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Southern Arkansas University’s main campus is located on approximately 160 acres along the northern border of Magnolia, Arkansas. In addition to the main campus, the SAU farm and Department of Agriculture jointly utilize over 1,600 acres as a working farm and student laboratory. The main campus buildings are predominantly brick structures that provide 1,355,531 square-feet of usable space. The topography is of moderate elevation, and the landscape slopes gently in all directions from the center of campus.
The Agriculture Building is a 30,000-square-foot, state of the art facility that includes classrooms, lecture hall, animal science labs, soils labs, horticulture and plant science labs and feed/chemistry labs. The building is outfitted with the latest virtual electronic management equipment for the agriculture disciplines. Construction of greenhouses and head house was recently finished, and the installation of hydroponic equipment and orchards is ongoing. A new 5,000 square foot shop is scheduled for construction during the next school year.
The Agricultural Education Building is a 5,000-square-foot, prefabricated steel building completed in 1980. Included in the building are an office and classroom, restrooms, a storage room, and a 3,600 square-foot shop area. The shop area is used to teach agricultural systems technology and was designed to model agricultural shops used in high school programs.
The Alumni Center, formerly the president’s home, is a modern-style facility of brick and glass located picturesquely on a landscaped lot overlooking the main campus. It is the focal point for various campus functions. The Alumni Center also provides a relaxed atmosphere for guests and visitors to our campus. It currently houses the Office of Alumni Affairs.
The Auburn Smith Field House is a recently renovated 5,000-square-foot facility that provides offices and training facilities for the Mulerider football program.
The Brinson Fine Arts Building is a modern brick and steel structure housing six major studios, a public gallery, a student gallery, a theater-style lecture hall, a choir room, six music practice rooms, a piano laboratory, and offices for both art and music faculty. This striking, sculptural structure places the arts directly within the intellectual and geographic central hub of the SAU campus. A broad expanse of glass allows casual passersby to observe the displayed works of student and guest artists.
The Watson-Brown Center built of brick, tile, and concrete, houses a gymnasium seating approximately 1,750 people, an auxiliary gymnasium, an indoor pool meeting AAU standard, an athletic training facility, a physical therapy center, a kinesiology laboratory, a dance studio, shower and locker rooms, and faculty offices and classrooms for the Department of Human Performance and Sport Sciences.
The Imon E. Bruce University Center currently provides the following facilities: University of Arkansas Archaeology Survey Station and Museum; Encore program; and the Talent Search and Upward Bound program suites. In the spring of 2008 the Mulerider Sports Club, complete with a computer lab study area and eight flat screen televisions on various sports channels, was added. During the summer of 2012, a portion of the upper floor was converted to a food court that includes Chick-fil-A, Grille Works, and Subway. Also, adjacent office space was converted to a private eating/meeting area named the University Club.
Blanchard Hall is a spacious brick structure with two computer labs, four seminar rooms, 10 lecture classrooms, and the offices of the Rankin College of Business. Graced by a three-story atrium, this building was designed to present the image of a corporate headquarters and features a technologically advanced video graphic projection system that provides access to satellite, cable, video, and computer graphic capabilities. A student lounge is complete with refreshment areas and conference rooms.
Childs Hall provides several university classrooms and contains offices and support facilities for the University Police, and the Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) program.
Couch Memorial Natural Area was donated to Southern Arkansas University in 2002. This is a 33-acre site approximately three miles east of the main campus. It is a nature area that has developed from previous agricultural and timber production for ecological studies.
Cross Hall, which was recently renovated with new carpet and paint, houses faculty offices; video viewing demonstration laboratories for graduate practicums; classrooms; the Department of History, Political Science, and Geography; and the Curtistine A. Walz Center for the Study of Cliometrics and Public Opinion.
Dawson Field includes two complete fields with bleachers. It was renovated to include a concession stand, ticket booths, coaches’ offices, player locker room, additional bleachers, and lighting.
Dolph Camp was renovated and enlarged in December 2001 to provide a new home for University Technology Services. The structure also houses a recital hall seating 128 people and is equipped with a grand piano, a harpsichord, and a baroque pipe organ.
Education houses offices and classrooms for the College of Education and Human Performance. The building opened in 2021.
