Arkansas State University-Newport (ASUN) today announced that the college’s Chancellor, Dr. Sandra Massey, was awarded the Jackson County 2017 Outstanding Citizen Award by the Newport Area Chamber of Commerce.

The award, presented by chamber director Julie Allen, exemplifies a model citizen – a role model who perfectly conforms to a community’s virtues and demands – and Massey certainly fits the bill. For instance, during her tenure as ASUN chancellor, the college was named by BestColleges.com as the No. 1 two-year college in Arkansas for two consecutive years. In addition, under Massey’s leadership, ASUN received a perfect score card from the Higher Learning Commission, which accredits all institutions in 19 states. Massey has also been instrumental in the recent $1.8 million solar panel installation – cutting the university’s power consumption by approximately 50% and ultimately keeping tuition affordable for more students.

But Massey’s work doesn’t stop with her role as chancellor. She is also a highly visible community member involved in such organizations as DRIVE (Downtown Revitalization and Improvement Volunteer Effort); CASA, an organization that helps abused and neglected children in juvenile dependency-neglect proceedings reach safe, permanent homes; the Newport Chamber and Rotary Club of Newport. She is also a commissioner for the Newport Economic Development Commission, and serves the board of directors of the Little Rock Capital Corporation and the American Association of Community Colleges Diversity Board.

“Dr. Massey is an exceptional leader and advocate for our college and Jackson County,” stated Dr. Charles Welch, ASU System President.  “She has the innate ability to take any situation, even a potentially challenging one, and synthesize it with her unique sense of kindness and calmness to produce an effective process driven result.  She is known as a strong mentor, encourager and facilitator to many, and what she has been able to accomplish at ASU-Newport is inspiring.”

“On behalf of the Newport Area Chamber of Commerce, I applaud the efforts of Dr. Massey – both as ASUN Chancellor and a respected member of our community,” commented Allen. “Dr. Massey truly ‘gets’ the connection between college and community and has encouraged broad-based involvement throughout faculty, staff and administrators alike in initiatives which support the Newport community.”