AASCU President to deliver CSC’s spring commencement address

The ceremony for undergraduates and graduates will take place at 10 a.m., is open to the public in the Chicoine Center, and available via live stream.

Welch joined AASCU after serving nearly 13 years as president of the Arkansas State University System, where he led the state’s second-largest higher education system. He is also the past president of Henderson State University in Arkansas.

Welch is a past president of the Arkansas Association of Two-Year Colleges and served as chairman of the board of the Arkansas Association of Public Universities. He is vice chair of the American Academic Leadership Institute Board of Directors and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems. He also served on the Board of Directors for Goodwill Industries of Arkansas, is a former board member for the Arkansas Sheriffs’ Youth Ranches, and was inducted into the Arkansas Boys State Hall of Fame.

He was co-chair of the Executive Council of the Arkansas Department of Higher Education. He previously served as chancellor of the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope-Texarkana, vice chancellor for academic affairs at Arkansas State University-Beebe, and dean of university studies at the University of Arkansas—Pulaski Technical College. Welch also worked at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and has taught education and political science at three different colleges in Arkansas.

Welch has deep ties to AASCU. He has led two AASCU member institutions and served as chair of the AASCU Board of Directors twice from 2019-21. He co-chaired AASCU’s Presidential Postsecondary Value Commission Task Force. He was also actively engaged with AASCU’s New Presidents Academy and Emerging Leaders Program, serving as executive sponsor for both initiatives.

He is a first-generation college student and the first member of his extended family to receive an advanced degree. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Arkansas, a master’s in political management from George Washington University in Washington DC, and a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

The Arkansas State University System awarded Welch President Emeritus status in 2023. The system also honored Welch with the creation of the Charles L. Welch Presidential Scholars Program.