Even as the hometown favorite to become the next chancellor, Carla Martin minced no words when mentioning a “RESET” of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff was needed.
RESET stands for reevaluating policies and practices, enhancing academic and student support systems, strengthening leadership and infrastructure, engaging stakeholders and transforming institutional culture.
It’s an action plan Martin, a Watson Chapel High School graduate, UAPB alumna and its current vice chancellor for finance and administration, outlined during the third of four Campus Conversations with chancellor finalists Wednesday afternoon.
“It’s imperative that we increase enrollment, that we enhance our academic programs, that we increase our morale, that we embrace the modern role of 1890 schools and that we initiate a campus reset,” Martin said.
A former corporate-level manager at Walmart and still-licensed attorney, Martin reminded the crowd inside the STEM Conference Center of her accomplishments as vice chancellor, a role she’s held since 2016 and that has prepared her to take the reins of the entire campus, she attested.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“As a vice chancellor, you are charged with the responsibility of making recommendations and advising the chancellor,” Martin said. “The chancellor is the person who gets to make the final decisions as it relates to things that will happen on the overall campus.”
The ability to make and own a decision and move on from it is just one thing Martin touted as a qualification for chancellor.
Creating a paperless payment process, implementation of Workday – an online platform University of Arkansas System campuses use – and capital improvements from dormitory and student union renovations to ongoing building of the Student Engagement Center are among several “incremental wins” Martin noted during her time as vice chancellor. She joined her alma mater in 2009 as dean of the School of Business and Management. In that role, she led the school to its first-ever Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs endorsement.
“We have had incremental wins – several of them – on this campus to be able to move from yesterday to today, and those changes go directly with the modernization of this campus,” she said.
Martin drew a standing ovation for her presentation, even after she proclaimed, if she’s named chancellor, all UAPB employees will undergo training in customer service within the first 30 days. That was in response to a question an audience member had about how the university can improve in that area.
She tackled what she called an elephant in the room – the perception that UAPB’s designation as an 1890 institution would come to an end amid the Trump Administration’s push to end diversity, equity and inclusion in business and education (although she did not mention the president by name). The 1890 campuses, the public historically Black universities that were founded under the Second Morrill Act of 1890, received good news from the U.S. Department of Agriculture this week that its 1890 National Scholars Program, which provides scholarships for select students in agriculture-related fields at those schools, would resume the application process.
“You would be surprised at the number of phone calls that we fielded on this campus from both students and parents who were concerned about their students’ ability to continue going to school because of federal funding,” Martin said. “… If we aim to thrive, and not just survive, we must diversify our revenue streams. We must offer competitive programs that align with industry needs while maintaining our strengths in other academic areas.”
Martin challenged the university to lead another agricultural revolution and respond to increased food recalls, help Arkansans live “beyond day-to-day and successfully navigate high food prices.” Education and extension, she added, are two critical components of the university’s role to solving these issues.
Still, Martin stressed, agriculture is just a piece of what UAPB is. That’s where her RESET model becomes vital, she said.
Other ideas such as pep rallies before every football game and pinning ceremonies for new students – not just those who complete their studies – would help to renew old traditions and start new ones as a matter of campus pride, Martin suggested.
Fourth Ward Councilman Steven Mays Sr. asked Martin how she would improve economic development around the university. Martin responded by suggesting strengthening relationships with city and county officials as well as the Economic Development Alliance of Jefferson County, adding all have to be in “lockstep” in their decisions.
“If you want people to be here, we have to give people something to be ready for,” Martin said.
Robert Z. Carr Jr., a former UAPB provost who holds the same position at Fisk University in Tennessee, will be the last candidate to meet the public at 2 p.m. Friday at the STEM Conference Center. Robert C. Mock Jr. of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Anthony Graham of Winston-Salem State University in North Carolina held their Campus Conversations last week.
Wednesday’s attendees are invited to complete surveys for Martin.