ASU Debate Team receives high honors
The ASU Debate Team was recently invited to the highly competitive Point Loma Nazarene debate tournament for the 2003-‘04 debate season, making them one of only 20 debate teams selected out of some 1,000-plus teams across the nation. This tournament, which will be held in February at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, Calif., is considered a major honor among the debate and academic community. The invitation came as a result of the team’s success this year from competitions and tournaments, ranking them as one of the top 26 teams in the nation. For more, see ASU Debate.

Fall Commencement is Friday evening
Commencement exercises will be held Friday at 7 p.m. in the Convocation Center. Reserved parking will be available for faculty in the lots west of the Convocation Center.  A faculty parking card must be placed on the left side of the automobile dashboard. (Deans will provide the parking cards prior to commencement day.) Faculty should enter the parking lot from Robinson Street, and enter the building at the yellow entrance or upper level blue entrance.  The faculty procession will form on the mezzanine level between the blue and green entrances. Faculty line-up has been moved to the same area as the post-commencement reception, above and behind the platform stage. Access to this area will be most convenient at the upper level blue entrance. Faculty who have difficulty descending stairs are advised to join the procession through the lower level blue entrance. At 6:30 p.m., faculty should form two single lines facing south in the mezzanine area.

ASU Board Meeting this Friday
This Friday at 10 a.m., the ASU Board of Trustees will meet in the Board Room on the 8th floor of the Dean B. Ellis Library.

Donors provide great support in 2003
According to the latest issue of Foundation News, published by the Arkansas State University Foundation, Inc., donors were very generous to ASU in fiscal 2003 .  Read more about it on the NewsPage.

Athletics Certification process underway
ASU has begun a self-study of the athletics program according to procedures set forth by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).  Dr. Les Wyatt, president, appointed the committee members from throughout the university community, and he asked Dr. Glen Jones to chair the group.  The primary goal of the self-study is "to identify the extent to which ASU complies with the operating principles outlined in the 'NCAA Athletics Certification Self-Study Instrument,' and to develop and implement action plans, where needed, for improvement."
     The steering committee, which has already met three times, has adopted a written plan for the self-study and certification process which will conclude with a peer review team evaluation visit in April, 2005. The group’s five subcommittees and chairs are: Academic Integrity, Dr. Lynita Cooksey; Equity, Welfare and Sportsmanship, Dr. Lonnie Williams; First Cycle Evaluation, Dr. Kathryn Jones; Fiscal Integrity, Dr. J. W. Mason; and Government and Rules Compliance, Wynona Wiggins.
     The NCAA began the certification program in 1993 to help ensure its commitment to integrity in intercollegiate athletics.  This is ASU's second time to participate in the certification process; the earlier study was completed in 1997.

Scholarship program revised for 2004-05
The university's scholarship programs have been expanded and redesigned for students entering in the fall of 2004.  Scholarships for current students will be honored, but existing programs will be phased out as these students graduate during the next four years.  See the details in a news release about the program, or visit the Financial Aid and Scholarships web site, http://finaid.astate.edu/scholarships.html.

Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum extends holiday hours
The ASU Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum and Educational Center in Piggott has announced special daily hours during the holidays. In response to persons asking for extended hours during holiday breaks, the museum will be open daily for tours from 1 - 3 p.m. Admission is a $5 donation or $3 for groups of 10 or more (with reservations). Admission is $3 for senior citizens and free to museum members. The museum store (loaded with lots of unusual and neat gift items) is open daily during museum hours. The museum will close on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. See the Hemingway-Pfeiffer web site for more about this facility.

Campus holiday schedule
Reminder: The campus of Arkansas State University-Jonesboro will close after Commencement this Friday, Dec. 19, for two weeks during the holidays. The university will reopen on Monday morning Jan. 5, 2004.

Last issue for 2003
This is the last issue of Inside ASU for 2003. We greatly appreciate all the information and feedback sent to us. As always, we welcome your suggestions. Should you have any, please send ideas and comments to ASUnews@astate.edu.

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