ASU’s Dr. Chuck Welch: Higher Education Must ‘Tell Our Story’

Arkansas State University system president Dr. Charles “Chuck” Welch says a “transformative investment” in higher education is needed in Arkansas.

But before political leaders might dedicate hundreds of millions of dollars or more to the cause, universities and colleges must do a better job explaining the long-term value of a higher education degree.

“When we look at the fact that we’ve made great strides, we’re doing it when more than half of our colleges and more than half of our universities aren’t funded at a level that the state defines as equitable,” Welch said in a recent Talk Business Arkansas interview. “I think it’s going to be really important for higher education to step forward and tell our story and make sure our policymakers understand that.”

Welch provided a guest editorial to Talk Business Arkansas last month calling on the state to boost funding to colleges and universities similar to a billion-dollar investment made in Connecticut.

“It is time for our state to make a bold and transformative move to achieve our full potential,” Welch wrote. “… long-term, our universities cannot — and should not — continue to make incremental improvements and try to stay competitive on the shoulders of students through continued tuition increases. The resolve shown for significant economic investments in secondary education and highways must also be demonstrated for our universities and colleges.”

Gov. Mike Beebe (D) has called for the state to double the number of college graduates by the year 2025. Higher education leaders have also pointed to a recent study that shows Arkansans with bachelors degrees will earn four times more than high school graduates.

Welch took the helm at the ASU system in April 2011 and has been aggressive in growing the Jonesboro-based university system of more than 14,000 students.

In recent months, ASU has explored expanding its campus to Queretaro, Mexico. Welch said that Mexican leaders initiated conversations with ASU Chancellor Dr. Tim Hudson when he was at Texas Tech University.

ASU could be the first public U.S. university to open a campus in Mexico, Welch says, and that could lead to a higher profile and new revenue opportunities.

“We feel like it’s a chance to expand our presence on an international stage to bring in somewhere between 5, 10, 15,000 students in some of the projections and really be able to enhance our revenue stream with funds that we can bring back to Jonesboro and Arkansas,” he said.

Queretaro is an area that Welch says has high per capita income, is technologically advanced with an extremely low crime rate, and is home to many multi-national corporations.

“We don’t want ASU-Jonesboro to only be a northeast Arkansas university. We really feel like there’s a lot of opportunities to expand our reach and our presence,” Welch said.

Read about other initiatives Welch is pursuing in the video below.