Dr. Tim Hudson was appointed chancellor in the spring of 2012. Arkansas State initiated several projects that are transforming the Jonesboro campus into a destination university. A-State has established the first American-style university campus operated by a U.S. college in Mexico, and joined with New York Institute of Technology to locate a second site of its College of Osteopathic Medicine in a remodeled Wilson Hall. Preparing the next generation of leaders with a commitment toward a global mindset is an institutional priority.
Programs to improve residences through living-learning communities, such as the Honors LLC, and the opening of Sorority Row and The Circle have generated an all-time record for Arkansas State’s on-campus student population. For the past two years, A-State has welcomed the most academically prepared freshman class (i.e., highest ACT scores and high school GPAs). The Carl R. Reng Student Union has been named one of the top 30 in the country. Travel through the campus was enhanced in 2017 with the opening of a new street, bordered by a pedestrian and biking trail, connecting Aggie Road with University Loop West on the southwest side of campus.
The fall of 2015 featured the opening of the Humanities and Social Sciences Building, the third largest instructional building on a university campus in Arkansas.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson joined Arkansas State University and New York Institute of Technology leaders June 2, 2016, for the rededication of historic Wilson Hall as home of an additional site of NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine, which became the state's second medical school. A $12.6 million renovation and modernization of the 86,000-square-foot building, which opened in 1932 and housed almost every aspect of what was then A & M College, began in September 2015. NYITCOM at A-State welcomed its first class of 115 medical school students in August.
Dr. Kelly Damphousse became chancellor July 1, 2017, and has kept the university on track for steady growth, enhanced visibility across its major constituencies, and improved retention and the educational atmosphere.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Queretaro Gov. Francisco Dominguez joined more than 850 dignitaries, guests and students to celebrate the historic grand opening of Arkansas State University Campus Queretaro in September 2017. ASU System President Chuck Welch described the commemoration as the third most important event in the university’s 108-year history. The $100 million, state-of-the-art campus, is the first American-style university in Mexico. It also incorporates the A-State brand and Red Wolves logo.
Chancellor Damphousse announced the largest individual gift to date in the history of the university, from 1948 alumnus Neil Griffin, in the spring of 2018. The $10 million gift led to the naming of the Neil Griffin College of Business, along with an endowed chair, endowed professorships, excellence funds, and deanship.
The largest single gift to the arts at A-State, $6.7 million from the Windgate Foundation, announced in the fall of 2018, is funding construction of the Windgate Center for Three-Dimensional Arts, southeast of the Fine Arts Center.
Construction of the Red Wolf Convention Center and Embassy Suites, south of Centennial Bank Stadium, began in 2018 and the grand opening was held March 5, 2020. With 203 upscale suites and a 40,000-square-foot convention center, the facility will be the first of its kind in the region.
Expansion of Centennial Bank Stadium with a new press box, suites and club seating, along with expansion and enhancement of the north end zone is complete as a result of surging enthusiasm for the Red Wolves football program, which has won the Sun Belt Conference championship in five of the last eight seasons and made four straight GoDaddy Bowl appearances, followed by the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl in 2015, AutoNation Cure Bowl in 2016, and Raycom Media Camellia Bowl in 2017. In 2018, the team played in the Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl on Dec. 29, and in 2019 the Red Wolves won the Camellia Bowl.
Since 1928, Arkansas State University has had continuous accreditation by The Higher Learning Commission, which made its most recent comprehensive campus visit in spring 2018.