Northwest Arkansas Community College reconsidering vision

BENTONVILLE -- Northwest Arkansas Community College recently unveiled a new mission statement. Now, the college is working on a new vision statement.

"This is what we strive to be, what we need to be," said Lisa Anderson, executive director of planning, effectiveness and public relations, during a college board retreat Jan. 21.

The current vision statement states the college "is committed to being a nationally recognized, two-year comprehensive institution that excels in providing education in a learning-centered environment."

That statement was written around 2004. The college at the time was 14 years old, had a new president in Becky Paneitz and was less than half the size it is now, Anderson said.

"I call this the 'I want to be this when I grow up' statement," Anderson said. "We're kind of a grown-up college now. It's time to think about who do we need to be as a grown-up college."

Anderson met with nine focus groups this past fall to discuss a new vision. Those groups were made up of the college's students, superintendents and counselors from the K-12 public schools and other community members.

Administrators and board trustees discussed the meaning and importance of the phrase "nationally recognized" in the vision statement.

Evelyn Jorgenson, college president, suggested chasing national recognition and honors could cause the college to lose sight of what's best for students. The college instead should concentrate on educating students and let the recognition flow from that.

Jorgenson mentioned a recent honor from RegisteredNursing.org, which named the college's nursing program the fourth-best in the state and the best among associate degrees offered.

"We set out to do an excellent job of training nurses in this area, and the recognition followed," she said.

Jerry Vervack, dean of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Division, said the college already is nationally recognized for things such as its National Child Protection Training Center.

"I don't think we need to add 'nationally recognized' to our mission, because it's going to come as a result of what we do," Vervack said.

[EMAIL UPDATES: Get free breaking news updates and daily newsletters with top headlines delivered to your inbox]

Anderson also suggested the possibility of deleting "two-year" as a description of the college.

"We have a lot of certificate programs that don't take two years," Anderson said. "On the other end of the spectrum, two-thirds of our students are part-time students. So is it realistic to say we are a two-year institution?"

Ron Branscum, board secretary, agreed with the idea of removing "two-year." He also suggested elaborating as much as possible on how the college serves the community.

"What we should be saying is a student is going to come out well-educated and it's going to be very economical," Branscum said.

The college will spend some time later this semester with faculty and staff brainstorming the kinds of words and phrases they think the new vision statement should include. A draft of the statement will be presented to the board in March or April, Anderson said.

In addition to discussing the vision statement with them, Anderson asked the focus groups to list what they perceived as the college's greatest strengths and weaknesses.

Strengths they mentioned included affordability, small class sizes, a friendly environment and a strong offering of online classes, she said.

The one weakness they mentioned most often concerned parking and traffic. Another criticism that came up frequently was the college needs to do a better job telling its story, Anderson said.

"We need to be saying we are a great financial option for our students, how we are valuable to the community," she said.

That's mainly the responsibility of the college's staff, Anderson said, but she asked for the trustees' help in spreading the word about the institution.

"You are our ambassadors," she said.

NW News on 01/30/2017