New theme reflects ASU's
heritage, achievements and vision

March 27, 2006 -- Powering Minds.

There’s nothing new about that, Arkansas State University people will tell you. That’s what we have been doing for years.

The words seem simple enough, but they have a distinct message.

Throughout much of 2003 and 2004, ASU students, faculty, staff and community representatives conducted a strategic planning process for the campus. Participants identified challenges and concerns while on their way to developing Arkansas State University-Jonesboro’s goals for the foreseeable future.

One of the goals was to increase enrollment, retention rates, and graduation rates through development of a comprehensive enrollment management plan.

Another goal was to enhance ASU’s reputation, visibility and influence by supporting the university’s academic leadership position in the Delta and beyond, expanding communications, and becoming more competitive.

To increase enrollment in an effective way, ASU called on the expertise of SEM Works, a North Carolina firm with proven experience in enrollment management.

As SEM Works President Jim Black led the university committees through development of an enrollment management plan, a central theme developed that tied together the university’s history, capability and vision.

After research and testing, the theme that best captured Arkansas State University and what it means came down to the two-word message, Powering Minds. ASU’s Publications and Creative Services team went to work, developing the graphic elements needed to help convey the theme.

They had to look no further than ASU’s oldest building, Wilson Hall, where the stone carving of a thoughtful-looking scholar reading a scroll adorned the west wall of the building, above the original exterior entrance to what was then the library.

That entrance was closed as part of a Wilson Hall remodeling in the 1960s, after the Dean B. Ellis Library opened in 1963. But the scholar, captured in limestone in his quest for knowledge and enlightenment, still remains.

That quest has been shared by generations of students, first at Agricultural and Mechanical (A&M) College, First District, beginning in 1909; at Arkansas State College, beginning in 1933; and at Arkansas State University, beginning in 1967.

As the current students contemplate their future, they may draw on some artistic inspiration from the past and a University that knows what it’s doing:

Powering Minds.

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See "Key Points" for more details about Powering Minds, and TheScholar.htm for more details about the historic carving.

Powering Minds is a registered trademark of Arkansas State University

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