For the first time in its history, National Park College will offer bachelor's degrees to students beginning this fall in partnership with Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia.
"What we're doing is focusing on student success. We're focusing on what's the value added for our students, what is going to be the value added for our community, and that's where our energy is directed in this relationship," NPC President John Hogan said Wednesday.
"I think that the most important thing that Southern Arkansas University and National Park College has in common is a passion around that student success equation," he said.
The partnership was approved unanimously Wednesday during the NPC board of trustees' February meeting in the Frederick M. Dierks Nursing Building.
The three new degree programs will be offered through the National Park University Center on the NPC campus, the college said in a news release. Students will complete the first two years of the degrees enrolled as NPC students and the junior and senior years enrolled as SAU students. The NPC classes will be available this fall. The SAU courses will be made available in fall 2020.
The degrees are Biology, Pre-Health; Chemistry, Pre-Health Biochemistry; and Computer Science.
Students will pay NPC tuition rates for the first two years of coursework and SAU tuition rates for the junior and senior year coursework. Fees will be shared among both institutions, the release said. Students who participate will have access to all of the services and resources NPC offers, as well as those SAU offers. Students will earn an associate degree diploma from NPC and a bachelor's degree diploma from SAU upon graduation, it said.
SAU President Trey Berry expressed his and SAU's eagerness and optimism toward this partnership during the board meeting.
"To say that we are honored and excited about this day is an unbelievable understatement, I will tell you," Berry said.
"This has been a long time coming, and it is a historic day for Garland County, for Hot Springs, for National Park, but especially for SAU. We couldn't be more excited about what's going to happen beginning today -- the bringing of four-year degrees to Hot Springs," he said.
"I'll tell you, when Dr. Hogan approached me about a year ago about this strategic partnership, we were immediately intrigued by this, and the possibility of plowing new ground not just for our institution, but for Arkansas, and especially for our students. At the end and the beginning of the day, it's about our students," Berry said.
"I will say that for us, today is about hope and opportunity. Opportunity for students that aren't having those opportunities as far as bachelor's degrees here in Hot Springs, opportunity for the economy of Hot Springs and Garland County, opportunity for SAU to have more students in Garland County as part of the Mulerider Nation, as we say. But also it is about hope. And for me, hope in two institutions that are willing partners to do the hard thing, the needed thing, to come together on a day like today," he said.
Even with the change in tuition rates and enrollment status, students will still be able to complete all four years of their schooling on the NPC campus in Hot Springs.
The schools originally planned to offer seven four year degrees rather than three.
"Our faculty really meshed well together. We also knew this was a high demand area for the economy, and we thought these would be the fastest, easiest, and most impactful areas to start. And once we get those really down to a quality program, then we're going to look at other programs," Berry said.
The programs were cut in accordance with SAU's curriculum approval process, which involves an academic affairs committee vote, a vote before the SAU board of trustees, and approval by the Coordinating Board of Higher Education in Little Rock.
Though the original seven four-year degree plans are not yet available, Berry did not rule out the possibility of them being implemented at a later date.
"We were looking at all those. Those seven were really areas where we thought that students and the economy could be impacted. We still have interest in all seven, but we feel like we need to start here and then expand to the seven, and hopefully more than that. It's going to depend on how many students we get into the programs, how fast we feel like we are doing a good job, and then we'll work with our partners here at National Park to expand it from that point. So we really don't have a timeline, but we are committed to expanding it," said Berry.
Hogan touted the benefits that offering these degrees will provide not just to NPC students, but all of Garland County.
"It's not necessarily a specific discipline or number of degrees, but opportunities and investments that we're making in our students' futures from the micro perspective, and in our community from that macro perspective," he said.
NPC Vice President for Academic Affairs Wade Durden said students who earn bachelor's degrees stand to earn $300,000 more over the course of their lifetimes than those with associate degrees, and about $600,000 more than those with only a high school diploma.
"Our workforces just grew in Garland County. Capability of our workforce has grown. The earning power of the individuals in our workforce has grown, and that doesn't mean we can give that up or rest, or take a breather. We have to go to the next discipline. We have to go to the next relationship. We have to go to the next program, because there are students now who are wanting, and they're place-bound and they're needing these opportunities," Hogan said.
"Essentially, the most important indicator of a child's educational success is the degree attainment of that child's parents. There's not a second place that's even close. So the educational attainment of their parents is the predictor of their educational future, and that's what we are investing in," he said.
Other matters discussed at the meeting included the recognition of NPC's student of the month, Alexa Pine, as well as a unanimous vote on a resolution to approve final plans for on-campus housing at NPC.
The board of trustees meeting was followed by a rally and public announcement to students in NPC's gymnasium, affectionately referred to as the "Kettle," by those on campus.
There, NPC Student Government Association President Tyler Draper spoke on the school's expansion and progress.
At the rally, SAU's Mulerider mascot and NPC's Nighthawk mascot also met for the first time, symbolically cementing the partnership between the schools.
Local on 02/28/2019