BENTONVILLE -- NorthWest Arkansas Community College's adult education department will move from Rogers to the college's main campus in Bentonville next year, officials said.
The adult education department has been housed at the Center for Nonprofits at St. Mary's for four years, its third location in the past 12 years. It previously was located at two other Rogers addresses, one on North Second Street and one on Woods Lane.
At A Glance
Adult Education
NorthWest Arkansas Community College’s adult education program had 566 adults pass the GED test and earn an Arkansas high school diploma during the 2013-14 school year, a record for the college.
The college awards each GED graduate one free three-hour credit class and selects two students each year to receive $1,000 scholarships. The 2014 scholarship winners were Jesus Alvarez Garcia of Springdale, who plans to major in industrial engineering, and Adam Foster of Bentonville, who plans to major in culinary arts.
Source: NorthWest Arkansas Community College
The planned move to Bentonville is part of the college's plan to boost student enrollment. About 3,000 people take basic education, English language or GED classes at the college's adult education department each year. Officials hope adult education students' exposure to the services and programs offered on campus will encourage more of them to enroll in higher education classes.
"I'm aware of a number of community colleges that have adult education and GED classes on campus," said Evelyn Jorgenson, college president, during the college board's retreat meeting Saturday. "If it's done right, it can be a big plus and help those students feel more comfortable about even considering going to college."
Jorgenson added it's important those students feel like they're part of the college.
"They are great students," she said. "We want them to feel as welcome (on the main campus) as anywhere and that they don't have to be relegated -- out of sight, out of mind -- to somewhere else."
The college's plan is to relocate adult education to the second floor of the Shewmaker Center for Workforce Technologies. That space is not being used to its maximum capacity, Jorgenson said.
The move won't happen for another year. The college just signed a one-year lease for its Center for Nonprofits space.
"That will give us time to make a really smooth transition," Jorgenson said.
The college pays $291,528 annually in rent for that space, according to Steven Hinds, college spokesman. It also operates satellite adult education programs in Siloam Springs and Gravette.
Ben Aldama, dean of adult education, said he has mixed feelings about the move. He's excited because the change will open doors for his students, he said.
"They will feel such a difference being on campus as far as feeling like college students, having that mindset of continuing their education in college credit classes or even the workforce training classes in the Shewmaker Center," he said.
But Aldama said the department's current location is a central one with an Ozark Transit stop right outside the building. Some students also benefit from the building's other tenants, such as the county Health Department and the Community Clinic, he said.
"I will miss our students having access to these services here," Aldama said.
The adult education department has eight classrooms, a computer lab, an admissions area and 12 offices, Aldama said. The staff includes eight full-time and 16 part-time teachers, plus seven office workers.
About 22 percent of the department's GED graduates have taken higher education classes at the college since fall 2007, according to Tim Cornelius, vice president of learning. The college offers technical training in numerous areas that can provide good careers, and adult education students will be better exposed to those opportunities at the college, he said.
"Once we accomplish this move, I think we'll say, 'Why didn't we do this years ago?'" Cornelius said.
The Center for Nonprofits is owned by the Jones Trust. Ed Clifford, president and chief executive officer of the Jones Trust, said part of the trust's mission is to assist nonprofits and educational institutions in growing and serving their clients and students with quality programs.
"The adult education program has done well at the (Center for Nonprofits), and now NWACC is in a position to make a move to enhance the program, and it gives us the opportunity to form a new partnership with another entity or entities to do the same for them," Clifford wrote in an email. "What we don't want to see is any of our partners languish because they don't create opportunities to grow, so this fits us nicely."
College officials also are looking to move the culinary arts and hospitality program out of the center. The board on Saturday authorized administrators to enter into negotiations on space at the former Tyson Foods plant at 801 S.E. Eighth St. in Bentonville. That will allow the college to increase enrollment capacity in culinary arts from 185 to 260.
NW News on 07/29/2014