Chad Cox
Admission Counselor
ccox@ozarks.edu
174 Mabee Administration Building
(479) 979-1228 (office)
(479) 774-2964 (cell)

Chad, who is responsible for working with prospective students from many of the counties in the state of Arkansas, graduated from Ozarks in December 1998, with a B.A. in theatre and returned in August 2006 as an admission counselor.

"Between Ozarks and Ozarks," as Chad puts it, he held a variety of jobs, working as a motivational speaker, a fundraiser for an organization dedicated to fighting bigotry and racism and an audio-visual coordinator for the Peabody Hotel in Little Rock.

"There's a lot you can do with a theatre degree!" says Chad, who did everything from acting to scene design to directing while at Ozarks. "I loved directing," says Chad. "What I really liked about it was taking a script and (actors) and creating a living, breathing thing.

His Ozarks education led Chad to an internship doing scenic design for a theatre in Georgia and an internship in Las Vegas, where he became a certified actor combatant, trained to do fight scenes on stage.

"I still have the certificate in my office!" says Chad, whose background in performing and directing gave him valuable skills for communicating with prospective students and their parents. "It's about understanding (a student) as an individual, and not just (another) 'new student', says Chad.

He often relates his own experience at Ozarks to prospective students. "(Ozarks) allowed me to become an individual outside my hometown," says Chad, who came to the university after high school in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. "It was far enough away that I didn't go home every weekend, but I could go home if I wanted to."

Chad remains a die-hard fan of the University of Arkansas Razorbacks. He and his wife, Brandy, Ozarks' director of alumni relations, live with their son just outside of Clarksville.

Chad's Advice to Prospective Students: Visit campus. Make sure you are comfortable and happy. You will know it when it feels right.

Chad's Territory: Many counties in the state of Arkansas, including: Arkansas, Ashley, Benton, Bradley, Calhoun, Chicot, Clark, Clay, Cleburne, Cleveland, Columbia, Conway, Craighead, Crittenden, Cross, Dallas, Desha, Drew, Faulkner, Grant, Greene, Hempstead, Hot Spring, Howard, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lee, Lincoln, Logan, Lonoke, Mississippi, Monroe, Montgomery, Nevada, Ouachita, Perry, Phillips, Pike, Poinsett, Polk, Pope, Prairie, Pulaski, Saline, Scott, Sevier, St. Francis, Union, Van Buren, Washington, White, and Yell.