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Arkansas State University Receives SAS Software Gift

SAS, a leader in business intelligence, announced a three-year, $250,000 software grant to Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, Ark. The grant will be used in the College of Business and the Center for Economic Development for teaching and research purposes.

"We wanted to do more than establish a relationship with Arkansas State; we wanted to offer a partnership with tangible results," said Jeff Babcock, vice president of public sector sales and marketing for SAS Americas. "The grant will not only provide software to help students, but also will give personnel the ability to be competitive."

The SAS grant is part of the College of Business' effort to become a leading user of technology in business education. "We are extremely excited to be working with SAS software and training as it will permit us to develop expertise in database mining and data warehousing," said Jan W. Duggar, dean of the College of Business. "The database mining, customer relationship management (CRM), and other SAS analytical software will enhance both our MIS and marketing programs as well as prepare our students for the highly competitive job market."

"With the access to SAS software and solutions, students are given the opportunity to hone the technology skills needed to compete and flourish in today's high-tech work force," added Babcock. "For SAS, the most important contribution is -- giving students and educators the tools and knowledge they need to succeed in course work and beyond."

About Arkansas State University

The ASU College of Business has made technology one of its focal areas for enhancement. The College is seeking to infuse modern technology throughout the curricula. Partnerships with major providers of software such as SAS provide opportunities to faculty, students and area businesses to be exposed to leading-edge technology used to enhance productivity and global competitiveness. This use and knowledge for deployment of technology is very important to all of our programs and, particularly to the MBA students.

The College of Business is accredited at the graduate and undergraduate level by AACSB International. With an enrollment of 1,800 undergraduate students and 150 graduate students, it is one of nine colleges on the ASU Jonesboro campus. It offers degree programs at six other locations including the ASU campuses at Mountain Home and Beebe.

About SAS

SAS is a market leader in providing a new generation of business intelligence software and services that create true enterprise intelligence. SAS solutions are used at more than 38,000 sites -- including 99 of the top 100 businesses on the Fortune 500 -- to develop more profitable relationships with customers and suppliers; to enable better, more accurate and informed decisions; and to drive organizations forward. SAS is the only vendor that completely integrates leading data warehousing, analytics and traditional BI applications to create intelligence from massive amounts of data. For 25 years, SAS has been giving customers around the world The Power to Know. Visit us at www.sas.com.