SAU Honors College

The SAU Honors College was founded in 2003 by Dr. David Rankin, president of SAU. Dr. Lynne Belcher served as founding director and is retired from SAU. The Honors College seeks and admits qualified students who seek to pursue a serious academic program with equally gifted peers and committed teachers. Honors classes are small and provide academically enriching opportunities for students and the faculty who teach them. Currently, SAU enrolls nearly 170 honors students and graduates about 66% of admitees in four years or less. Anyone interested in applying to the Honors College or seeking further information should contact the director, Dr. Edward P. Kardas at epkardas@saumag.edu or at 870 904-8897.

Friday, February 12, 2016

More Toys for Cuba

We did not neglect the girls! I asked Donna Allen to handle the pink aisle and she did!

Again, thanks to VPSA Donna Allen for taking the time to pick up a bunch of dolls for us to take with us to Cuba tomorrow. As I noted earlier, toys of all kinds are scarce there.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Toys for Cuba

Walmart in Magnolia, AR Donates Toys for Cuban Children

According to published sources, children's toys are scarce in Cuba. So, when Dr. Juping Wang and Edward Kardas travel to Havana next week they will carry some toys with them. The toys will be distributed there in various locations.

Their trip to Cuba is sponsored by Southern Arkansas University and is designed to continue the dialogue begun last June when Dr. Kardas revisited the island for the first time in 55 years. SAU hopes to begin faculty/student exchange programs with one or more Cuban universities.

For this visit, Wang and Kardas will attend the Universidad 2016 International Conference on education. There, they will meet with Cuban administrators and faculty and attempt to forge alliances with them.

Friday, February 5, 2016

Students Receive Electronics Kits

UNO Ultimate Starter Kit from RoboLinking

Two honors students, Seth Loftin and Ryan Eppinette, each recently received an electronics kit to use in their physics lab couse under Dr. Gary Boucher.

In an e-mail, Dr. Boucher wrote, "After giving thought as to what I could do with these students as an extra, I decided that a digital electronics approach would fit with the theme of circuits in the course.  It is also something I have taught many times at LSUS.  My suggestion to both of the students, and they like the idea, is to purchase an Arduino project kit from Amazon, and teach them how to use a microprocessor/microcontroller to do various circuit functions."

As most faculty who teach honors courses at SAU know, the Honors College has funds designated to elevate contract honors courses to honors level. Dr. Boucher's course is a good example of that process.