The President's Post
       A few weeks ago I attended a national meeting in Louisville, Kentucky for the Association of Presbyterian Colleges and Universities (APCU). I am an elected official to the 12-member Board of Directors, a Board that represents our nation’s sixty-seven Presbyterian campuses. When I first started attending the APCU meetings in 1997, I thought that those presidents on the Board of Directors were pretty big deals. Now that I’m on the Board myself, I realize it’s not such a big deal, but I do learn a great deal as a Board member and enjoy being
on it.

   At my first APCU meeting in 1997, I had a difficult time convincing the other presidents that I was the president at the Ozarks’ campus in Arkansas and not the Ozarks’ campus in Missouri. As it turned out, most of them had heard about the Missouri school, while very few knew anything at all about this Arkansas one.

   That was then, and this is now and, oh my goodness, how things have changed. The other presidents now not only know who we are, they also realize that the University of the Ozarks is a nationally recognized, regionally ranked, “Best Value” designated, record-enrollment growing, academically challenging, budget-balancing, debt-free, and pretty amazing place to teach and learn.

   Several presidents also asked me how this small campus in this small town in this modest state of Arkansas raised over $60 million dollars? I simply told them that was our secret, kind of like Colonel Sanders’ recipe for fried chicken: a secret well guarded and highly prized.

   Anyway, we are now on the map and officially recognized by our peers as a premier university. My thanks to all of you for gaining us that recognition. I kind of like being the president of a famous campus. Let’s promise to keep our recipe for success our secret a little bit longer. I like knowing what others wish they knew.

Dr. Rick Niece
President

Public Relations Office,
Mabee Administration Building,
Unversity of the Ozarks, Clarksville, AR 72830.
Phone: (479)-979-1420