Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences

A newsletter for faculty, staff and students

September-October 2004 • Vol. 30, No. 5

Welcome Home!
By Dr. Greg Weidemann
Dean and Associate Vice President for Agriculture

Fall semester is always an exciting and hectic time of the year as our nine-month faculty rejoin their colleagues and students once again add the energy and enthusiasm that make being part of a college community so special. The Bumpers College prides itself on being student-centered and having a family-like atmosphere. Our College is less than complete without all the family members present on campus.

Many of our students have returned to find that several of their classrooms have undergone significant renovation while they were home for the summer. Some of our classrooms most in need of improvement received major facelifts over the summer due to the generosity of a number of our alums and supporters.

On Oct. 18 we will dedicate the H. L. Hembree Auditorium in the AFLS Building. Thanks to a generous gift from Mr. Hembree, this auditorium has received a major renovation that has transformed a room badly in need of renovation into a modern classroom with the latest in teaching technology.

A generous gift from Leland and Betty Tollett made possible renovation of the auditorium in the School of Human Environmental Sciences. It will be dedicated Oct. 23 as the Agnes Blew Auditorium in honor of Betty’s mother during the annual homecoming brunch hosted by the school. This is one of our most heavily used classrooms in the college and the renovation is nothing short of phenomenal. The Carroll and Sue Walls classroom, HOEC 106, will be dedicated Oct. 22. A gift from Mr. and Mrs. Walls provided the funds needed to renovate this classroom. In addition, the Home Economics Living Room was renovated and converted into meeting space for faculty and students in the School.

Also on Oct. 22, we will dedicate the Jay and Lillian Lawhon Classroom in the Plant Sciences Building, made possible by a gift from Noal and Joanna Lawhon. All of these improvements were badly needed and we are very grateful to those individuals who have made these renovations possible.

As many of you know, we are in the last year of the Campaign for the 21st Century that is seeking to raise $900 million to support our students and faculty. The goal for the college and Division of Agriculture is nearly $70 million and I am pleased to report that we have raised over $68 million towards that goal. I have every expectation that we will not only meet but exceed our goal in the remaining months.

The improvements in our classrooms, dedicated faculty and staff, and quality programs continue to attract excitement across the state and in the region. Once again our enrollment this fall increased significantly. The campus system for reporting enrollment in the colleges and departments is being revised, and those numbers were not available for this posting, but our records indicate the Bumpers College undergraduate enrollment grew by more that 7 percent. The preliminary report for the campus is a 5 percent increase, for a record total of 17,269 students. In addition, graduation rate and retention continues to improve. I have every expectation that the campus and our College will meet our 2010 goals. We continue to improve in all areas, with only minority recruitment showing minimal improvement. We must rededicate ourselves to improving diversity in the College and our campus to make this the welcoming learning community we all desire.

This November, our unit heads and College and Division administration will meet to craft our new five year management plan that will chart our course over the next several years. We have heard from over 500 stakeholders across the state and have provided the opportunity for all of our faculty and staff to share their thoughts and ideas. We will continue to solicit ideas from faculty, students and others as we prepare for the November planning session.

As Dean and Associate Vice President, I remain excited about what is happening in our college and the Division of Agriculture as I know you are. Great things are happening!