Pulaski Tech to sell campus in west LR

Pulaski Technical College administrators will sell its campus in west Little Rock after seeing enrollment decline there for years.

The campus at 8901 Kanis Road is home to a 34,632-square-foot building along with a large parking lot. The college has owned the property since 2005 when overall enrollment slowly crept up. But, over the years, enrollment at the state's largest community college -- particularly at that location -- has slowed and even dropped.

"I think it's time that we take the action that we did," said Ronald Dedman, chairman of the college's board of trustees, which approved allowing the sale Monday. "But I also think it's important that folks in west Little Rock know that we are not abandoning that part of the city, that we will work out a plan to continue to offer classes in west Little Rock."

Administrators on Monday said they plan to meet with Little Rock School District officials today to start working on a memorandum of understanding for the college to use Parkview High School for three classes -- elementary algebra, intermediate algebra and composition 1, Pulaski Tech President Margaret Ellibee said. The goal is to open those courses at the 2501 John Barrow Road school -- less than a mile away from the college's west campus -- by January 2016.

The college is expected to save more than $300,000 annually by selling the building, said Pat Palmer, the college's vice president of finance.

The savings come as administrators have continuously looked to cut costs at the college, which has seen an enrollment slowdown since 2011. Then, the college peaked with some 11,946 students. The number dropped to 9,236 in fall 2014. And this fall, preliminary numbers show some 7,558 students enrolled. Official enrollment figures are tallied on the 11th day of class, which is next week.

Officials had already raised tuition by 16 percent, effective July 1. They've still reduced the college's budget to $46.7 million, down from about the $48 million last fiscal year. And they've instituted a semi-hard hiring freeze, replacing only some faculty and staff members on an interim basis until the official enrollment counts come in September.

Going forward, the college will also focus on recruitment, along with student success and retention measures.

"Our students are leaving us during the course of study and not coming back," Ellibee said. "We have to keep the students that we have. We have to be able to balance both of those and build up goals at the same time."

Of the 1,053 students who enrolled at the college in fall 2013, 584 -- or 55.5 percent -- came back the next year, according to Arkansas Department of Higher Education data. Of the 1,177 students who enrolled in fall 2012, 50.8 percent signed up for classes the next fall, and 33.1 percent did for fall 2014.

With the board's OK Monday, the college's administrators can now move forward with listing the Kanis property. First, they will need to get the site appraised.

"I think it's a good building," trustee MaryJane Rebick said. "It's in the middle of the medical corridor."

Realtors Sam and Brian Winstead have already approached the college, inquiring about the property, said Michael DeLong, the college's executive vice president and provost. The two owned Pulaski Tech's South Campus before the college acquired it, he added.

Faculty there worked with their deans to decide to which campus they would relocate. None were laid off, DeLong said. All of the services were transferred to the other Pulaski Tech campuses as well.

Administrators are finished sorting out the classroom furniture. Most of the furniture at the west campus was fairly new, while the main campus was in "dire need" of furniture, DeLong said. The next step is to sort out office furniture. Any leftovers will go to the state surplus store.

The college bought the west campus property for $2.2 million at a time when the enrollment figures were on the upswing. At the time, the location of the west campus was alluring: The area was growing in population, and the college could provide higher education access there.

The west campus housed fewer students than the other two campuses and offered only general education and remedial courses.

Over the years, though, the west campus' enrollment figures dwindled. Enrollment at that campus peaked in fall 2005 with 1,563 students and fell throughout the years to 504 in fall 2014. The campus was closed for the last two summer terms.

"It was a bottom-line type of decision because the number of students we got over there did not support the money we were spending," DeLong said.

The college began evaluating its options. Administrators looked at storefronts, other schools, all the possibilities to relocate from the aging campus. In June, Pulaski Tech and Little Rock School District officials met about the partnership possibilities, and Parkview came up in the conversations.

"We've had a couple of conversations going back and forth on the phone as far as what the elements of an MOU [memo of understanding] would look like," said Ellibee, the president. "We want to have our most popular classes. Logistically, we have to look at what nights [the classes are offered], making sure we have security, making sure there is Internet available for the students. I'm looking forward to having a positive outcome to all of that."

Today's discussions are the next step in the partnership, but not the last, she said.

"At the end of the semester, what we want to do is look at the enrollment, look at student satisfaction and their input, and if we see that there's a possibility for enrollment to go up and add more classes, then certainly, we'd want to do that," Ellibee said. "And certainly, we'd talk to Little Rock School District to see if we could do that."

Metro on 08/25/2015

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