“Competition is healthy.”
That was the focus of UCA President Lu Hardin’s address to the Conway Noon Lions on May 11 at the Brewer-Hegeman Conference Center on the UCA campus.
Hardin spoke of the competition that exists between central Arkansas and northwest Arkansas for business, adding a similar competition is now on between the state’s institutions of higher learning in those regions.
Hardin came to UCA in September of 2002 from the Department of Higher Education where he had been director since 1997. While there, he was the first director to market higher education. He brought that aggressive marketing plan to Conway when he became the eighth president in UCA’s history.
Throughout his talk, he demonstrated his passion for higher education in general and UCA in particular. “The future of the state rests in higher education,” he said as Lions seemed to nod their approval.
“You do not judge a state by the number of high school graduates (though he is a strong supporter of secondary education); you are judged by the number of college graduates, and we are 49th and that’s unacceptable.”
He said there is a direct correlation between per capita income and those with college degrees. As an example, the state of Arkansas ranks 49th in both categories, while Massachusetts ranks third in both.
Still more than a quarter of a year away from his second year anniversary, Hardin has seen enrollment surge by more than 20 percent in that short time. Not surprisingly, he feels that UCA is on fire, and with the reaction from around the room, it seems that few would disagree.
After telling the Lions that UCA accounts for a direct impact of $120 million plus on the Conway-Faulkner County economy, Hardin returned to the theme of his remarks. “I am thrilled to see UALR and ASU ads. I think it helps all of us; it’s healthy when more are going (to college) and more are graduating. Higher education has been my life for more than 20 years. I want to see this state succeed in higher education.”
Though he stressed that “I’m not going to suggest to you that this is a two-horse race by any means,” statistics would indicate that it almost is. For example, for the second consecutive year, UCA leads all state institutions of higher learning in graduation rates with 51.3 percent of all freshmen who enter the school graduating within six years (how the category is figured nationally). While pleased, the president is far from satisfied. I want 60 percent and I want it soon.”
Hardin shared with the Lions that he and Undergraduate Dean Dr. Sally Roden have co-written the curriculum for a course called “Freshman Experience.” Some 400 students signed up last year for the three-hour credit course, which Hardin plans to make mandatory within three years. “Not academic?” he asked the Lions rhetorically. “You bet it is!”
The course is another example of how passionate Hardin is that once students come on the UCA campus, he plans on them staying. “Borrow money and get out of college,” he will tell them more than once. And with more mentors and advisors coming, he sees that 51.3 percent figure on the rise. The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville is second with 51.1 percent, but after that, it drops to Arkansas State University at 45, Henderson State University at 44 and Arkansas Tech University at 42.
And not only is the competition fierce between central Arkansas and Northwest Arkansas for the highest graduation rate, it is equally so for top-notch students. The average grade point average for the UCA Honors College is 3.85 with 30 being the average ACT score.
Hardin shared with the club that UCA had “signed” a student from Texarkana, Texas with a 35 on the ACT. “That’s one from perfect and he signed with UCA because of academic achievement.”
He used the “signed” terminology to illustrate the competition for the best students, similar to coaches vying for the best athletes. “We are competing for the best and brightest students just like football,” he said.
“Competition is good for the state,” he concluded. “I would rather see them go to Hendrix or Fayetteville than go out of state,” he said. “It’s just that I would rather see them come to UCA first.”
-Tommy Jackson
