Campus Talk: Replacing Rex

Editor’s note: Each Tuesday, Talk Business & Politics provides “Campus Talk,” a recap and deep-dive into education topics in our email newsletter, which you can sign up to receive daily for free here.

EXECUTIVE Q&A: JONATHAN CROSSLEY
Adamant that ‘education equity should be at the forefront of the state and national conversation’ and that schools should teach students ‘how to think, not what to think,’ this school year away from the classroom has been a valuable, enriching time for Arkansas’ 2014 Teacher of the Year.

Jonathan Crossley has been traveling Arkansas and seeing first-hand its challenges, problems and opportunities in education.

Crossley, age 26, holds a B.A. in political science from the University of South Carolina and a M.Ed. in educational leadership from Arkansas Tech University. He previously served as an 11th- and 12th-grade English and oral communications teacher at Palestine-Wheatley High School.

What’s at the core of his teaching philosophy? What are his thoughts on the future of education? What advice does he have for future teachers? Read this Q&A with Crossley from the latest magazine edition of TB&P at this link.

REX REPLACEMENT
A week ago, Simmons First announced that Rex Nelson was named as the new director of corporate communications for the Pine Bluff-based financial institution. That means he’ll be leaving his daily role as executive director of the Arkansas Independent Colleges and Universities, which represents schools like Hendrix, Harding and OBU.

Who will replace Nelson? Talk Business & Politics sources say we’ll know as early as today. Stay tuned to our web site for details at TalkBusiness.net.

UALR ANNOUNCES $20.3 MILLION GRANT FOR ARTS BUILDING
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock will build a 71,636-square-foot visual arts and applied design building thanks to a $20.6 million donation Monday from the Siloam Springs-based Windgate Charitable Foundation, the university announced today.

The grant for construction and equipment is the second largest in the university’s history. The university’s chancellor, Dr. Joel Anderson, said the gift is “transformational” for both the UALR Department of Art and the institution.

Targeted to open in the fall of 2017, the building will consolidate the university’s applied design, art history and studio arts programs into one building. Applied design involves disciplines such as ceramics and sculpture. The building will be at the corner of Campus Drive East and 28th Street in a sloped, wooded area. It will be designed to achieve a LEED Silver rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.

According to UALR, the university serves about 1,000 students annually in visual arts classes, with 180 students studying visual arts as a major this semester. Read more on this major gift here.

ASU BOARD OF TRUSTEES APPROVES $244 MILLION BUDGET, TUITION HIKES FOR 2015-16 SCHOOL YEAR
The Arkansas State University Board of Trustees on Friday okayed a $243.7 million operating budget and campus tuition and fee increases for the 2015-2016 academic year, meaning full-time students at the system’s flagship campus in Jonesboro will pay additional costs of about $165 per semester.

“There’s lots of feelings that higher ed spending is out of control, but that’s absolutely not true with the ASU System,” said ASU System President Charles L. Welch. “Over the last five years, our total budget has risen 10.6 percent — that’s just 2 percent annually. This year’s budget is lower than last year’s. Jonesboro had the lowest increase in tuition and fees of any Arkansas university last year.” Read more here.