JONESBORO — Education leaders will review all academic programs at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff before taking the next step to adding a doctorate in fisheries and aquaculture, the state’s higher-education director said Friday.
Recently discovered problems in the school’s nursing program have led to the need for further institutional review, Higher Education Director Jim Purcell told the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board on Friday.
“We need to see if the problems are isolated to this program alone or if they are more systemic,” he said at the board’s meeting, which was held on the campus of Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.
A team of administrators from universities in other states plans to visit the campus and examine its academic programs, providing recommendations to strengthen course offerings.
UAPB has faced disciplinary action from the Higher Education Department after the Arkansas Board of Nursing put its nursing program on probation in July, citing three consecutive years of fewer than 75 percent of graduates passing an exam required for licensure.
This is the fourth time the nursing board has put the program on probation since it started in 1976. Graduates must meet the 75 percent testing benchmark for the next two years or the nursing board will pull its approval.
The university will ask the board in February to expand its role and scope statement, allowing it to offer a doctoral degree. The most advanced degree the university currently offers is a master’s degree.
The measure is the final step before UAPB asks for approval of the program itself, which has won strong support from the state’s catfish and bait-fish farmers.
UAPB Chancellor Lawrence Davis Jr. assured the board he would abide by all recommendations that follow the review. He encouraged board members to support the fisheries program despite issues withthe nursing degree, which the university is working quickly to remedy.
The fisheries doctorate, already approved by the UA board of trustees, will prove to be a strong program, generating research dollars and supporting the state’s economy, a group of commercial fish farmers assured the board.
Research at UAPB has already helped commercial fish farmers around the country remain competitive in a global market filled with international competition that faces fewer regulations on its products, said Joey Lowery, president of the Catfish Farmers of America.
“The success of this industry will be directly correlated to the research we can derive from our universities,” he said.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 18 on 10/31/2010