The Jonesboro campus is a special place for students and those who serve them. We try very hard to make this a safe place and one that is accessible to all users. We want to make this a happy place, where personal happiness will be recalled. We attempt to make the campus a place that will be remembered fondly by those who live, study, and learn here.

But those efforts are being hindered by the age of some of our most important buildings for study and learning. Consider that the central classroom building, Wilson Hall, is now more than 70 years old, or that the business building, first built for science laboratories, is almost as old, and that the nursing classroom building is of the same vintage. An old classroom building, especially one built for different purposes, does not meet the needs of today’s teachers and learners. These buildings often cannot be retrofitted with modern technologies. The buildings are more expensive to maintain and operate than contemporary structures. They are unattractive, often too hot or too cold, and usually difficult to use. Perhaps most critically, they were not built to the codes that are required in today’s construction.

For more than a decade, ASU has sought to replace the functions now housed in Wilson Hall. We want to construct a new classroom building in the center of campus. Plans have been drawn with the advice and counsel of those who will occupy the new building. Wilson Hall could likely be renovated for offices associated with academic programs, such as the Graduate School, The Honors College, or the Center for Learning Technology.

The cost to build a classroom building to replace Wilson Hall will exceed $20 million. The state must be the patron for such a costly facility, and it is reasonable to expect the state to provide for a general classroom building for one of its major universities. Efforts will be continued in the upcoming legislative session to secure this funding. While the Wilson Hall replacement project remains the highest construction priority for the Jonesboro campus during the legislative session, other needed construction projects may be addressed in the near term through a state financed bond project. This measure is known as Referred Question 1, and will be on the general election ballot next Tuesday.

The proposed bond issue will pay off existing facility bonds for higher education and will create new bonds to make money available for new construction on the two and four-year public university campuses. At Jonesboro, the bonds will yield $9 million for academic development purposes. While this amount is not enough to address our highest priority, the Wilson Hall replacement facility, the new money will allow us to address several other important needs and opportunities.

National Lambda Rail
We will use $1.5 million to link ASU to other universities that are partners in the National Lambda Rail, or NLR project. This high-speed network will be like an internet dedicated to higher education. It is crucial that ASU be a part of this national development if our faculty and students are to stay connected with colleagues around the state and country. Other universities in Arkansas and surrounding states have already financed and planned for their connection to NLR, so the $1.5 million provided by the bond will permit ASU to keep pace with our sister institutions.

Chickasaw Building
The Chickasaw Building is almost 40 years old, but was solidly built and is well-suited for beneficial renovation due to a large floor-to-ceiling space allowance. It will be feasible to convert Chickasaw into an academic building that will house a number of academic department faculty and support staff, contain modern instructional facilities including large classrooms, and consolidate academic functions that are spread throughout other buildings. Chickasaw is ideally located within the academic center of campus, and will be adjacent to surface parking lots that will be built where houses are now located east of the building. The projected renovation cost of $4.5 million also will include asbestos abatement and improvement of building support systems in the Chickasaw Building.

Delta Center and College of Business
Approximately $3.3 million will be directed from the bond proceeds to match two grants obtained by the College of Business and the Delta Center for Economic Development in 2005-07. These are capital construction grants to build a new home for the Delta Center, now housed at the Jonesboro Airport, and for collateral instructional spaces that can be shared with the College of Business. The bond proceeds and the grants will enable construction of a classroom annex to the existing business building, which subsequently will be renovated for offices, meeting, and seminar rooms. The new annex building will house classrooms of different capacities, some of which will be outfitted for case study activities. The annex and related renovations will be intermediate solutions for the difficult conditions found in the existing College of Business building. Ultimately, we want to build an entirely new facility planned from the ground up to address the important functions associated with the college.

Higher Education Bond Program
The Higher Education bonds will provide some relief for campuses across the state in their efforts to upgrade facilities, or to keep current with emerging instructional and research technologies. To its credit, the state has made similar investments in K-12 public school facilities over the last several years, so this effort will complement those initiatives.

It is important for voters to understand that the Higher Education bonds will not cause an increase in taxes. Instead, the state treasury will simply extend the payment period of an existing bond program dedicated for higher education.

Other than the limitation of money provided, the bond program presents no downside effects, but rather presents several advantages for ASU-Jonesboro. The bond measure will make progress toward the goal of providing teachers and learners a campus that is safe, efficient, and memorable for the collegiate experiences found here. If the voters approve Referred Question 1, new construction will begin next year.

The campus of any long-lived organization evolves over time, and adjusts to the work to be done there and for the interests of the people who use it. As the current users, we have an immediate opportunity through Referred Question 1 to shape the place we will leave to those who follow us here and for the work they will do.