As this is the final First Friday report in the 2003-2004 academic year, we can take stock of our accomplishments and challenges during the year. It has been an exciting period that began with the summary report from last year's visit of the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), which resulted in full accreditation of the Jonesboro campus for the next decade. Separate HLC visits were made to the ASU campuses at Beebe, Newport, and Mountain Home, and accredited status was awarded to each of these entities. For the first time in ASU's 95-year history, we conducted our business in 2003-04 as a group of four separate but related, fully accredited entities under the banner of the Arkansas State University system of campuses.

At the Jonesboro campus this year, we have been involved collectively in activities prompted by the HLC accreditation report. Accomplishments during the year include:

• An Assessment Office has been created and its Director has been appointed.
• Many vacant positions have been filled.
• Campus communications vehicles (including First Friday) have been developed to distribute information and to seek responses.
• A plan to increase library resources over the next years has been developed.
• Revision of the faculty handbook has been initiated by the Faculty Senate and Handbook Committee.

A strategic planning process has been conducted throughout the year and soon will reach the writing phase for eventual circulation and adoption next fall. The process has been ably directed by Dr. David Cox, Professor of Education, and has been joined by hundreds of participants representing the students, faculty and staff of ASU, and many members of the surrounding community. Through a series of committee meetings, several directions for future activities at the Jonesboro campus have been defined, and have been assigned this order of importance by the planning participants:

1. Enhance learning by focusing on the institution's priorities - teaching, research, and service.
2. Enhance the University's reputation, visibility, and influence.
3. Develop a cohesive campus community based upon strong shared governance, excellent communication, and mutual respect.
4. Increase resources to the university.
5. Increase enrollment, retention rate, and graduation rate of both undergraduate and graduate students.
6. Enhance the diversity and inclusiveness of students, faculty, staff, and curriculum.
7. Strategically allocate/reallocate resources among divisions and colleges based on institutional priorities.
8. Develop a culture of assessment to continually and systematically examine and enhance educational and institutional outcomes.
9. Develop an environment that fosters social and economic development.

Within each of the strategic directions, planning participants identified a number of possibilities for future actions. These ideas are listed on the attachment to this report, and are referenced here to solicit responses from readers of this material. As we have reported in First Friday articles about the planning process, we welcome commentary about the emerging plan, the strategic directions listed above, or the ideas for implementation included in the attachment. Please feel free to add your voice to this process by way of the e-mail address at the end of this report. Previous First Friday reports (available through the First Friday Archive link to this edition) have addressed the attempt to develop a state funding formula for higher education institutions. After a year-long effort, the Arkansas Department of Higher Education produced a need-based formula proposal that subsequently was approved by the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board. While the proposal had some merits, it unfortunately excluded from consideration some 500 students legally and legitimately enrolled in ASU courses in Paragould. As the result, ASU would not have received hundreds of thousands of dollars through formula distributions, had the proposal been approved and funded by the Legislature.

The Legislative subcommittee for Higher Education declined to consider the ADHE formula proposal because the size of the projected budget request, $175 million, was considered well beyond Arkansas funding capability in the 2005 General Assembly. This rejection sends a clear message that new funding for the University will be difficult to obtain in the forthcoming legislative session. Despite this outlook for the Legislature, it remains an institutional priority to move forward on several budgetary and financial goals:

• We want to improve faculty salaries to the point of favorable comparison with comparable institutions in our region.
• We need to develop additional funding capabilities for the ASU-Jonesboro Library.
• We should develop tuition assistance provisions for selected graduate students.
• We should continue the effort to attract and retain qualified minority faculty and staff members, and to appoint faculty in higher-cost disciplines.

At the Board of Trustees meeting in Jonesboro today, approval was given to generate funds to partially address these needs. In the absence of significant new state funding for the 2005 fiscal year, tuition will be increased by 7.6% to provide money for salary increases for employees, to address promotion and equity adjustment costs, and to provide funds for targeted recruitment opportunities. A $2.00 per hour library fee also was approved to support development of the library collections. Special enrollment fees were approved for certain courses in the College of Business and the College of Nursing and Health Professions to provide capability for higher-cost faculty appointments. Also, some form of tuition assistance plan will be developed to provide for selected graduate student support.

While we are all concerned about rising student costs for higher education, ASU still represents a high value for a relatively modest investment and at a cost that is competitive among other public universities in the region. We share concerns that the State should not neglect its obligation to support higher education as a "public good," but also should recognize the critical role of schools like ASU for the success of Arkansans.

In all respects, this has been a good year for Arkansas State University -- a period of solid teaching and important research and service; a time of discussion about the purposes of our enterprise; a phase of new development of the campus capabilities; an occasional pause to note the passage of colleagues, alumni, and students from our association; and occasions like tonight's commencement to celebrate our successes. Thank you for sharing the year with us. If you have comments about this material, I would appreciate your message to president@astate.edu.

Leslie Wyatt, ASU President

Referenced Material: Proposed Initiatives, Strategic Planning Process

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