The Arkansas School for Mathematics, Sciences, and the Arts welcomed University of Arkansas System President Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jay Silveria to campus for his first visit the Hot Springs campus on Feb. 4.
Silveria was chosen to lead the UA System in November after longtime President Donald R. Bobbitt announced his retirement las summer. Silveria began his tenure on Jan. 15.
During his time at ASMSA, Silveria visited with Executive Director Corey Alderdice as well as a group of constituents that included faculty and staff members, parents, and members of the ASMSA Board of Visitors. He also participated in a campus tour led by a group of Student Ambassadors.
Silveria is planning to visit each of the UA System’s 21 campuses and units this semester. ASMSA was the first stop of his tour. During his visit with campus constituents, Silveria touted the System’s focus on two most important aspects — student access and success.
“If we’re not involved in creating student success and creating student access, then what is our role? What are we doing?” Silveria said. “The fact that those two are priorities for the System is really the major reason that drew me here. I’m privileged to be a part of it.”
Silveria said it is important to find ways to better integrate ASMSA into the System. While that will take ASMSA sharing ideas with him on how to do that, it is also important for the other System members to better understand what the school and its students have to offer.
After his visit, Silveria said that it was obvious how deeply the ASMSA’s faculty and staff care for the institution.
“That is evidenced by the students I spent time with how much they could talk about how the faculty and staff care about them. It was story after story about so-and-so did this for me and so-and-so did that for me. It’s so obvious that everyone really cares,” Silveria said.