BENTONVILLE — Northwest Arkansas Community College officials will travel to Little Rock this week seeking legislators’ approval to add a building to the college’s campus.
Enrollment
Northwest Arkansas Community College’s fall semester will begin Monday. The number of credit hours students have registered for is at 97 percent of what officials projected for the semester, according to Todd Kitchen, vice president of student services. Each student is signed up for an average of about 9.3 credit hours. “We’d love to bump that up to 15 credit hours per semester,” Kitchen said. “Fifteen credit hours in two years will get a student their associate degree.”
Source: Staff report
The Legislative Council’s Review Subcommittee is scheduled to discuss the project during its meeting Wednesday. If the subcommittee endorses the project, it will be up to the council as a whole to approve it. The Legislative Council meets Friday.
Evelyn Jorgenson, the college’s president, said she and others from the college will attend both meetings.
The council originally considered the college’s plan in June, but tabled the matter because of some questions legislators had about it. No representatives of the college attended that meeting.
“We have met since that time with various legislators who had particular questions,” Jorgenson said, addressing the topic Monday during a Board of Trustees meeting.
The college’s board in February approved administrators’ proposal of what’s being called an “integrated design” building, which would provide space for and encourage collaboration among those in the arts, entrepreneurial and workforce development departments. The building would be constructed next to the Student Center. Officials have estimated the cost at up to $5.5 million.
At least a few legislators were unclear about what exactly an integrated design building is. Others questioned the college’s estimated cost of $300 per square foot, which was based on a comparable project recently completed at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Jorgenson said.
After checking on projects proposed by two other community colleges, Jorgenson said it may be realistic to construct the building for something closer to $240 per square foot. The overall budget of $5.5 million isn’t changing, however, because the college is considering a larger building than was originally proposed — 24,000 square feet instead of 18,000 square feet. High demand for the programs the building would host, particularly those related to the construction trades, justify the increased space, Jorgenson said.
Jorgenson emphasized the exact cost is difficult to say at this point. It won’t be until an architect is hired that the cost can be pinpointed, she said.
The building would be paid for with local millage dollars. The college sets aside onethird of the millage revenue it receives from residents of the Bentonville and Rogers school districts for capital needs. Even though money for the project is not coming from the state, legislators still must approve the concept before it can move forward.
State Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs, is among the council’s members. He and others hesitated to support the project in June because of a perception the building would be solely for arts education.
Jorgenson said she had a chance to discuss the matter with some legislators attending an event at the college Monday. “They all seemed, not necessarily overly enthusiastic about the art part, but when I explained to them that’s allowing us to fulfill our mission as a comprehensive community college, and it allows us to free up some space to expand workforce programs, which is what they want to see, then they were supportive,” Jorgenson said.
Hester is “fine” with the concept, as is state Rep. Jim Dotson, R-Bentonville, she said. Dotson, a vice chairman on the council, wondered how many students the new building would serve, something officials are now calculating, Jorgenson said.
If legislators give their approval, the college could open the building by January 2019, but Jorgenson said that would require an aggressive timetable. A fall 2019 opening would be more likely, she said.
Dave Perozek can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @NWADaveP.