Range Rider, Volume 30, Number 1, March, 1979 Page: 3a
16A, 16B p. : ill., ports. ; 38 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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March, 1979 RANGE RIDER Page 3A
Dr. Ron Smith named H-SU academic vice president
Dr. Ronald A. Smith, a Texas native with
educational roots in California and Texas, assumed
.he post of vice president for academic affairs at
Hardin-Simmons University on March 1.
Dr. Smith succeeds Dr. Jim Tanner who resigned
last August to assume similar duties at Louisiana
College in Alexandria.
"We think Ron Smith is uniquely qualified to lead
Hardin-Simmons University in its academic pursuits
in this era of excitement and possibility. Unusually
well prepared in both academics and administration
and deeply motivated to Christian Education, he
promises to be an excellent addition to the H-SU
family," Dr. Fletcher said.
Mrs. Billie Martin, associate professor of physical
health and education and president of the H-SU
faculty also was optimistic. "I was very impressed
with Dr. Smith (when he visited in January) and I
feel he is a man the faculty can work with com-
fortably-and that is important for the position he
holds."
Dr. Smith spent Jan. 25-26 on the H-SU campus
meeting with faculty, trustees and administrative
personnel and notified Dr. Fletcher of his acc-
eptance of the job on the morning of Jan. 29.
4 1
Al.f
F; li: ai"A realistic budget that still accomplishes many of
the things we wanted to do," promotion of 14 faculty
members and the granting of tenure to five others
highlighted the Feb. 16 semi-annual meeting of the
Hardin-Simmons University Board of Trustees.
The tentative budget approved by the trustees
included tuition increases of $5 per semester hour
and a fee increase of $1 per hour. That will put total
cost at $55 per hour tuition and $9 per hour in fees.
"That will still leave H-SU a dollar to two below
our sister schools in Abilene on combined tuition
and fees and -even with the Baptist schools we've
been paired with in the past," Dr. Jesse C. Fletcher,
president of H-SU, told the trustees. Room charges
will go up 10 per cent but there will be no increase in
the board, even though the school has been notified
that Saga (the contract supplier for student meals) is
going to raise its rates.The 41-year-old educator was born in Pecos,
Texas but earned his bachelor's and master's degrees
in California. He graduated from the University of
California at Berkeley in 1959 with a major in
sociology and social institutions and added a
master's in theology from Golden Gate Baptist
Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, Calif. in 1962.
He returned to his native state in 1966 to teach at
McLennan Community College in Waco and pursue
his doctorate at Baylor University. His Ph.D was
awarded in 1972 with a major in religion and a minor
in sociology. His dissertation was titled: A concept
of Community for Christian Ethics: An Inquiry into
the Relationships and Functions Characteristic of
Authentic Community from the Perspective of the
Christian Faith.
Since 1973 he has been dean of instruction at
McLennan Community College having risen through
the ranks from instructor to chairman of a depart-
ment to director of the Division of Humanities, Fine
Arts and Communications.
In California he was an instructor of philosophy
and psychology at Modesto Junior College; a
correctional officer at California State Prison at SanNew Trustees
The February meeting of the Hardin-Simmons
University Board of Trustees was the first chance
for the eight new trustees to visit the Abilene
school in their official capacity since their
election by the Baptist General Convention of
Texas in October. And seven of them were on
hand (Mrs. Dolph Briscoe was still in England
with former Governor Briscoe on an extendedvacation). Above, from left, are: John Hunter of
Abilene, Rev. Bailey Stone of Odessa, J. D.
Sandefer III of H ouston and Abilene, H-SU
President Jesse C. Fletcher, Mrs. Hope Duffy
Wilkins of Abilene, Dr. M. A. Treadwell of
Eastland, Jess Wall of San Antonio and Dr. David
S. Moore of Olney.
(Worthy Long Photo)Wiley Dugger, vice president for financial affairs,
pointed out that the school was "at least $250,000
better off than we were at this time a year ago,"
primarily because of H-SU policy of paying accounts
payable within 30 days and an increase excess
revenues after transfers of $95,000.
Dugger was also pleased to report that student
tuition and fees had supplied 99.9 per cent of the
income budgeted in that area compared to 93.5 per
cent last year.
Through eight months of the current fiscal year,
H-SU generated 85.75 of its anticipated revenue
compared to 84.23 per cent at the same time last
year, "and without the large accounts payable of
1978," Fletcher pointed out.
The budget was planned on a nine percent in-
crease in operating expenses and a seven per cent
increase in salaries in compliance with the federal
See FOURTEEN - page 16Quentin and a teaching assistant in theology and
philosophy of religion while at seminary.
He also pastored churches in Pittsburg and
Newman, California.
Presently, Dr. Smith is serving on the executive
committee of the Texas Association of Junior-
Community College Instructional Administrators
(his third consecutive term) and was president of the
Texas Association of Academic Deans and Vice
Presidents during 1975-76. He is a deacon at Lake
Shore Baptist Church in Waco and is active in the
Rotary Club (chairman of the Challenge Committee
and responsible for coordination of a 14 week
television series involving academic teams from area
high schools) and Goodwill Industries (as a member
of the board of directors).
The new vice president is the son of H-SU exes.
His father, Rev. Aubrey Smith, graduated with the
class of 1932 and his mother was Godie Richie, an
ex of 1927.
Dr. and Mrs. Smith have four children, ages 10,
14, 16 and 18.
It occurs to me
Meetings,
Meanings
BY JOHN WOMBLE I
I have been wrestling with the duties of
Alumni Director now for about six months,
and although I've gotten around to many of
our alumni and friends, there are still one or
two I haven't yet met. In the near future I hope
to rectify this and hopefully have a meeting in
your area. You can be a big help by getting in
touch with me and volunteering to help plan a
meeting in your area.
Why have alumni meetings?
The best reason I know is to find out what's
going on at the campus today and be brought
up to date on future plans and hopes for the
University. Your presence at a meeting also
allows those of us from the campus who might
be in attendance to listen to you. Your input
could be very meaningful in helping us shape
policies and plans, but in order for it to be so,
we must come in contact with you. If a meeting
is scheduled in your city in the future,
please...make every effort to attend.
Remember, every time you say a good word
for Hardin-Simmons University, or support its
cause with time and-or money, you are in-
creasing the value of your degree. The higher
we can raise our Alma Mater, the more
prestigious your degree becomes.
In this day and time, the values and concepts
of Christian education are becoming even
more vital if our society is to survive. I recently
came across a copy of a letter that President
Jefferson Davis Sandefer wrote to the 1938-39
student body. From it I have lifted a statement
that expresses the core of Hardin-Simmons
University ideals. Thank God it has not
, changed:
"It is our genuine belief that the chief
justification for the work of an institution like
ours is that it seeks to maintain an inflexible
standard of integrity, and that it seeks to send
out as leaders in every phase of living, men and
women who "live pure, speak true, right
wrong-who follow the King." Only to the
extent that this is true, is our work here
reaching its highest level of efficiency."
You, the alumni of Hardin-Simmons
University, are the men and women sent out
"in every phase of living"...that have made the
dream of the founders and the lifework of men
such as Prexy Sandefer come true. Only with
your support can we hope to send out future
generations of Hardin-Simmons graduates to
uphold our values and standards in the world.Trustees approve tuition hike
Fourteen faculty members promoted, five granted tenure
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Hardin-Simmons University. Range Rider, Volume 30, Number 1, March, 1979, periodical, March 1979; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117031/m1/3/: accessed June 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hardin-Simmons University Library.