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 recently 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.

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

Volunteer Coordinator Heese Visits Seminar


 SAU's Volunteer Coordinator Katie Heese addresses the Honors Seminar class.

Katie Heese visited both Honors Seminar classes today to talk about volunteer opportunities in Magnolia and on campus.

She began by getting to know the students by asking them for their names, majors, and favorite colors. Interestingly, the color purple was mentioned often.

Katie said she came to SAU from Kansas City to play volleyball. Now she serves as volunteer coordinator and resident director of Greene Hall.

She asked the class what volunteering was and received several good answers. She went on to say that 63 million Americans volunteer. She asked whether one hour per week was possible for most students.

She has arranged for students to able to volunteer at many off-campus places including:

  • CCAPS
  • KZHE Radio
  • Magnolia Specialized Services
  • Boys and Girls Club
  • Magnolia Fire Department
  • Magnolia Police
  • Stewpot
  • Southern Christian Mission
  • Unity 4-H

There are volunteer opportunities on campus too, she added. Those include:

  • Mulerider Market
  • Trash Pickup
  • Ushering
  • Blood Drives
  • Fishing Derby
  • Special Olympics
  • Celebration of Lights
  • Paws on the Mall
  • Virtual Volunteer
  • Making Magnolia Blossom
  • Athletic Communications and Operations
  • Rotary Club
  • On Call

The On Call group is her "go to" group for special projects that may pop up and that need to be finished quickly. A recent example, she said, was stuffing envelopes for the SAU Foundation.

She noted that volunteer experiences were very useful for those who will be seeking employment or postgraduate opportunities. Those experiences might be sufficient to make applications more likely to be accepted.

In addition, those volunteering also reap benefits from their experiences as do those receiving help from volunteers.

Volunteering should be done from the heart and not because it was required or it paid a stipend.