Commencement
This is Commencement Day at Jonesboro, and we celebrate the accomplishment of 1,078 degree candidates.  This is one of the largest graduating classes, 13% of our current enrollment, and one that includes three doctoral degree recipients, 144 graduate degree recipients, and 934 baccalaureate and associate graduates.  When this Jonesboro class is combined with associate degree and certificate recipients at the ASU campuses at Mountain Home, Newport, Beebe, Searcy, and Heber Springs, one can realize the breadth of productivity demonstrated by this comprehensive Arkansas State University system.  The public investment in higher education has yielded a rich return through these graduates.

The Jonesboro commencement ceremony also will recognize two extraordinary members of the university community.  Dr. Calvin Smith, emeritus professor of history, and the first Presidential Distinguished Professor, will be awarded the Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.  Dr. Smith taught at ASU for 32 years and is a renowned scholar in the educational, social, and cultural history of East Arkansas.  Generations of ASU students are in his debt, including one of the first recipients of the Ph.D. in Heritage Studies to be awarded in the summer 2005.

We also will recognize the long and productive career of Mrs. Irene Martz, a member of ASU’s professional staff for 48 years.  Mrs. Martz has coordinated many academic functions of the university, including commencement exercises for thousands of graduates.  During her time here, she has seen ASC become ASU, and has witnessed the appointment of faculty and the creation of their academic programs, from which students are graduated at this commencement ceremony.

It is a fitting conclusion to these distinguished careers that Dr. Smith and Mrs. Martz are to be applauded by the students, faculty, and staff who so greatly appreciate their service to the university.

Intercollegiate Athletic Program
The remainder of this report is focused upon the ASU intercollegiate athletic program because this year has been one of the most significant in the 95-year history of the program.  This significance has been felt by thousands of persons who made up the capacity crowd at the ASU vs. University of Memphis football game in Indian Stadium on September 8, 2004, and those who were a part of the ASU vs. University of Arkansas basketball game in Jonesboro in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament.  Anyone present for either contest will not soon forget the tangible excitement in the air, the collective sense of pride in our teams, and the animated conversations about the games throughout campus, the community, and state.  These were events to be recalled throughout the lifetimes of the athletes who competed so well, and will be gratefully remembered by those who listened to or attended the games.  While the close game with Memphis will set a new high standard for the football Indians, the women’s basketball team victory over the Razorbacks, 98 to 84, already has become the stuff of legend.

We were thrilled by a great volleyball team, we applauded many conference players of the week, and we read of new school and conference records set by ASU athletes.  We introduced another women’s sport, bowling, and we were introduced to impressive young athletes who wore the ASU scarlet and black in their first competitions for our university.

But in addition to these accomplishments on the track, fields, and courts, we were most impressed with record performances in the classrooms, studios, and laboratories.  Consider these milestones:

• More than one-half of scholarship student athletes recorded 3.0 grade point averages in one or more semesters during this academic year.  Few other student cohorts on campus can make this claim under the same academic parameters as those required for student-athletes.

• Among 12 universities in our athletic conference, ASU had the highest team grade point averages in four of 11 sport areas for men and women.

• With the exception of those enrolled at a selective private institution, ASU student-athletes had the highest percentage of 3.0 or higher GPAs among the Sun Belt Conference universities.

• Several student-athletes carried 4.0 grade point averages throughout the year, in spite of demanding course loads, athletic practices, and competitions at home and on the road. 

In addition to the personal drive and discipline of the student-athletes to compile these academic records, credit must be given to capable faculty members and academic advisers who provided consideration for the students' unusual schedule demands; delivered effective teaching, mentoring and counseling, and assistance with problem solving; and coped with individual differences to make the students successful.  These members of the faculty and staff are among the true professionals of the university and deserve commendation.  The student-athletes thank you for YOUR performance.

This also was the year for the “accreditation” of the athletic program, the NCAA Division I Athletics certification review.  Athletic program certification is much like an academic program accreditation process, in that an extensive self-study was conducted by university faculty and staff, then the self-study report was reviewed by NCAA staff.  A visitation team reviewed the self-study and came to campus for interviews and observations, after which the team made an evaluative report to the university and to the NCAA. 

