Arkansas Tech head named ACUI president of the year
Arkansas Tech University’s president has been named 2023 ACUI president of the year.
Robin E. Bowen received the award during the ACUI annual conference earlier this month in Boston.
“It is my honor to represent ACUI as its president of the year for 2023,” Bowen said. “We’ve all been tested by fire — it is part of leadership — [and] I commend higher education leaders in ACUI and elsewhere for their resiliency, passion, determination, and caring. It is through the application of these characteristics that we rise each day to meet new challenges in service to our students.”
Formerly known as the Association of College Unions International, ACUI is the professional home to thousands of campus community builders around the world, according to the organization. Primarily focused on the work of those within the college unions and student activities field, ACUI strives to provide an inclusive, welcoming community for all those who choose to belong.
“In preparation for building a new student union and recreation center, Dr. Robin Bowen intentionally provided many student groups the platform to voice their needs,” according to ACUI. “She is a tireless advocate for resources and tools that will help students succeed and provides support for opportunities such as OnTrack, a program that inspires students to reach their full potential through participation in various co-curricular experiences. Her emphasis on grit, integrity and success is instilled in students through (her) leadership and connection with the campus community.”
The words ACUI uses to describe the members of its organization resonate with Bowen, she said. “Resilient. Passionate. Determined. Caring. These same words are often attributed to our institution, Arkansas Tech University, as well as the people who study, teach, and work there. I believe there is no greater quality a person can possess than grit.”
Site work on the new student union and recreation center is projected to begin in June, with construction scheduled to begin later this year with a scheduled grand opening in the summer of 2025, said Sam Strasner, director of university relations. It will “provide space for a campus living room/lounge, outdoor recreation, individual and group fitness activities, student organizations, food service, a convenience store/spirit shop, multi-purpose meeting rooms, two basketball courts, a multi-activity court, a cafe, and events at multiple scales.”
On Track, introduced campus-wide in 2013, “is a co-curricular experience designed to enhance student development beyond the classroom setting, encourage students to network socially among peers, and to include students in traditional and signature university events,” added Strasner.
Bowen, the first female president of Arkansas Tech, was unanimously elected by ATU’s Board of Trustees in 2014, and private support for the university has steadily increased during her tenure, according to Strasner. Donors provided more than $12.5 million in new gifts and pledges to the ATU Foundation during the 2021-22 fiscal year, and the university is engaged in its first comprehensive capital campaign.
ATU has developed and enacted a pair of strategic plans under her leadership, as well as a new campus master plan and new mission and vision statements, according to Strasner. The four-year graduation rate for first-time freshmen on the campus in Russellville, and the three-year graduation rate at ATU-Ozark campus, have both improved during her tenure.
Arkansas Tech is tops in the state on the 2022 Social Mobility Index, a position it has held eight of the last nine years, and ATU is among the top 5% of all U.S. institutions of higher education on the Social Mobility Index, according to Strasner. In addition, U.S. News and World Report selected ATU as the No. 1 public, regional university in Arkansas as part of its 2022 and 2023 college rankings for overall quality, and ATU is listed among U.S. News and World Report’s top 32 public universities in the South.