Tuesday, January 14, 2014
BENTONVILLE — NorthWest Arkansas Community College is expecting enrollment this semester to drop by as much as 8 percent from last spring semester, said Evelyn Jorgenson, college president.
Monday was the first day of the college’s spring semester, but students may continue to enroll. The official count for the semester is not taken until the 11th day of classes.
“We will be down, as we believe nearly all community colleges will be,” Jorgenson said during a Board of Trustees meeting Monday.
Jorgenson cited several reasons for the enrollment drop. She said employment in the area is high, so fewer people are motivated to seek additional education in order to make a career change.
Board Election
Three of the nine seats on the NorthWest Arkansas Community College Board of Trustees are up for election this year. They include the seats for zones 1, 6 and 8. Those seats are currently held by Scott Grigsby, Mauricio Herrera and Ric Clifford. Tena O’Brien, Benton County clerk, said anyone interested in running for one of the seats must file by Aug. 15 and live in the zone they represent. The election is Nov. 4. Clifford, the board chairman, said he intends to run for re-election.
Source: Staff Report
A new policy implemented this school year also is affecting enrollment. Any student who had a 0.0 grade point average during their previous semester must sit out for one semester. There are more than 300 students who fit that classification, Jorgenson said.
“We want to stop a minute and ask them what happened,” Jorgenson said.
There are various reasons a student might have finished with a 0.0 grade point average, she said. Sometimes it has to do with a stressful family situation. Sometimes students go into college not realizing what’s expected of them.
The policy gives both students and the college a chance to evaluate what happened and how the students can improve, Jorgenson said.
“Is it the right thing to do? It absolutely is,” she said. “We have to do what’s best for the students.”
The college’s fall enrollment was 8,102, down 3.8 percent from fall 2012. It was the second straight year the college had seen enrollment decline. Enrollment had increased every year from 1990 to 2011.
Pulaski Technical College, the state’s largest community college, saw its fall enrollment drop by 12 percent, according to Tracy Courage, a spokeswoman for the school.
Fewer students means less revenue. NorthWest Arkansas Community College is taking a careful look at its entire budget in an effort to cut expenses, Jorgenson said.
As one example, Jorgenson said officials have found $18,000 in savings by cutting the number of organizations to which the college pays membership fees.
In other college-related news, the board is expected to decide this month whether to buy a strip of railroad that runs through the college campus.
The administration recommended buying the land from the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad for $2.5 million. The board declined to approve the proposal at its November meeting, citing a need for more information.
Jorgenson said she and chief financial officer Debi Buckley are gathering all relevant information requested by the board. That information will be presented at the board’s next meeting Jan. 24.
The board’s questions focused on environmental impacts, future road construction and how the college could sell the narrow strip of railroad included in the deal that extends outside the campus.