A state board's vote against efforts by a two-year college to start a nursing bachelor's degree program in Hot Springs came despite local hospital leaders saying a shortage of nurses is "not sustainable" and the "number one threat" to future plans.
In a 5-2 vote Friday, members of the governor-appointed Higher Education Coordinating Board mostly expressed wariness at setting a precedent for two-year colleges to seek approval for similar expansion into baccalaureate programs.
Earlier, board members opted not to advance a financial proposal to build student housing submitted by Southeast Arkansas College, a community college in Pine Bluff.
The school's president described an area shortage of housing for students, but some questions were raised by board members about financial projections and also how housing fits generally with the mission of two-year schools.
The proposal from National Park College had some top administrators at four-year universities speaking against it while hospital officials -- joined by state legislators -- called for approval.
Scott Smith, the chief executive officer for National Park Medical Center who also oversees Saline Memorial Hospital in Benton, said more than $6 million had been spent to pay for travel nurses in 2021, with about $1.5 million spent so far this year.
Travel nurses are nursing staff who work on short-term contracts to fill typically urgent needs at hospitals.
"This is not sustainable. There is no nursing funnel within our service area to obtain nurses," Scott said.
Another top hospital leader, Doug Ross, president of CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs, also spoke in support of National Park College.
"I can echo all of the financial concerns that Scott mentioned," Ross said, adding that the "number one threat to our strategic plan is our ability to bring on highly trained nurses.
Members of the state board, who met online via Zoom, spoke about needing to consider existing programs as well as the role of community colleges.
"I absolutely am supportive of nursing programs," Al Brodell, a longtime hospital administrator in Jonesboro and the board's chairman, said ahead of the vote.
Brodell said more must be done to "understand the need and scope -- not with this program and not as it applies to nursing -- but as it applies to the role and scope of these two-year institutions."
Leaders of the two community colleges who had their plans denied Friday told the Democrat-Gazette they would keep pushing for approval and said the purpose of community colleges must be better explained.
"It's a matter of educating the coordinating board about the unique programs that community colleges offer," said Steven Bloomberg, president of Southeast Arkansas College, in a phone interview, noting how the college offers a program in respiratory therapy, for example, that draws students from around the state.
The Pine Bluff college had sought approval of a $33 million lease purchase agreement involving construction of up to 316 beds of student housing as well as an approximately 30,000-square-foot student union building.
Board members had approved a similar proposal from the Pine Bluff campus last fall, but the college returned to the board with a pared down proposal that also specified they would seek an interest rate of approximately 6%. Their earlier proposal had specified a rate no greater than 4%.
The National Park College request was not directly asking for a new degree program, but to allow the college to change its "role and scope."
However, board members heard college leaders explain that they wanted to start a bachelor's program to enroll registered nurses with an associate degree. The college already offers an associate-level nursing degree program, and projections shared with the board were for the bachelor's program to have a projected enrollment of 25 students.
Some questions from board members were about whether adding a bachelor's program would actually result in more nurses.
John Hogan, president of National Park College, told board members that adding the bachelor's degree program would result in expansion of the associate degree program as "students will find our nursing program more attractive."
In an email after the meeting, Hogan said: "Given the urgency of the issue of our health care workforce, it's quite easy to conclude the concern that higher education might be disrupted is a more pressing concern than our health, patient care, and quality of life. I hope this rests on our collective conscience tonight."
Hogan, also in his email, said that after the vote he had "heard from my community college colleagues here and out of state," with the messages "unanimous in their concern about the vote today."
"I think today's vote underscores that a better understanding or support for the role community colleges play in this country and in the state of Arkansas is well overdue," Hogan said in his email to the Democrat-Gazette.
Joining Brodell in voting against a "role and scope" change for National Park College were board members Jim Carr, Kelley Erstine, Andy McNeill and Greg Revels. Voting in favor of a change were Graycen Bigger and Lori Griffin.
Other members of the 12-person board were absent when the vote was taken.
If the board had voted in favor of the "role and scope" change, a separate vote would have been needed to approve the nursing bachelor's degree program.
Before her vote, Bigger, a bank executive from Pocahontas in north Arkansas, spoke about hearing from hospital executives in her region about how "they are really struggling to keep the doors open, and the cost related to travel nurses."
During the meeting, Revels of De Queen spoke about the role of the board in the state's higher education system.
"What can you tell me as a coordinating board member that tells me this is coordinating education in the entire state?" Revels asked Hogan.
Hogan replied: "I think we're getting invited into some larger policy conversation that's really over our pay grade. I don't see this as fouling the current level of coordination."
Before the vote, McNeill of Russellville had asked Maria Markham, director of the state Division of Higher Education, whether voting to allow expansion of the scope of National Park College might lead to similar requests from others.
Markham said she thought such a vote would "definitely set a precedent and open a door," adding that she would anticipate other two-year colleges making similar requests in the future.
Hogan during the meeting told the board that several other states have community colleges that offer bachelor's degrees.
Before his vote, Jim Carr said it was a tough decision but added, "I don't want to have 15 other colleges wanting baccalaureate programs."
Administrators from the Arkansas State University System, the University of Central Arkansas, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock also addressed the board, none in support of the proposal from National Park College.
Chuck Welch, president of the ASU System, expressed concern about the "non-strategic approach we are taking in our state" when it comes to higher education, adding that he has concerns about "all of our institutions and the way we are getting outside of our mission."
Welch called for greater discussion, and said "it needs to be one that's had collectively, collaboratively and with a significant amount of study."
Houston Davis, president of the University of Central Arkansas, speaking of wider higher education trends, said the number of college students are projected to decrease by 10%.
"What I heard in coming to Arkansas in January 2017 was that this state has too many universities and too many colleges, and that's a debate that's heard around the country," Davis said.
Hogan told board members that the school had unsuccessfully reached out to four-year universities to partner on a bachelor's nursing program that would be offered locally in partnership with National Park College.
"We want to be a community college now and forever more," Hogan said.
He also told the board about the changing role of two-year colleges.
"I think there's just going to be a difference of opinion about what a community college's mission should be," Hogan told board members.