Sandra Massey
Newport Chamber honors ASUN chancellor with award
We feel a sense of responsibility for the people we are educating.” Sandra Massey 2017 JACKSON COUNTY OUTSTANDING CITIZEN
Sandra Massey was happy to attend the Newport Area Chamber of Commerce’s annual banquet Jan. 25. She knew her husband would be presenting an award to a group in which she is involved, and she wanted to be there to support him and the group of volunteers he would be recognizing. She never expected to receive an award herself.
Massey received the 2017 Jackson County Outstanding Citizen Award.
“I was totally surprised,” she told visitors in her office at Arkansas State University-Newport, where she serves as chancellor. “I saw other members of my family there and said, ‘That’s nice, not necessary, but I’m glad you’re here.’
“And then I heard [the words] ‘set all-time records in enrollment,’ and I knew I was there for something other than being part of a committee,” Massey said, smiling. “I was honored, and humbled, to receive this award. There are a lot of great people in the county who are more deserving than I am.”
Massey, 61, has been ASUN’s chancellor since 2013, only the second person to serve in that capacity since the former White River Vocational Technical School, founded in 1976, became an independent part of the ASU System in 2000 and hired its first chancellor, Larry Williams, in 2001. Massey was the first female chancellor of an ASU System school.
Julie Allen, director of the Newport Area Chamber of Commerce, said the Outstanding Citizen Award is presented to an individual “who strives for the highest professional accomplishments and community volunteerism.”
Introducing the recipient to the audience at the banquet, Allen said, “From a community view, this year’s outstanding citizen has devoted time, energy and leadership to improve the community’s overall quality of life by serving on many prominent boards, while also
encouraging others to be involved.
“Under her tenure, this important institution (ASUN) has set all-time records in enrollment,” Allen said. “It was named one of the top 20 fastestgrowing community colleges in the nation and, for two years in a row, was named as the No. 1 two-year college in Arkansas by BestColleges.com.
“To quote Ike Wheeler (ASUN dean of community engagement), ‘Dr. Massey truly gets the connection between college and community and has encouraged broad-based involvement throughout faculty, staff and administrators alike in initiatives that support the Newport community.’”
Massey is a member of Newport’s DRIVE (Downtown Revitalization and Improvement Volunteer Effort) Committee, which received the Friend of Tourism Award from the Jackson County Council on Tourism at the chamber banquet. Her husband, Ward Massey, chairman of the council, presented that award to the committee.
Sandra Massey is also involved in the Court Appointed Special Advocate program, which helps abused and neglected children in juvenile-court proceedings reach safe, permanent homes. She serves on the board of directors of the Jackson County CASA, serving the 3rd Judicial District of Arkansas.
“CASA is my passion,” she noted.
Massey is also a member of Chapter DT, PEO (Philanthropic Educational Organization); the Newport Area Chamber of Commerce; and the Rotary Club of Newport. She is a commissioner for the Newport Economic Development Commission and serves on the board of directors of the Little Rock Capital Corp. and the American Association of Community Colleges Diversity Board.
Massey graduated from Jonesboro High School in 1974. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in rehabi l itat ion counseling from Arkansas State University. She received a Doctor of Education degree in occupational and adult education from Oklahoma State University.
She worked for 15 years in Jonesboro before moving to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she lived and worked for another 15 years before returning to Arkansas in 2011.
Massey previously served as vice chairman for academic affairs at ASUN. Prior to that, she was campus provost at the northeast campus of Tulsa Community College, dean of student services at Tulsa Community College and vice president of student affairs and enrollment management at Oklahoma State University-Okmulgee, where she was also interim dean for student support and development. Massey also served at
OSU-Okmulgee as the Title III activities coordinator, counselor and coordinator/instructor. Additionally, she was an instructor/placement coordinator at the American Training Institute in Tulsa, a vocational expert and private contractor for the Dallas Region of the Social Security Administration and a rehabilitation counselor at Arkansas Rehabilitation Services in Jonesboro.
“We came back to Arkansas because of my aging parents,” Massey said. Her parents, Al and Maggie McRaven, live in Jonesboro. She has one sister, Claudia Tolleson, who lives in Little Rock.
“I am happy to be here now,” Massey said. “Our campus has an enrollment of about 2,300 students. We have three campuses — the one here in Newport, one in Marked Tree and one in Jonesboro.”
Under Massey’s leadership, ASUN received a perfect score card from the university’s accreditor, the Higher Learning Commission. She was also instrumental in the recent $1.8 million solar-panel installation on campus, cutting ASUN’s power consumption by approximately 50 percent and ultimately keeping tuition affordable for more students.
“We are talking about the possibility of developing more partnerships with the community and meeting the needs of local business and industry,” she said. “We want to do more in computer science; we have not gotten into that very deeply yet.”
Massey said the university “wants to focus on the wellrounded student. We feel a sense of responsibility for the people we are educating and want to help them stay on top of their pathway to an education.
“We hope to reach those who think they cannot get into college. We want to visit the high schools and the neighborhoods to reach these prospective students.”
Massey said the university also plans to “get aggressive” in applying for grants.
“We are applying for a grant that would allow us to develop our EMT program into one that will include paramedics,” she said. “We are hoping to get a grant that will allow us to address sexual assault and domestic violence and provide a mental-heath counselor.
“We want to get ahead of the workforce needs. We hope to create night programs. Our highvoltage-lineman technology program and our surgical technology program are just two
of those programs that address the needs of the workforce.”
Massey said she has no plans to retire soon.
“In 10 years, I’ll definitely be retired,” she said, laughing. “I want to spend some time with my grandchildren.”
Sandra and Ward Massey have two adult children. Their daughter, Brittany McKelroy, 36, lives in Jonesboro and has two daughters, Maggie, 10, and Ava, 7. The Masseys’ son, Reese Massey, lives in Tulsa with Stacy Brinker and their daughter, Maybelle Scout Massey, 6.