as Vice President of Aca ernie Affairs, Dr . Lan)' Long played an integral part in leading and guiding the academic aspects of Harding. Long had many jobs, a sort of "jack-of-all-trades" of the administration . The ofnce ofAcademic Mfairs covered anything from editing and print ing th e Harding catalogue to making su r e the university stayed accredited by all natio nal boards, ''I'm not sure I can list all the jobs, b ecause there are a lot of them," Long said. "BaSically, if it relates to academic programs or faculty, this office is involved ." Long, who began his career at Harding as a professor in the English Depart– ment, knew he wanted to be involved in Christian education since he was in gradu– ate school at Abilene Christian Univel·sity. After becoming VPAA, Long expanded his involvement and influence in Christian education from the classroom setting to reach all associated with Harding through his role in developing and imple– menting policies and academic standards for the entire university. Long admitted that t his could sometimes be difficult, espeCially when dealing with questions or complaints from students. "We know that we are h ere to serve the student's educational needs and inter– ests, even when we have to say "No" to a sincere request," Long said. "Because we deal with poliCY, we have to be true to those policies while being fair to the student in question and all other students at the university. This is a hard line to walk ." Long was in charge of the academic governance of the university, which meant that he oversaw the process for developing, approving and managing academic gra s . The Academic Nfairs office worked with the faculties of different de– nts and developed programs and policies for each major and general aca – e practice. 'Fo r example, we are cur rently reviewing the English Proficiency requirement for graduation," Long said. "[We] are working with the English Department as well as other academic leaders and groups [Q make sure that we have in place a workable, effective policy regarding the requirement for student writing proficiency. Once this or any policy is approved, the VPAA office is r esponsible for communicating and administering that pol icy," Long also strove to ensure that Harding stayed competitive among other un i – ve l'sities. "All of the academic leaders- deans, chairs and administrators- watch for indi– cators that get published and even contact other schools for more specific insights," Long said. '''We monitor information regarding other schools affiliated with the churches of Christ , other regio nal schools, other schools that offer similar degree programs, and "aspirant" schoo ls, those with which we aspire to be compared. " Long recognized that it takes a lot of people and an open access to information from other schools to keep Harding always moving forward academically. "No school can operate in a vacuum, but each sch ool, Harding included , must be true to its mission and process comparative data in regard to what is realistic and productive in regard to that mission," Long said. "We work hard to do just that." Emily Hauptli and James 8uce senior vp 's, chance llors, vp's 139
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