![\"Stacy](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Stacy-Hurst-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>Stacy Hurst<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n In 2024, Laura Ann Winning, chair of the Board of Trustees, announced that Bruno Hicks would become the 16th<\/sup> president of SAU. Although the new leader in contrast to Dr. Rankin and Dr. Berry had no prior connection to the university nor Arkansas, Winning in her introduction pointed out that his background and experience meshed well with the university\u2019s identity. \u201cThe knowledge Dr. Hicks gained on his family farm, which is still operational, further aligns him with SAU\u2019s agricultural roots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n![\"Laura](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Laura-Ann-Winning.jpg\") <\/a>Laura Ann Winning<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n \n![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Dr-Hicks-Cover_7-300x200.jpg\") <\/a>Dr. Hicks<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Dr. Hicks assumed office June 17, 2024 roughly eight months after Dr. Berry revealed he was leaving to become the chancellor of Henderson State University. A native of Maine, the new president had been provost at Dalton State University (Georgia) after serving as the founding dean of the college of education at Fitchburg State University (Massachusetts). \u00a0Not surprisingly for one with advanced degrees in environmental and experiential education, Dr. Hicks understood that the historic farmstead along with the strong university agricultural programs stood out as a distinctive resources.<\/p>\n \n\n\n\n![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Dr-Hicks-Cover_12-300x200.jpg\") <\/a>Dr. Bruno Hicks<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n \n![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/DrHicks-300x200.jpg\") <\/a>Dr. Bruno Hicks<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n \n![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Dr.-Hicks.jpg\") <\/a>Dr. Bruno Hicks<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n In April 2026, Dr. Hicks detailed at the SOAR Sustainability Conference in Magnolia how the \u201cMulerider Farmstead\u201d would serve as nexus for a variety of initiatives that promoted sustainability. The new initiative included outreach to high school students unaware of the span of agricultural careers as well as internships and workplace experiences for current students. He also anticipated that SAU could raise its profile through marketing its farm and garden products, expanding food donations, and developing ways for the local residents to acquire seasonal products.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to make agricultural tourism an economic driver and a cultural attraction, and cultivate business partnerships for innovation,\u201d explained Dr. Hicks.<\/p>\n \n\n\n\n![\"soar\"](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/soar-300x169.jpg\") <\/a>Soar<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\nState Budgets, Productivity Measures<\/h3>\n <\/p>\n The early 21st<\/sup> century presidents pursued their singular but complimentary visions in the face of declining state government support for Arkansas higher education.\u00a0 The administration, staff, and faculty, as had their counterparts in earlier eras, built upon SAU\u2019s signature model of self-reliance through adaptability, ingenuity, and prioritizing student well-being.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The 2025 report on higher education finance from the State Higher Education Executive Officers Association noted that state appropriations per Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) students in Arkansas was 67 percent of the national average. The state\u2019s funding per FTE had declined nearly 28 percent between 2001 and 2025. Arkansas colleges were attracting more students to their campuses as public funding fell. In January 2025, the assistant director of finance for the state higher education division reported to the coordinating board, \u201cHigher education is losing the battle with the combination of more students, less state funding and tuition rates that exceed inflation.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n SAU\u2019s base funding level derived from enrollment levels set early in the century and did not reflect the rising student growth after 2009. Institutions with fewer students than SAU continued to reap larger annual state appropriations through 2026.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In 2011, the state legislature enacted a productivity model designed to pare the dependence on student head counts in favor of specific outcomes. The lawmakers stipulated a portion of colleges\u2019 funding would be based upon awarding more degrees and certificates, improving retention, and boosting the number of students completing science, technology and math programs. In 2013 SAU earned the highest score on the productivity index, a pattern that continued even after the governor and legislature set aside the 2011 measure and required the state higher education agency in 2017 to develop a new productivity formula.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While this funding component was a welcomed segment of state revenue, SAU\u2019s enviable record in meeting performance criteria did not belie the need to steady its budget through tuition increases. The rise in tuition tracked the university\u2019s enrollment surge and sliding public revenue. In 2014 tuition and fees amounted to 54 \u00bd percent of SAU\u2019s Educational and General Expenditures, a proportion that climbed in 2024 to 70 percent. Only Henderson State among Arkansas institutions relied more fully on this income source.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Students From Near and Far<\/h3>\n <\/p>\n The university\u2019s success in retaining a growing number of its own students both bolstered its productivity ranking as well as contributed to the steady growth in enrollment.\u00a0 In 2019 and again in 2021 SAU recorded its highest percentages since 2009 in the freshman cohort one-year retention rate.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Student Affairs created and expanded tutoring and counseling programs as well as sponsored undertakings that permitted students to connect their education to community service. Donna Allen, vice president of Student Affairs, was the retention coordinator for the university. The appointment of the first professional academic advisors in each college in 2016 complimented the mission of the Advising Center that had guided new students since the 1990s as they grappled with choosing majors and heeding university procedures.<\/p>\n \n\n\n\n![\"Donna](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Donna-Allen.jpg\") <\/a>Dr. Donna Allen<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n This productive collaboration between Student Affairs and Academic Affairs was also evident in the revamping of developmental education and the establishment in 2011 of the Division of Developmental Studies, later renamed Transitional Studies. Students were less likely to be hampered in their progress by non-credit transitional courses as a result of innovative scheduling and dual enrollment in credit classes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The university was designing structured programs to improve services that had previously depended upon the interest and talent of individual employees. In the case of retention, the goal was to overcome barriers that kept students from timely graduation. In a 2025 report, the Arkansas Division of Higher Education noted that the graduation rate of students entering state public institutions in Fall 2020 reached the highest level recorded by the agency. Among Arkansas universities, SAU mustered the greatest percentage improvement.