front&center Ben Pickard

Former ASU-Beebe administrator put students first

By Amy Widner

LITTLE ROCK — Not everyone gets to have the governor as the guest speaker at their retirement reception.

Ben Pickard did.

“Pickard is a champion of students. He always puts students first,” Gov. Mike Beebe said last month at Pickard’s retirement reception.

Even if Pickard had not been a college friend of Beebe’s, his work at Arkansas State University-Beebe for the past 28 years - especially his advocacy for students - got the governor’s attention.

At retirement, Pickard was vice chancellor for student services at ASU-Beebe. When he first came to the school in 1981, the school was a small junior college with 600 students. Pickard had many roles: director of students, registrar and director of student financial aid. His staff was made up of two part-time counselors and some clerical help.

All that has changed. As ASU-Beebe grew and developed - today it has more than 4,000 students on four campuses - so did Pickard’s role. By the time he retired earlier this fall, he had a staff of 48 people across the various campuses. One thing didn’t change, Pickard said, and that was his basic goal.

“I always felt like my main purpose in my position was to be the advocate for students,” Pickard said.

Pickard said it was a role he enjoyed and felt supported in.

“I’ve always been very pleased with the support I received from the administration,” Pickard said. “They have been very agreeable about adding people in thoseareas. I think our retention rates indicate that the more student services students have while they’re in college, the more they enjoy themselves while they’re there, graduate successfully and go on to do different things.”

Pickard’s skill at his job was something that impressed administrators in similar positions across the state. Rick Stripling, vice chancellor of student affairs at ASU-Jonesboro, has known Pickard as a fellow professional for the last 25 years. He said that in the absence of day-today contact with students, administrators in positions like Pickard’s often lose sight of students and their real needs. Not so with Pickard, Stripling said.

“Ben was always able to keep that link intact, between administrative decisions and the outcomes of those administrative decisions so that they directly improved the lives of students - regardless of the campus,” Stripling said. “He had a keen ability to consider policy and be able to picture its reality, which isn’t easy. He maintained that direct link and had a sensitivity for the language of a policy so that everything was included and things didn’t get passed over because of how the policy was formulated.”

Although his daily contact with students did go down as Pickard moved up the administrative ladder, working with students was something Pickard said he always enjoyed. They were part of the people-oriented atmosphere that first attracted him to college work.

“Just being involved with people was what I always wanted,” Pickard said. “I’ve always really enjoyed dealing with groups and people individually. That’s just afun part of working at a college. You have so many opportunities to deal with people on a daily basis.”

Another cornerstone of Pickard’s career was his involvement in professional organizations. Pickard has been president of the Arkansas College Personnel Association, Arkansas Council on Student Services and Arkansas/Mississippi Two-Year College Association of Chief Student Affairs Officers. He said his peers at colleges across the state are wonder ful people and the time he spent developing professionally with his colleagues was invaluable - lessons he hoped to pass on to students by making it possible for student organizations and student government to exist at ASU-Beebe.

“We now have a very strong group of organizations at ASUBeebe,” Pickard said. “I’m a firm believer in working with your colleagues and participating as much as possible in your field. The same goes for student life, and students who are involved are more likely to graduate.”

Pickard said these days, he’s got some golfing and duck hunting to do. Golf is how he kept in touch with Gov. Beebe through the years. They went to college together, were in the same fraternity, called Searcy home and kept up on the green, where Pickard would often be a little voice in Beebe’s ear for students. Pickard said he was pleased when Beebe started the GO! Opportunities Grant, a strictly need-based scholarship.

“Pushing for more scholarships was one of the things I did when I started and became involved in financial aid,” Pickard said. “I always saw a need for additional funds for needbased aid. We’ve always done a great job of taking care ofour students who are the best and the brightest. But good students who don’t come from backgrounds of money, those students were always kind of left out.”

Other projects Pickard said he takes pride in are building the ASU-Beebe Student Center, creating the ASU-Beebe Incentive Scholarship and making it possible for students to use ASU-Beebe scholarships at any ASU-Beebe campus.

“We designed the Student Center to be a home away from home for our students, and I think it is,” Pickard said. “They certainly utilize it, and I was very proud to have had the opportunity to do that.”

The Incentive Scholarship was designed to give students who don’t perform well on standardized tests a leg up. Since its creation, Pickard said it has been very successful, especially with many of the nontraditional students who area big part of the ASU-Beebe community.

“We have a number of really good students who may not have scored well on the tests like the ACT but have a good record and did well in high school,” Pickard said. “So we set up a scholarship for students with scores between 22 and 24. It pays half of their tuition for the first semester of their freshman year. If they meet their requirements that first semester - the same requirements as someone on afull scholarship - they have the opportunity to get a full scholarship.”

The big projects of the past behind him, Pickard said that for him, retirement is probably going to be just that - retirement.

“I’ve got nothing definite planned,” Pickard said. “Maybe I’ll do a little consulting. I’ve got several hobbies I’m pretty serious about and plan on wearing myself out on them.” - awidner@ arkansasonline.commatter of

fact Birthdate: April 8, 1949 Occupation: Retired vice chancellor for students services, Arkansas State University-Beebe Family includes: My wife, Mary Anne, and daughter, Christine Hobbies: Golf and duck hunting My name comes from: My grandfather, Ben F.

Jones I cannot live without: Family and friends When I was young I wanted: To work in the media - I worked part time as a DJ when I was in college What makes me mad: Micromanagement The person I admire most: Dean Robert Moore - He was dean of students when I attended ASU My favorite memory is: The day my daughter was born The world would be a better place if: We could all slow down and enjoy more of the small pleasures we tend to fly by during our daily routines

Three Rivers, Pages 114, 115 on 09/28/2008