Higher education notebook

Tech trustees OK meal-plan prices

RUSSELLVILLE - Arkansas Tech University students will have higher meal-plan rates during the next academic year.

The university’s board of trustees on Thursday approved five meal-plan rates that reflect a 3.5 percent increase.

The most popular plan provides 106 meals per semester in Chambers Cafeteria and $250 in a declining-balance fund that the school said can be used at other campus food-service outlets, including Chick-fil-A Express and Which Wich in the Baswell Techionery building, the release said.

Under one of the other five plans, students may eat 19 buffet-style meals each week at the cafeteria for $11.01 per day, compared with $10.56 per day this school year.

The university said students who opt for a sixth plan will get 65 meals per semester in Chambers Cafeteria and $100 in a declining-balance fund. Six percent of the university’s students who bought meal plans this term selected this option, the release said.

Trustees also agreed to add a new meal plan next term that gives students who commute the option of buying a $750 per semester declining-balance fund.

Tech renames hall for 1937 graduate

RUSSELLVILLE - Arkansas Tech University has dedicated and renamed a historic building in honor of the late William Elmo Browning, who graduated from the Russellville school in 1937.

Browning, who lived in Little Rock, died in 2010. His son, Bill Browning, attended the dedication ceremony Thursday.

“My father always said what you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others,” the son said. “He never forgot where he came from, he never forgot Arkansas Tech and neither will I. He’s up there with the big Wonder Boy in the sky enjoying this.”

The university’s sports teams are called the Wonder Boys.

Browning Hall, built in 1913, was previously known as the Old Art Building. But on Dec. 19, the board of trustees voted to change the name.

Browning “gave back to his alma mater by financially supporting various university initiatives,” the school said in a news release. In 1997, he established the William Elmo Browning Scholarship to help students graduating from high schools in Augusta and Mc-Crory.

In 2002, Browning became the first person to receive the university’s Presidential Fellow medal.

Browning Hall is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The building, which originally housed home-economics classes, was renovated in 1935. From 1974 until 2006, it became known as the Art Building.

The facility was vacant from 2006 until 2012, when a state grant helped the university renovate and convert the building into administrative office space.

HSU given papers of ex-chief justice

The papers of William H. “Dub” Arnold, former chief justice of the Arkansas Supreme Court, have now been added to the Huie Library Special Collections at Henderson State University.

The collection spans the Arkadelphia native’s legal career, starting in 1963 and continuing through his retirement from the Supreme Court in 2003, an HSU news release said.

“I am very proud to be an alumnus of Henderson,” Arnold said in the release. “I hope that young people will learn that the background I received at Henderson has helped me succeed in law as well as politics.”

The collection includes about 30 albums holding news clippings, photos, campaign material, correspondence and other materials, technical services librarian David Sesser said. Other items include Arnold’s collection of law books, plaques and signed photos.

Those seeking to view the collection can make an appointment with Sesser during business hours at sesserd@hsu.edu or (870) 230-5318.

Harding picks new English-unit chief

SEARCY - Terry Engel will be the new chairman of Harding University’s English department, effective June 1. Engel replaces John Williams, who will retire this year.

Engel was chosen after a search that included input from the department faculty; a review by J. Warren Casey, who serves as dean of the College of Arts and Humanities; and approval by President Bruce McLarty.

“I believe Dr. Engel will continue the creative leadership within the department,” Harding University Provost Larry Long said in a news release. “He brings good listening and teamwork skills to the position.”

Williams has been a member of the faculty since 1992 and has been chairman of the department since 2007.

Arkansas, Pages 22 on 04/20/2014

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