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The university broke through the 5,000 student enrollment level for the first time in Fall 2022 and did so again the following year when a record 5,127 students chose SAU. This rise was a steady though irregular climb from the 2009 total of 3,225. The raw numbers also revealed shifts in student backgrounds.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In 2009, two-thirds of the in-state students came from three counties: Columbia, Union, and Ouachita.\u00a0 University policymakers understood that the notable population declines in nearby localities required a well-ordered campaign into untapped frontiers. The expansion of Enrollment Services included the stationing of recruiters outside Southwest Arkansas.<\/p>\n \n\n\n![\"Map](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Map-of-the-Country-300x145.png\") <\/a><\/td>\n | <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n By Fall 2024, SAU attracted students from all 75 Arkansas counties in contrast to the 56 that the 2009 enrollees called home. The out-of-state student population represented 13.5 percent in 2009 but was nearly 18 percent by 2023. In that same year, the proportion of students from the three core counties that had for decades supplied the majority of Arkansas Muleriders shrunk to little more than a third.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The students who arrived from other nations were a striking indication that the transformation of SAU went beyond buildings and curriculum. The 966 international students on campus in 2023 would have been viewed as an improbable contingent in 2009 when 107 students from abroad, overwhelmingly from Nepal, registered for the most part in undergraduate classes.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The recent foreign nationals hailed predominately from India and were concentrated in the masters of computer science program. Their arrival did not occur in incremental stages but as a sudden, unexpected cascade. In Fall 2014 the international student population stood at 178 before rocketing to 670 the following year. The numbers of these enrollees hit 1,153 in Fall 2015, altering at least temporarily the historic degree pattern. In both 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 the university awarded more masters than bachelor\u2019s degrees but reverted to form in subsequent years.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Prospective students from outside America were discouraged by the policies and rhetoric of the first Donald Trump administration (1917-1921). Universities throughout the nation felt the chill of sliding international enrollment. \u00a0SAU shivered from a plunge that mirrored in reverse the original burst of international enrollment. By Fall 2020, only 173 foreign nationals were enrolled even as the overall SAU enrollment held steady in this first and most disruptive year of the coronavirus epidemic era. In Fall 2022 a second swell of students from India revived this demographic at SAU though not quite to earlier levels.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Weathering the Coronavirus Outbreak<\/h3>\n <\/p>\n In July 2020, Dr. Berry declared, \u201cThis year will be like no other in our history, but we are in this journey together.\u201d He continued, \u201cNow is the time for heroes. Now is a time for reaching out and caring for others.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\n\n\n![\"Berrys](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Berrys-at-Covid-300x200.jpg\") <\/a>Dr. Berry Covid Photos<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n \n![\"Matthew](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Berry-Mask-300x200.jpg\") <\/a>Dr. Berry Covid Photos<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n In March of that year, SAU essentially closed the campus, shifting instruction and operations online as the coronavirus outbreak ravaged the nation. Although Governor Asa Hutchinson mandated the return of face-to-face classes in K-12 schools for Fall 2020, he allowed higher education institutions to decide whether to continue remote delivery exclusively. In early May 2020 nearly all state-supported colleges and universities, including SAU, announced their campuses would reopen to students in the fall. SAU was the first to welcome students back to campus.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dr. Berry by this point had already appointed representatives from the various sectors of the university to the Risk Management Task Force. By mid-July, the task force and the University\u2019s Reopening Committee had completed and posted online the 2020 Return to CampusGuide.\u00a0 The guide\u2019s protocols offered health guidance for individuals, detailed adaptions in classroom practices along with student housing operations, and established the approval process for special events.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Faculty revised several courses to go fully online while managing others that allowed students to access remotely classroom presentations and discussions.\u00a0 Connie Wilson, an education professor who later became Vice President of Development, adopted a new virtual platform application that improved collaboration with and among her graduate students.<\/p>\n \n\n\n\n![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/DrWilson2024-300x200.jpg\") <\/a>Dr. Connie Wilson<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Not unexpectedly, students found ways to navigate the challenges arising from regulations adopted to mitigate covid spread. Tremayne Bell, a senior accounting major from Dallas, recounted that the shuttering of the Blanchard Business building study lounge took away a valuable space to complete assignments and confer with other majors.<\/p>\n \n\n\n\n![\"Tremayne](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Tremayne-Bell.jpg\") <\/a>Tremayne Bell<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n <\/td>\n | <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Fortunately, Magale Library had expanded its study areas through renovation and build-outs. The computer commons several years earlier had set up shop in the library. Bell explained, \u201cI found Magale Library\u2019s study rooms as an excellent substitute to study and learn effectively during this time.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Numerous staff members not only carried out their customary duties in line with covid protocols but took on crucial tasks that protected the entire university community from the threat of a rampant illness. Nurses in the University Health Services (UHS) learned to operate the rapid testing machines, bolstering expedited treatment. Amanda Hanson, director of UHS, cooperated with Josh Jenkins, the manager of web communications, to construct a dynamic database system that kept tabs on the dispersal of the disease.