The Academy

Modified: 2025-10-27 7:55 PM CDST

In this section, we will explore the history and development of colleges and universities.
- That exploration will begin with a look at the classic philosophers, move into the Medieval period, and finally into modern times.
- We will follow with a close examination of Southern Arkansas University and attempt to determine its place in the taxonomy of modern academe.
- We will, briefly, dip into the SAU budget

What is the history of the academic experience?

Ancient Greece
- Included Ionia (Modern Turkey), Crete, and parts of the Italian peninsula
- Dominated by sea with a mountainous interior
- Warm climate, favorable for farming
- City-states evolved about 2,800 years ago (Notably: Athens and Sparta)
- Warred with the Persians twice (City-states united against Persia)
  - Marathon
  - Salamis
  - Both Greek victories
- Peloponnesian War ended Athenian democracy and left Sparta ascendant
  - Phillip and Alexander of Macedon, conquer Greece
- Alexander the Great spreads Greek ideas
  - Alexander's conquests
  - Hellenization: the spread of Greek ideas (Aristotle was Alexander's tutor)
  - Founded Alexandria, Egypt. It later became an intellectual center with its famous library.
    - (Greek word roots)
      - polis: politics, police
      - demos: democracy, demography
      - photo: photograph
      - chrono: chronic, synchronize
      - geo: geology, geometry
      - dyna: dynasty, dynamic
Early Greek philosophy argued over materialism vs rationalism (and we are still arguing about them)
- materialism the belief that everything in the universe must consist of matter, including minds and mental states.
- rationalism the universe, including physical events, can only be explained through the action of human thought.
The Big Three
- Socrates (469-399 BCE)
  - Hoplite (Greek soldier)
  - Active in the Assembly
  - Did not write, but spoke in public:
    - Know thyself
    - An unexamined life is not worth living
    - If I know anything, it is that I know nothing
  - Convicted by the Assembly for corrupting the youth of Athens
  - Chose execution by drinking hemlock over exile (notice that there are no women present)
    - Painting by Jacques-Louis David, The Death of Socrates
      - Wikipedia on David's painting
- Plato (429-347 BCE)
  - Wrestler, poet, politician
  - Became a philosopher after meeting Socrates
  - After Socrates death he founded his own school: The Academy
    - Plato's Academy
      - Purchased land for the school from Hecademus (or Academus), thus the origin of "academy"
    - He wrote dialogues with Socrates as a literary character
    - Search for truth
      - It was to be found in the mind of a philosopher
      - The forms were those truths, Goodness was the most important
      - Allegory of the Cave from his dialogue The Republic illustrates his thinking
        
        Slaves chained to a wall in a cave
        
        They only can see the shadows from the street
        
        One escapes and sees the "real world"
        
        He's caught and tries to describe what he saw to the other slaves
      - Video of Allegory of the Cave
- Aristotle (384-322 BCE)
  - Plato's student, thought he would take over from Plato in the Academy but did not get the job, so he started his own school, the Lyceum
    - Aristotle's Lyceum
      - First library? (scrolls, of course)
      - Empirical philosophy (cats)
        
        Plato: ideal cat in philosopher's mind
        
        Aristotle: concept of cat comes from observation of many cats
      - Studied more that philosophy:
        
        Biology
        
        Psychology
        
        Ethics
        
        Politics
        
        Painting
        
        Theatre
        
        Physics
        
        His physics was later codified by the Church in the Middle Ages
        
        Bruno burned
        
        Galileo jailed
        
        Copernicus's works burned after his death
        
        Being a scientist back then was dangerous
  - School of Athens by Raphael
- Later philosophers and philosophies
  - Cynicism
    - Diogenes (412-323 BCE)
      - Looking for an honest man
      - and Alexander (quit shading me)
      - Austere lifestyle
        
        Money does not buy happiness
  - Stoicism
    - Zeno of Citium (344-262 BCE)
      - Stoicism became the leading philosophy of the Roman Empire
      - Living in accordance to nature
      - The Greek gods interacted with humans
      - Propositional logic
        
        "and" (to enroll in course must have 3.00 GPA and consent of the instructor)
        
        "or" (to enroll in course must have 3.00 GPA or consent of the instructor)
        
        "if...then" (if you have less that a 3.25 GPA then you cannot graduate as HC student)
      - Fate (dog and cart)
        
        Cleanthes offered the example of a dog tied to a cart. Once the cart began to move the dog, too, had to move either by walking or being dragged. The dog was fated to move, but could choose how deal with fate.
        
