NWACC officials decide to inactivate some programs
Posted on Tuesday, November 11, 2008
BENTONVILLE The next two years call for plans to make Northwest Arkansas Community College more regionalized as some of its programs are moved, added or deleted.
The future of several programs was discussed during two, back-to-back meetings Monday night. The first, the NWACC Board of Trustees monthly meeting, resulted in four programs being inactivated. The second meeting was an informational gathering for both NWACC Board and NWACC Foundation Board members.
During the NWACC Board meeting, the trustees approved inactivating four highschool programs that are offered at the Regional Technology Center in Fayetteville computer repair / networking, aviation, welding and auto collision. The college degree program for aviation was also inactivated.
Declining enrollment, as well as a lack of suitable space, were cited as reasons for inactivating the programs. The college will vacate the RTC building, formerly the Fayetteville High School West Campus, effective June 30, 2009. None of the programs has sufficient enrollment to make the program viable. In fact, computer networking / repair and the high-school aviation program are already under suspension for this school year because their enrollments were in the single digits, said John Tuthill, associate vice president for student learning.
The post-secondary aviation program currently has 32 students in its aviation maintenance component who are taking technical courses. Most of those students will graduate soon, leaving only 11 still needing a program to complete at the start of fall 2009. The college is still researching the best option for those students, Tuthill said.
The options at this point appear to be to continue instruction at another location, at a great financial loss to the college; to help the students transition into another program; or to find a company in the area willing to work with the college to outsource the program.
Several more programs will be affected by the college vacating the RTC this June, NWACC President Becky Paneitz told the joint NWACC and foundation boards. No final deals have been signed yet, but for the 2009-2010 school year, the college hopes to move several programs: The Culinary Arts / Hospitality program will move to the new Northwest Arkansas Nonprofit Center, formerly St. Marys Hospital. The Dental Assisting and Medical Professions programs will move to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences Northwest Campus (the former Washington Regional Medical Center building in Fayetteville ). The Academic Skills, ESL, Business and Computer Information and other general education courses will move to the Jones Truck Line Facility.
Facilities being used for the above-listed programs for the 2009-2010 school year will be leased facilities, but plans for the 2010-2011 school year include facilities that the college owns, including the Shewmaker Center for Global Business Development and the Center for Nursing (the former Northwest Arkansas Radiation Therapy Institute and Highlands Oncology site in Bentonville ).
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