<\/p>\n \n\n\n\n![\"Amanda](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Amanda-Hanson.jpg\") <\/a>Amanda Hanson<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n \n![\"Josh](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Josh-Jenkins.jpg\") <\/a>Josh Jenkins<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n The housing staff compassionately assisted students in quarantine. These employees delivered meals and provided laundry services along with working with UHS to relieve symptoms. The residence staff also had first-hand knowledge on not only who came down with covid but the people with whom they had interacted. Sandra Martin, the housing director at the time, revealed that SAU was \u201cahead of many other universities in the state on contact tracing.\u201d<\/p>\n | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ![\"photo](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Fall-Photos_11-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Campus](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/CampusDrone2024_3-300x169.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Dr.-Rankin.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Rankin](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Rankin-Honor-Wall_10-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Rankin](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Rankin-Honor-Wall_16-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"sau](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/sau-campus-summer_14-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Agriculture](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Agriculture-Building143a0349-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Agri](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Agri-and-Science-Building--300x169.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Story](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Story-Arena-1-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"SAU](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/SAU-Story-Arena-Grand-Opening_9735-300x149.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Ronnie](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Ronnie-Ribble-Strength-Training-Center-300x168.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Dawson](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Dawson-Field-at-Dr.-Margaret-Downing-Softball-Complex--300x168.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Dr.](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Dr.-Margaret-Downing-Softball-Complex-1-300x168.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Dawson](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Dawson-Athletic-Complex-Inside-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Dawson](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Dawson-Athletic-Complex-1-300x124.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Norm](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Norm-DeBriyn-Athletics-Operations-and-Murphy-USA-Student-Athlete-Academic-Success-Center-300x168.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Columbia](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Columbia-Hall-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Magnolia](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Magnolia-Hall-1-300x169.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Burns-Harsh-Hall\"](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Burns-Harsh-Hall-300x184.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Arkansas](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Arkansas-Hall-1-300x225.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Magnolia,](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Magnolia-Columbia-and-Arkansas-Hall-300x225.jpg\")
<\/a><\/td>\n![\"Berry](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Berry-at-Groundbreaking-179x300.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Engineering\"](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Engineering-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Education\"](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Education-1-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Dr-Trey-Berry-SAU-President-082117-2-200x300.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Tree](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/7.1.15-Tree-Planting_img_9427-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Tree](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/7.1.15-Tree-Planting_img_9449-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Love-and-Loyalty-photo-with-graphic\"](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Love-and-Loyalty-photo-with-graphic-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a><\/td>\n![\"Art](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Art-Horne.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Jeanette](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Jeanette-Bismark-200x300.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Josh](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Josh-Kee.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Arkansas](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Arkansas-Natural-and-Cultural-Resources-Council-300x277.jpg\")
<\/a><\/td>\n![\"Nelson\"](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Nelson-1-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Nelson\"](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Nelson-2-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Cross](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Cross-Hall-300x185.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Greek](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Greek-Theatre-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"1936](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/1936-Theatre-300x167.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"1940](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/1940-Theatre-after-addition-of-seating-300x218.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Oliver](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Oliver-Band-Hall-300x113.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Bussey-front\"](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Bussey-front-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Talley](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Talley-Hall-300x133.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Greene](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/GreeneHall2-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Talbot](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Talbot-Hall9-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Ozmer](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Ozmer-House-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"ALEXANDER-WARNOCK](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Alexander-Warnock-House-1-300x225.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Mt.](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Mt.-Prospect-300x169.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Molly](\"https:\/\/www.saumag.edu\/archives\/files\/2026\/08\/Molly-Harsh-Burns-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>