The Southern Arkansas University System Board of Trustees met on Thursday, March 7, on the SAU-Magnolia campus in a regularly scheduled session.
The first item of business was to accept the minutes from the previous Board of Trustees meeting. The minutes were approved.
The next item on the agenda was the annual election of officers. Laura Winning was named board chair, Nate Evers was named vice-chair, and Jason Sullivan was named secretary. Dr. Rankin expressed his gratitude to Erica Woods for her service as chair of the Board for the past year.
Trustees heard campus reports from Dr. David Rankin, SAU president emeritus, and Dr. Jerry Thomas, SAU Tech chancellor. Rankin provided an overview of the 2024 overall spring enrollment being slightly down from the previous spring. He highlighted that full-time equivalent student numbers are very strong. He also reported an increase in the number of students living in campus housing.
Numerous members of the SAU community recently attended the Lithium Innovation Summit in Little Rock this past month. Rankin shared the overview of the purpose of this two-day conference that included 630 participants from all over the world. The conference discussions centered around the imminent future of lithium extraction, and the focus of the topic was production in south Arkansas. Rankin highlighted the importance of this for south Arkansas and SAU.
Rankin concluded his report with an update on the progress of the SAU presidential search. He shared overviews of academic highlights, athletic accomplishments, and facility improvements that are in progress on the SAU campus.
Dr. Jerry Thomas, newly named chancellor, began his portion of the meeting by thanking the Board for their
leadership. He also thanked Dr. Rankin for his wisdom and guidance over the years and as he transitioned to his new position.
Thomas shared updates from the SAU Tech campus. Thomas has conducted listening sessions on campus and in the local community to gain insight into the opportunities and challenges of the campus. Insight was gained on the resources needed to progress with continued success and to make improvements as needed. This feedback will help to shape the future of SAU Tech as the campus moves forward under new leadership. Thomas stated, “These sessions have been very beneficial to help me understand the campus and community.”
SAU Tech is slated to receive additional funding for the Arkansas Fire Training Academy. This is exciting news for this facility, which trains all of the firefighters in the state and most EMTs of any other training facility in Arkansas. The funds will help with additional training, the building of an EMS facility, and the purchase of added equipment.
Dr. David Lanoue, SAU provost and vice president for academic affairs, presented several academic changes that were recently authorized by the academic affairs committee. The Board approved these changes.
Audit reports for 2021-2022 were provided by Shawana Reed, SAU vice president for finance, and Michael Armstrong, SAU Tech vice chancellor for finance and administration. Reed and Armstrong also presented 2022 year-end financial updates. Trustees accepted and approved the 2021-2022 audit reports.
A resolution of state policy for reimbursement of expenses for Board of Trustees members was presented by Roger Giles, SAU vice president of administration and general counsel. This resolution was approved.
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Trustees will be June 27, 2024.
Southern Arkansas University provides students with the complete college experience in a caring environment of service, innovation, and community. With more than 100 degrees in four distinct colleges and the School of Graduate Studies, SAU initiates new degree programs to fit the needs of career and professional trends of today.
To learn more about SAU, visit www.saumag.edu.
