ARKADELPHIA — Henderson State University in Arkadelphia and National Park Community College in Hot Springs want to know what kind of bachelor-degree courses should be offered to Garland County residents at the community college. To find out, the two schools are inviting Garland County residents to tell them.
In April, Henderson State announced it would establish a satellite campus in Hot Springs, providing upper-level courses for bachelor’s degrees in cooperation with National Park Community College. The two schools will hold a meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at the community college, where Garland residents can share their ideas about what degree programs should be offered.
The meeting will be held in Eisele Auditorium at the Frederick Dierks Center for Nursing and Health Sciences building.
Henderson State has been working with NPCC for three years to advance the education of the students at the two-year college. Lewis Shepard, vice president of external affairs at Henderson State, said 225 NPCC students transferred to the university last year.
Henderson students can now earn teaching degrees with an emphasis on pre-kindergarten through the fourth grade, said Sally Carder, president of the community college. Programs for middle grade social studies teachers are the latest degree offerings by HSU at the community college.
Carder called the cooperative effort an excellent opportunity for NPCC students.
“Each year, we graduate 2,000 students who are eligible to go to Henderson,” she said. “It will help young working mothers and fathers in Hot Springs to further their educations and get their degrees.”
Classes offered in the future by Henderson in Hot Springs could include postgraduate courses for school principals and administrators, as well as in nursing, Carder said. One field of study under consideration is business, Brad Moody, associate dean of institutional research and academic affairs, said in the announcement of the public meeting.
Carder said she expects some of those attending the public meeting to ask if the partnership between the two schools is the beginning of a merger.
“There will be no merger,” Carder said. “We want to make sure people understand that this program was created to complement each school’s efforts.”
The community college also conducts classes that can be used toward degrees offered at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith, Arkansas Tech University in Russellville and John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Carder said.
There are major differences in the education missions of the two schools that remain separate.
“We will offer the industrial and health care training, along with other employment-related certification programs,” Carder said. “At the same time, we will offer the core curriculum classes that will allow our students to move on to Henderson or other colleges in the state.”
Carder also said Henderson State’s Hot Springs programs would not offer any freshman or sophomore classes now taught by NPCC.
Shepard said the target date to begin an enhanced HSU presence in Hot Springs is fall 2012. Carder said her school is offering classrooms to Henderson State faculty for those classes.
Carder said HSU students in Hot Springs will be able to use the library at NPCC, along with tutoring labs and computer facilities.
“We can offer the institutional support to help these students complete their program of study,” Carder said.
Staff writer Wayne Bryan can be reached at (501) 244-4460 or wbr yan@arkansasonline.com.
Tri-Lakes, Pages 185 on 10/30/2011