Engineering is a twenty-eight thousand square feet of combined lecture, laboratory and office space which opened in Fall 2016 to house the engineering, engineering technology, and industrial technology programs. The engineering facility contains dedicated laboratories for solid mechanics, chemical engineering, thermal fluids, senior design, and advanced physics. In addition to the labs, offices, and classrooms there is a three-bay shop that will include mills, lathes, CNC, welding bays and other typical shop equipment.
Faculty Housing includes one apartment, one duplex, and seven detached houses that serve as temporary housing for incoming faculty and staff.
The Greek Amphitheater, completed in 1938, is a concrete structure seating 500 people for outdoor activities such as plays, pep rallies, and concerts. In 2014, the University received an $119,000 grant that provided significant upgrades to this historic site and structure.
SAU Global Center is a 5,027-square-foot, multipurpose facility that houses the International Student Services Office and provides a “home-like” atmosphere for students. The first floor consists of an open-concept activity area containing a snack bar with café tables, comfortable living room area, small stage for musical performances or presentations, and a billiard area. In addition, there is a large conference room, office suite, and a full-size kitchen that is used for special occasions. The second floor houses a computer lab and a study room for students.
Harton houses the offices, classrooms, and workrooms of the Department of Performing Arts and Mass Communication and the 460-seat Margaret Harton Theatre, which faces the central quadrangle.
The Laney Farm was acquired by the University on December 16, 2005. The 650.29-acre farm is located approximately a half-mile north of the main campus. The SAU Trap Shooting Range is located on the property and features a clubhouse with restrooms, storage, and three shooting ranges. The Department of Biology also maintains a Sensitive Scientific Study Area and an interpretive nature trail.
The Lowell A. Logan Biological Field Station completed in 1988, is on a separate tract of land some 10 miles from campus on Lake Columbia. This facility provides on-site laboratories and overnight accommodations for SAU students and faculty doing ongoing biological research and studying the development and ecological maturing of a water source. Special recreational opportunities are also developed around the Field Station.
The John F. and Joanna G. Magale Library is a centrally located learning resource center containing around 145,000 book volumes. The library has many comfortable study areas and study rooms. The library offers 127 desktop computers (84 in open labs and 43 in library instruction labs) and 14 laptop computers for student usage. The library has two library instruction labs on the third floor. The library collection also includes 9,822 audiovisual pieces, 32,234 microfilm and microfiche pieces from 96 titles, 73 online subscriptions to journals, 27,437 government documents, and current subscriptions to 272 print periodicals, 2,566 e-books, three e-reference book databases, over 9,000 online streaming academic videos, and online full-text access to 50,736 periodical titles from 84 databases with indexing and abstracts for additional titles. The library website includes information literacy videos. Online access to library resources is available through the library homepage at http://web.saumag.edu/library/. Students can use a federated search service at the library’s website that will search most of Magale Library’s electronic resources simultaneously.
The Ted Monroe Farm was donated to the University by Mr. Ted Monroe. The 400-acre facility is located on the Red River approximately 50 miles due west of Magnolia. The land will be farmed by the SAU Farm Department and will be used as a row-crop teaching lab by the Department of Agriculture.
Mulerider Activity Center is a 30,000-square-foot facility located in the center of campus and provides a base for a broad array of student activities. Major components include multi-sport gym (basketball, volleyball, etc.), indoor walking track, weight and exercise rooms, studio space for dance, exercise, etc., game rooms for arcade, Wii systems and the like, meeting rooms, and more.
Mulerider Stables is a 14,000-square-foot state-of-the-art equine boarding facility providing accommodations for 60 livestock and is used by the SAU Rodeo Team.
Natural Resource Research Center is a $2 million, 3,800-square-foot facility that was completed in July of 2010 and features state-of-the-art research and laboratory capability. It provides the tools to develop and promote local natural resources such as lignite, petroleum, and bromine, but also serves as a teaching and training facility for student development and research techniques. It also provides an excellent opportunity for faculty research and development.
Nelson Hall is a two-story building, which houses administrative offices. Included are the Office of the Dean of Liberal and Performing Arts, the Communications Center, Graduate Studies, the Office of the Registrar, and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness.
The Oliver Band Hall is a facility located on Crescent Drive that was completed in 2008 and expanded in 2021. It provides a state-of-the-art rehearsal hall, a secondary rehearsal hall, four teaching studios and spacious storage areas for instruments and uniforms.
