible. There should also be a link added to the SAU homepage listing in an easy to understand format and with step-by-step instructions everything a freshman needs to know. Finally, faculty should never assume that a student knows anything, but rather explain everything clearly, and they should review all important e-mail notices so that students understand what is being communicated. I have noticed during my time here at SAU that no person on campus seems very informed. This needs to change. 

After meeting President Rankin, I believe that he is doing a magnificent job. Dr. Rankin understands what is needed to create and maintain a good university and he works hard to achieve those things which will cause SAU to stand out among other universities. He is a practical, logical, and intelligent man. If I were president of SAU, I would strive to be much like him and hope to be as likeable and well respected. However, being an organized individual with a need to understand everything, I would make sure that the necessary information is clearly and readily available to all students and incoming freshmen.