        No reason for charity, the rich and poor each fated
        
        Team Stoic Tee (available online)
  - Skepticism
    - Suspended belief about sensations
      - How to explain dreams and hallucinations?
      - Wait until more was known
      - Anti-dogmatism
      - STEM is skeptical
  - Epicurianism
    - Trusted in their senses to a point
    - The swerve (atoms moved by chance at times)
    - Retreated from world to:
      - Epicurus's Garden (341-270 BCE)
      - No afterlife
      - Greek gods to busy to interfere with people
      - Hedonists: good food, good times

Philosophy takes a Nap

So called Dark Ages
Christian monks
- Isolated at first, ascetic
- Organized later, monasteries
- Monasteries became seeds for man European cities
- Review: How the Irish saved civilization
- FYI, you should read anything by Cahill
Christianity and Islam impose revealed knowledge (Bible and Qu'ran)
- Both prohibited the search for new knowledge
Philosophy slowly re-emerges as European universities are founded
- Founded to train priests and clerics
- A side effect was the slow restoration of intellectual inquiry

Medieval Universities

Bologna-1088
- Founded by students!
Paris-1119
- The archetypal medieval school
Oxford-1167
- Oldest English speaking university
Cambridge-1209
- Dispute with Oxford townspeople led to its founding
Medieval Curriculum
- Trivium (grammar, logic, rhetoric)
- Quadrivium (geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, music)
- Dependent Arts (law, medicine)
- Compare to SAU's General Education Curriculum
  - Do you see the commonalities?
  - Are these the "Liberal Arts?"
Oldest Universities in the World

Students

College Majors and ROI
SAU NSSE Report
- Yes, this was the form we were hounding you to take!
Career Planning Information
- O*NET
  - "The Occupational Information Network (O*NET) is developed under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Labor/Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA) through a grant to the North Carolina Department of Commerce."
  - It helps answer the question: "What do I want to be when I grow up?"

How the Modern University Works

21st Century University Faculty
- Terminal Degrees
  - PhD, PsyD, EED, MFA, MSW (DFA and DSW exist, but are rare)
- Minimal Qualification to teach at SAU
  - Master's degree with 18 graduate hours in subject
- Typical Ranks
  - Professor
  - Associate Professor
  - Assistant Professor
    - The above are usually tenure track (see tenure below)
  - Instructor
    - May be tenure track
  - Lecturer
    - Usually a visiting faculty from another institution
- Atypical Ranks
  - Distinguished Professor
    - Seven in SAU history
    - Rank conferred by president
  - University Professor
    - Typically a highly published scholar
    - May have minimal or no teaching duties;
    - None at SAU
- Adjunct Faculty
  - Usually not tenure track (see below)
  - Usually teach less than a full load
  - Minimal pay ($2100/$2400 per course for Masters/PhD at SAU. Same as overloads)
- Online Faculty
  - Relatively new category
  - May be resident or remote
    - I have served as online faculty at other schools
      - That is one faculty benefit of online courses
- Tenure
  - What is it?
    - Condition of employment
    - 6 year probationary period
    - Terminal contract or obtained tenure
    - Results in recurring annual contract unless:
      - Financial Exigency
      - Moral Turpitude
  - How obtained (at SAU)
    - Make application
    - Reviewed at level of: chair, department, college, university, VPAA, president, Board of Trustees
  - Schools without tenure
    - Exist
    - Substitute renewable longer term contracts (e.g., 3 years, 5 years)
- What do faculty do?
  - Teaching
    - teaching loads: SAU 12 hours for tenure track; 15 hours for instructors
    - In research intensive universities (R1) faculty may only teach one or two classes. The rest of their time should be devoted to research or similar scholarly activities
    - release time: for administration or research
      - I have 6 hours release time to administer the Honors College
      - Dr. Odendaal has 3 hours release time to administer and teach in Honors College
      - Faculty at SAU conducting research may apply for 3 hours of release time
        
        Dr. McCartney (HC instructor for PSYC 2003) has 3 hours release to direct Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL)
  - Scholarship
    - publish or perish (at research intensive universities)
    - broadly defined (think about the wide variety of departments and how each defines scholarship)
  - Service
    - to college or university
      - committee work
    - to community
      - speaking (for no or nominal fee)
      - serving in community organizations
      - volunteering
    - to profession
      - reviewing scholarship (no remuneration)
      - membership in professional organizations
      - holding office in professional organizations
  - The role of faculty varies depending on the institution
    - SAU faculty must first be teachers
    - R1 faculty must first be scholars creating new knowledge
  - Teaching, Scholarship, and Service are required for promotion and advancement at SAU
- Faculty Contracts
  - 9-month vs. 12 month
    - Most faculty at SAU have 9 month contracts
  - Summer
    - Teaching in summer is optional at SAU. Dean and chair decide on which faculty may teach
  - Travel
    - Faculty
      - professional meetings (e.g., NCHC or SRHC and other academic meetings)
        
        Taking 5 faculty and 3 students to NCHC in San Diego soon
      - professional development (e.g., advanced degrees, certificates)
    - Student
      - professional meetings
      - extramural opportunities
        
        Took 2 students to Hunger Summit last week
  - Student Labor
    - Work-Study
      - Federal Work Study (means tested--FAFSA)
      - Regular Work Study (does not require student need)

21st Century Funding

Public Institutions
- Mostly state institutions
- Funding percentage from states is much lower at present than in the past (see below)
- Tuition less than private, typically
- Out-of-state tuitions tend to be higher

Budgets

The SAU annual budget lists all revenue and expenditures.