Overstreet Hall fronts the campus with a pillared, colonial facade. A three-story building, it houses the chief administrative offices of the University along with the Office of Financial Services on the first floor. The Office of Admissions, and the Academic Advising and Assistance Center are located on the second floor. The third floor houses state-of-the-art theatre/mass communications classrooms and laboratories as well as the Office of Financial Aid.
The Ozmer and Alexander-Warnock Farmstead are restored dogtrot-type farmhouses. It is used as a center to study regional culture. The Ozmer House is significant because it epitomizes the homes of family farmers in south Arkansas from the end of the Civil War until the early years of the 20th century. It is an exceptionally well-built and well-preserved example of the board-and-batten box construction.
J. M. Peace Hall is a two-story building, renovated in 2000, and it is located on the east side of the campus. It is the current home of the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences.
The Physical Plant Facility, a modern metal building on the southwestern part of the campus, houses the maintenance shops, offices, central supply, and warehouse facilities. A campus-wide automation system operated at the plant provides more than 4,000 points of energy conservation and remote monitoring.
Donald W. Reynolds Campus and Community Center provides an array of facilities and services to SAU students, staff, faculty, and the greater Southwest Arkansas community. With over 76,000 square feet of space, the center includes a 450-seat cafeteria, 500-seat ballroom, 200-seat theater/lecture hall, 30-seat formal dining and reception room, post office, bookstore, coffee shop, lounge, and many conference and meeting rooms all equipped with the latest audio-visual technology. Departmental offices are provided for Multicultural Affairs, Career Services, Counseling Center, Testing Center, Disability Support Services, Housing, University Health Services, Student Activities, Student Government Association, Student Life, and student organization offices.
The Ribble Strength Training Facility is a 5,000 square foot state-of-the-art, multi-sport complex that was completed in the summer of 2011. This facility is outfitted with the latest weight training equipment designed to enhance the student athlete experience to the greatest extent possible.
Story Arena and the FB&T Reception Center includes an 80,000 square foot arena that will seat 1,150 and a 6,800 square foot reception center that will provide a concession stand, conference rooms, ticket booths, business offices and rest room facilities. It is anticipated that the arena will house rodeos, knife and boat shows, concerts, community events and the like.
Student Housing is provided in thirteen modern residence halls and three apartment complexes. These facilities provide living quarters for approximately 2000 residents.
Tennis Courts are located by the physical education building and were renovated in 2018. These 10-lighted courts are available for free play when not scheduled for classes and tournaments.
University Science Center is a 60,000-square-foot facility that was completed in March of 2010. This state-of-the-art structure provides a new home for SAU’s Biology, Chemistry and Physics disciplines, and is outfitted with the latest labs, instrumentality, and research equipment available. It is the most advanced teaching facility of its type in the greater southwest Arkansas region.
Walker Stadium at Goodheart Field is the home of the Mulerider baseball team. This 5,000-square-foot facility includes locker rooms, staff offices, concession stand, restrooms, a media broadcast center and additional parking.
The Water Tower is a 187-foot-tall Cor-ten steel structure constructed in l976. Near the top is a peal of 14 cast-bronze bells. The tower provides a prominent architectural landmark to identify the Southern Arkansas University campus and a 50,000-gallon water supply for surrounding facilities. The water tower itself was awarded “Steel Tank of the Year” by the Steel Plater Fabricator’s Association in l976 and has been featured in Southern Living Magazine. In l988, a tradition was established when the Water Tower was decorated into a 187-foot illuminated holiday candle.
The Wharton Nursing Education Building was recently renovated and enlarged to its current 25,000-square-foot area, which provides state of the art classrooms, demonstration and clinical laboratories, tutorial labs and other clinical training facilities. Additional plans are underway to increase the clinical testing areas.
Wilkins Stadium, with seating for 6,000 persons, a press box, and dressing rooms in the Auburn P. Smith Field House, is a facility completely equipped for football. In 2015, the field was named Rip Powell Field to honor legendary coach Rip Powell. In the summer of 2016, Rip Powell field at Wilkins Stadium saw the addition of new artificial turf and LED lighting.
Wilson Hall, a classroom and laboratory building of brick, steel, and glass, was completed in 1970. The first floor houses computer labs and classrooms. The second floor houses offices, classrooms, and laboratories for mathematics and computer science. A lecture hall is also located in the second floor. The third floor consists of offices and classrooms for English, foreign languages, and philosophy; a sophisticated language laboratory; and an electronic learning center.
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