Based upon an external review of a self-study and a visitation team report, NCAA may or may not certify a university athletic program.  A non-certified program is not eligible for full scholarship capability, competition for championships, and other benefits of certified programs.

Our visiting team, composed of faculty and staff from other Division I universities and an NCAA staff member, came to the ASU-Jonesboro campus this week to make their assessment.  The visit followed their review of our self-study document, which is included here as a lengthy attachment, and also is available for review in printed form at the library reserve desk.

The visiting committee’s review was highly favorable.  The committee noted especially that the athletic program at ASU is a model for its fit within the university mission, and that the academic focus of the athletic staff, leadership and student-athletes is enviable among Division I programs.  The committee’s verbal report indicated that they likely will recommend full certification of the Division I athletic program for ASU.  This is the second certification to be recommended for the intercollegiate athletic program and is a tribute, both to the coaches, student-athletes and athletic support staff who make the program successful, and to the faculty and academic staff who make the students successful.  Special commendation is due to the self-study team, some 30 individuals representing the students, faculty, staff, and administration of the university, who labored more than two years to complete the study.  These individuals are listed on page six of the self-study report.  Thanks to each and all of you for this successful outcome, and to Dr. Glen Jones and Ms. Marilyn Brewer for chairing and assisting the committee.

Another NCAA process regarding the athletic program was conducted during the last year.  It is the NCAA institutional self-evaluation examining the use of American Indian mascots, nicknames, and logos.  This report, also included here as an attachment, is another in a continuing institutional and NCAA process that reflects upon our athletic identity as the “ASU Indians,” and how that identity is handled by the university.  The recent review actually is a continuation and extension of periodic examinations that have been formally and informally conducted since the early 1990s.

The self-evaluation committee, chaired by ASU Alumni Director Beth Smith, included representatives from the student, faculty, and staff constituent organizations, other members of the university community, the athletic department, athletic booster organizations, ASU Alumni Association, and external community representatives.  Thanks to each and all of you who participated in this self-evaluation.

NCAA has received such reports from the various universities that have American Indian representations as mascots, nicknames, and logos.  The self-evaluations are designed to promote institutional awareness and consideration of issues regarding university associations with Native American interests, sensitivities, and representations. The 2005 self-evaluation also will serve to respond to the 2003 Higher Learning Commission request that the ASU use of American Indian references be monitored prior to the next HLC visit in 2007.

The recent General Assembly of the Arkansas General Assembly passed two acts that may have some bearing on intercollegiate athletic programs at Arkansas universities.  The first, Act 2288, included here as an attachment, may permit an expansion of the transferable allowance from the Education and General fund, which may be used in support of an intercollegiate athletic program.  The greater allowances, which may be based upon recognized increases in the consumer price index, may more accurately reflect athletic program costs since the early 1990s.  An allowance for greater institutional support would be consistent with NCAA policy, and would comport with the recommendations of the most recent Knight Commission of University Presidents’ Report, which urged university investment in intercollegiate athletic programs as an important and appropriate function of American higher education.

ASU has not yet budgeted to increase the Educational and General fund transfer for the intercollegiate athletic program for the coming fiscal year, despite rising costs for the program.

The Legislature also passed a statute pertaining to scholarships for performance-based student activity, which could conceivably include athletic performance.  A copy of this statute, Act 1795, also is an attachment to this report.

While ASU has not designated any performance-based scholarships for athletes under the provisions of this statute, we have maintained that athletic scholarships should be considered as legitimate and appropriate components of the institution’s larger scholarship program, and that continuation of athletic scholarships should be conditioned upon the same criteria as other performance scholarships throughout the university.  Based upon the academic performance reports that were cited earlier, student athletes bring credit to the fact that we have many talented students at ASU in many areas of university activity, more than 1,000 of whom we are proud to see graduate tonight.  We wish them Godspeed as they leave our association.

Thank you for reading First Friday.  I would welcome your commentary about this report or any other aspect of ASU.  Please contact me at president@astate.edu.

First Friday will take a summer vacation, and will resume in the fall semester 2005.

Leslie Wyatt
President

Referenced Attachments
NCAA Certification Final Report | NCAA Mascot Report | Act 1795 | Act 2288

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