Courtway tells Rotarians ‘10 things you may not know about UCA’
UCA President Tom Courtway spoke to the Conway Rotary Club on Thursday, leading off with “10 things you may not know about UCA.”
Starting at the bottom, he listed:
10. Acxiom hires more UCA graduates each year than from any other institution in the state. (100 during the past two years)
9. In the Fall 2011, UCA had 3,811 Lottery Scholarship recipients enrolled at the University, the second highest in the state.
Income from the lottery is not a pot of money that goes to the schools, he said. The money goes to parents who decide which school would best fit their child,
8. More than 80 percent of UCA’s Honors College graduates pursue post-baccalaureate training.
7. UCA’s freshmen class has grown for the past three years: 1,777 new freshmen in 2009; 1,847 new freshmen in 2010; 1,960 new freshmen in 2011. While enrollment is dropping, he said, the decline is in upperclassmen but most notably in no longer counting high school students who are attending college-level classes.
6. A total of 692 student-athletes have been named to the Southland Conference Commissioner’s Fall Academic Honor Roll, with the University of Central Arkansas leading the way with 94 student-athletes honored. He gave a shout-out to Dr. Athletic Director Brad Teague, a Rotarian.
5. UCA’s high school outreach: Model UN, History Day Arkansas, Southwestern Energy Arkansas Science & Engineering Fair, State Geography Fair and Boy’s State.
4. UCA’s diverse student body includes students from 61 countries, 42 states, and from each county in the state of Arkansas.
3. UCA has a total of 118 buildings and facilities, a total square footage of 3,007,295, and an infrastructure replacement value of $501,226,870.
2. UCA ranks 23rd in the category of “Top Public Schools” among regional universities in the South in the 2012 Best Colleges rankings by U.S. News & World Report.
1. UCA’s average ACT Composite Scores for first-time entering undergraduates is above the Arkansas and National average and has been since 2002. In 2011: Arkansas, 19.9; National, 21.1; and UCA, 23.2.
Among those applauding the presentation that ended with a standing ovation were Dr. Terry Kimbrow, president of Central Baptist College, and Tom Siebenmorgen, executive vice-president and chief financial officer of Hendrix College.
Also in the audience, to Courtway’s surprise, were his mother, Betty Courtway and his wife, Melissa.
“They’ve never heard me speak,” Courtway said with a grin.
A former Rotarian, Courtway was named an honorary Rotarian. He said he may be the first Rotarian who was kicked out of the club for low-attendance (he was a state legislator at the time) who went on to become an honorary Rotarian.
To hear Courtway deliver Six Points for UCA going forward, see the video at thecabin.net.
(Staff writer Becky Harris can be reached at becky.harris@thecabin.net and 505-1234.)
