BENTONVILLE -- Two members of the Northwest Arkansas Community College board expressed concern Wednesday about the possibility of expanding into sanctioned sports.
Trustee Dan Shewmaker said there's been a "tremendous amount of pushback" from state legislators about establishing an official athletic program at the college, something a board committee has been exploring since last summer.
Athletic Survey
Northwest Arkansas Community College’s athletics interest survey asked students about their experience playing each of the following sports and how much interest they had in participating in each one at the college level: Baseball, basketball, bowling, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball and wrestling.
Source: Staff Report
"They don't understand why we're pursuing it," Shewmaker said. "I think we really have to look at that hard. As we proceed forward, we're either building bridges or tearing down bridges with our legislators."
State Rep. Kim Hendren, R-Gravette, publicly criticized the college last month for considering sanctioned sports. Hendren said higher education isn't focusing on its core responsibilities.
Shewmaker added it's not just legislators, but residents of the district he represents as a board member who dislike the sports idea.
"From my district the adamant input is, don't do this," he said.
Trustee Geovanny Sarmiento said he was concerned about the board leading an initiative that really should be led by the college's administrators.
"I also have heard from people in my district who are completely opposed to this initiative," Sarmiento said.
There are 22 public two-year colleges in Arkansas. Mid-South Community College and North Arkansas College are the only two that have sanctioned sports programs.
Ric Clifford, board chairman, set up the Sanctioned Sports Committee in July after some community members expressed an interest in it. If it's something the community wants, the college should at least explore the idea, he said.
Committee members have said they believe an athletic program could be paid for strictly through donations and would not cost the college anything.
Board trustee Todd Schwartz leads the committee, which met earlier Wednesday to review the results of a sports survey the college recently distributed to students. Survey results indicated there are at least several dozen students who would be interested in playing for a school-sanctioned team.
The online survey, made available to students for two weeks starting in late January, received 610 responses. That represents about 9.3 percent of students taking for-credit classes. Officials cautioned, however, they didn't control who took the survey because they wanted to assure students could remain anonymous.
"The bad news is, that opened it up potentially to people who are not current students to take the survey," said Lisa Anderson, the college's director of institutional research. Links to the survey had been shared on social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter, she said.
The survey asked students to provide basic information about themselves along with what sports they played in high school. They also were asked to describe their level of interest in competing in 12 sports at the college, either for an intercollegiate team or for a club or intramural team.
If the college had sanctioned sports teams, only full-time students -- those who take 12 credit hours or more at one time -- would be allowed to play. Of the 610 who completed the survey, 374 said they were full-time students.
Of those full-time students who completed the survey, 49 women and 83 men said they would like to be contacted regarding participation in sports.
Baseball, basketball and soccer proved to be the most popular sports among men who are full-time students. Forty-five said they'd try out for an intercollegiate baseball team, 44 would try out for basketball and 30 would try out for soccer.
Volleyball, track and field and softball were the most popular among women who are full-time students. Seventeen said they'd try out for an intercollegiate volleyball team, 14 would try out for track and field and 14 would try out for softball.
Overall, 51 percent of survey respondents were men, an anomaly when it comes to the college's surveys, Anderson said. That's because 58 percent of the college's students are women, and women usually respond to surveys at a higher rate than men do, she said.
The sports survey was necessary to fulfill the college's obligations under Title IX, said Kathryn Birkhead, director for diversity and inclusion. The college is required to survey current and prospective students on sports because it offers club sports, she said.
Schwartz said he was "very happy" with the survey results. He defended the idea of a sports program at Wednesday's board meeting, saying it would attract additional students to the college and generate additional tuition revenue.
Shewmaker said that additional revenue wouldn't come close to paying for athletics. The college spends about $7,260 per full-time-equivalent student, according to Gulizar Baggson, director of budget.
The Sanctioned Sports Committee's next meeting is scheduled for March 6, when it is expected to look at financial needs for athletic teams. Clifford urged Schwartz to make it a priority to figure out a potential budget.
"The budget will determine what it is, if it can sustain itself," Clifford said. "I think we need to see the financial side of it."
NW News on 02/26/2015