Early in his administration, he reorganized the university's academic programs with an emphasis on revising the mission statement and strengthening administrators' accountability for faculty performance and curriculum, according to Byrd.

However, others associated with the college who did not want to be quoted are less certain about Becton's academic contributions. There were concerns when Becton moved the engineering technology program, which trains students for manufacturing-related jobs, under the College of Architecture and Engineering. Although some thought the technology program needed to remain separate, the engineering school is still considered the university's fop academic draw for students and recruiters. And according to officials in the engineering college, there were no accreditation problems during Becton's tenure.

Some faculty members said Becton's initial emphasis was on making the campus safe so that students could focus on learning. Becton determined that a handful of undesirable students were disrupting the learning environment on campus, so he forced them to leave. Also, he installed emergency phones at the school so that students and faculty could be directly connected to campus security.

Williams, who was a member of the national Prairie View alumni board, remembers one of the first alumni meetings with the new president. Becton summoned them to a meeting room in the center of which was a table full of guns that had been confiscated from students. The general then proceeded to explain, with flow charts and graphs, his vision for Prairie View. "That included running off the bad guys," Williams said.

"If the D.C. panel is looking for someone who can get to the bottom of things," added Williams, "Becton's their man."

COPYRIGHT 1996 Cox, Matthews & Associates