Budget Expense Examples

Salary
- Paychecks, paid monthly
Fringes (costs about 22% more than salary), includes:
- Retirement
- Medical Insurance
- Life Insurance
Supplies and Services
- Expendables
  - paper
  - toner
  - office needs

2002	2025
Revenue	Revenue
Tuition (32%)	Tuition (39.7%)
Other Student Fees (2%)	Other Student Fees (11.8%)
State Appropriations (46%)	State Appropriations (23.6%)
Gifts and Grants (4%)	Gifts and Grants (1.9%)
Sales and Services (2%)	Sales and Services (1%)
Other (<1%)	Other (<1%)
Auxilliary (14%)	Auxilliary (21.2%)
Selected Expenditures	Selected Expenditures
Salaries (43%)	Salaries (32.7%)
Scholarships (12%)	Scholarships (21.1%)
Fringe Benefits (13%)	Fringe Benefits (12.1%)
Supplies and Services (14%)	Supplies and Services (12.0%)
Debt Service (2%)	Debt Service (5.5%)
Travel (1%)	Travel (1.5%)
Utilities (3%)	Utilities (3.5%)
Maintenance and Service Contracts (3%)	Maintenance and Service Contracts (3.7%)
Student Labor (5%)	Student Labor (1.7%)
All remaining categories (8) are less than 4% each	All remaining categories (8) are less than 4% each
$28,151,437	$81,554,649

Income (2023)
- Auxilliary (steady) ~$9.5M
  - Athletics (17.2%)
  - Student Housing (42%)
  - Faculty Housing (<1%)
  - Cafeteria (29%)
  - Vending (<1%)
  - Student Center (3%)
  - Bookstore (<1%)
  - Student Health Service (3%)
  - Student Activity and Publications (5%)
  - Post Office (2%)

Honors College Budget

Category	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2025
Teaching Salaries	9,700	9,700	9,700
Summer Teaching													5,634	5,556
Classified Salaries	11,817	12,053	12,053	13,259	13,524	13,524	28,444	28,444
Administrative Salaries	6,000	6,000	6,000	6,000	6,000	6,000	6,000	54,921	74,712	74,712	74,712	74,712	80,542	76,301	77,934
Extra Help													500	500	500
SAU CWSP	0	500	500	1000	500	500	1,065	1,065	1,065	1,108	1,020	1.020	200
FED CWSP													1,020	1,020	1,020
Allocated Fringes	8,255	10,338	10,060	6,837	6,931	6,931	12,228	29,595	29,649	22,769	22,711	23,636	24,089	25,409	26,341
Supplies and Services	5,225	5,225	5,225	5,068	5,068	5,068	5,671	5,671	5,671	5,104	4,500	4,500	7,207.91	4,288.45	4,500
Travel	6,175	5,558	7,558	7,331	7,331	7,331	13,731	13,731	13,731	13,731	0	3,433	10,000	9,165.47	12,000
Scholarships & Waivers	35,000	66,000	66,000	66,000	66,000	66,000	103,500	105,300	105,300	105,300	105,300	90,000	90,000	90,000	90,000
Interfund Transfers				9,700	9,700	9,700	9,700	9,700	9,700	9,700	9,700	9,700	9,700	9,700	9,700
Total	82,172	115,374	117,096	115,195	115,054	115,054	180,339	248,427	249,828	232,424	218,443	207,501	218,258	190,048	219,995

In the spring semester I will make a presentation to the Budget Committee. As always, I will try to raise your stipend. I'll also ask for additional travel money

All the funds above must be spent by June 30 of each fiscal year. So, the amounts above will revert to to the general fund if not spent..

SAU Foundation

As you know, the Honors College has a online fundraiser in progress. But, as of now, it has not raise any additional monies beyond the $2,800 "seed money."

Foundation funds remain year after year and are not returned to the general fund or any other fund on June 30.

Arkansas Salaries

Does not include Arkansas colleges or universities

Salaries for Graduates

Best Jobs (US News and World Report)

Questions?

FYI, my policy in face-to-face classes is to require a number of questions at the end. Why? That little bit of behavioral psychology makes students who ask questions the key to class ending. In most classes, students who ask questions at the end are punished, one way or another, by the rest of the class because they are delaying the end of class. The way I do it makes those students the heroes who make the class end. :-)

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