Southern Arkansas University (SAU) is a two-campus system comprised of a regional state university and a technical college with both state and regional responsibilities. Recognizing the diversity of student backgrounds and educational experiences, each campus accepts its coordinated and unique role.

Vision

To develop tomorrow’s leaders through the transformative impact of education, scholarship, and service.

Mission

Southern Arkansas University provides individuals with opportunities for intellectual growth, personal enrichment, skills development, and meaningful career preparation by fostering an environment conducive to excellence in teaching, learning, scholarship, creative endeavors, and service.

Core Values

SAU believes…

• That education leads to productive and fulfilling lives
• That education supports the value of all individuals
• That education is the foundation of a free and democratic society
• That education creates an informed and participatory citizenry
• That education and scholarship contribute to the advancement of knowledge

Audiences – SAU s responsible for serving

1. residents of southwest and south-central Arkansas who have completed a high school education and are either seeking a college degree or continuing professional education and residents of the state through specific degree programs and services;
2. employers in the region, both public and private: school districts, health care providers, local governments, and private businesses;
3. economic development interests and entrepreneurs in the region;
4. the community and area by providing a broad range of academic and cultural activities and public events;
5. area K-12 schools seeking college general education courses for advanced students; and
6. two-year college transfer students.

2. 2. Array of Programs and Services – SAU serves its primary audiences by providing
      1. an associate- and baccalaureate-level program in nursing;
      2. baccalaureate programs in arts and humanities, the natural sciences, and social sciences appropriate to a teaching institution with a predominantly undergraduate student body;
      3. baccalaureate programs in the professional fields of business, education, nursing, and human services (i.e., social work and criminal justice);
      4. master’s programs in education, computer science, kinesiology, counseling, public administration, business administration, and agriculture;
      5. a doctoral program in rural and diverse educational leadership; and
      6. services specifically designed to meet the needs of regional economic development (small business development, support for entrepreneurs, problem-solving).
   3. Special Features
      1. Agriculture and education programs
      2. Natural Resources Research Center (NRRC) with emphasis in soil and water quality for the public, municipalities, and local industries
      3. Nursing programs to assist regional medical community needs
      4. Innovative Gaming and Animation Design programs with art and computer science tracks
      5. Engineering program unique to the region
      6. Cyber Security major first of its kind in the region

To accomplish the University’s mission to educate students, the general education curriculum and all program curricula provide learning opportunities that assist students in attaining the following University Learning Goals and Objectives:

1. 1. Effective Communication

Our graduates can communicate effectively. Effective communication embraces oral, visual, and language arts, including the ability to listen, speak, read, and write. It includes the effective use of various resources and technology for personal and professional communication.

• • • Our students can write effectively.
    • Our students can effectively deliver an oral presentation.

1. 2. Personal and Social Responsibility

Our graduates are prepared to be personally and socially responsible citizens, having the ability to apply knowledge and skills that encourage responsible civic engagement for the advancement of society. This includes an understanding of their own and other cultures and societies and the ability to make informed and ethical decisions.

• • • Our students demonstrate an understanding of the diversity of their own and other societies and cultures.
    • Our students demonstrate an understanding of the process of making informed and ethical decisions.
    • Our students demonstrate an understanding of facts within historical and cultural contexts.

3. Critical Thinking

Our graduates can think critically, solve problems, and make informed decisions. Critical thinking is the ability to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information and ideas from multiple perspectives. It includes the accurate use of terminology, information literacy, the application of scholarly and scientific methods, logical argument, and the capability for analysis and problem solving.

• • • Our students use appropriate quantitative skills in making decisions.
    • Our students demonstrate an ability to think critically and creatively to analyze and solve problems.

4. Information Literacy

Our graduates can use technology effectively in their fields. Information literacy is the ability to determine the nature of required information, to access it effectively and efficiently, and to evaluate it critically. It includes the responsible, legal, and ethical use of information.

5. Content Knowledge

Our graduates have content knowledge in their chosen fields and the necessary skills to be successful. Content knowledge is discipline and degree specific.

As one means of attaining the mission of the University and of providing the student with a basic well-rounded education, all candidates for degrees complete prescribed general education courses. The general education curriculum includes courses that introduce and reinforce learning objectives for the following goals: Effective Communication, Personal and Social Responsibility, and Critical Thinking.

To accomplish the University’s mission to educate students, all candidates for degrees complete the prescribed major and minor requirements of the University’s degree programs. Curricula in all programs reinforce the learning objectives for effective communication, personal and social responsibility, and critical thinking; curricula in all programs also introduce and reinforce learning objectives for the following goals: Information Literacy and Content Knowledge.

The University measures student learning related to all five University Learning Goals and uses this information to continuously improve the curricula. Assessment reports that describe the ways these goals are integrated into classes are available through the Office of Institutional Effectiveness and are reported within the University’s accreditation documents.

Southern Arkansas University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission, as well as the

• • Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET),
  • Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing, Inc. (ACEN),
  • Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International),
  • The Council for the Accreditation of Education Preparation (CAEP),
  • Council on Social Work Education,
  • National Alliance of Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NACEP), and
  • National Committee for Accreditation of Coaching Education (NCACE).

Southern Arkansas University holds memberships in the following national organizations:

• • Accreditation of Teacher Education
  • American Association for Higher Education and Accreditation
  • American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education
  • American Association of University Women
  • The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International
  • Conference of Southern Graduate Schools
  • Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation
  • The Higher Learning Commission
  • National Association of Schools of Music
  • National Collegiate Athletic Association
  • National Collegiate Honors Council
  • National Commission on Accrediting
  • National Council of Educational Opportunity Associations
  • National League for Nursing
  • United States Center for Coaching Excellence

Southern Arkansas University was founded more than a century ago as the Third District Agricultural School (TDAS) by Act 100 of the Arkansas legislature on April 1, 1909. SAU celebrates this date as Founder’s Day. The school was a Progressive Era educational reform urged by the Farmers Educational and Cooperative Union. It taught rural young men and women scientific agricultural practices and modern home economics and awarded high school degrees. The Farmers Union’s legacy endured at SAU. The University operates one of the state’s largest collegiate farms, and the school’s colors – Blue and Gold – are those of the union. SAU’s agricultural roots are also evident in its unique symbol – the Mulerider – adopted in 1912 when its football players rode mules to practice and games.

To increase the supply of rural schoolteachers, Arkansas elevated TDAS and the state’s three other residential agricultural schools to junior college status with Special Act 229 in 1923 and Act 45 in 1925. Officially renamed State Agricultural and Mechanical College, Third District, the school was known everywhere as Magnolia A&M College. The North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools accredited Magnolia A&M in 1929. The institution afterward has maintained continuous accreditation.

In the fall of 1949 the Board of Trustees, exercising authority vested in it by the state legislature, decided to change the junior college into a four-year, degree-granting institution. By Act 11 on January 24, 1951, the legislature confirmed this change with a new name, Southern State College (SSC). Enrollment grew from a few hundred students during the junior college years to well over two thousand during SSC’s twenty-five-year history. The Arkansas legislature, with Act 171 on February 14, 1975, created a three-campus SSC system by adding two junior college branches at El Dorado and Camden to the main campus at Magnolia. The El Dorado branch, however, became independent in 1991. Having gained approval in 1973 from North Central Association to offer graduate courses in education, SSC began offering master’s degrees on June 2, 1975.

In April 2019, the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board authorized Southern Arkansas University to offer its first doctoral degree in the area of Rural and Diverse Educational Leadership.