BENTONVILLE -- Northwest Arkansas Community College's recent decision to scrap a program designed for people with cognitive disabilities stunned those who eagerly had anticipated its launch this fall.
Some, however, remain hopeful that the occupational and life skills program still will find a home in Arkansas.
"I think the support is there to find another college that could successfully replicate OLS," said Marci Muhlestein, national director of the occupational and life skills program based at Bellevue College in Washington.
The four-year, 60-credit-hour program is designed to give adults with cognitive disabilities the chance to learn hard and soft skills essential for life and work in preparation for employment and greater independence.
Hard skills involve specific tasks that can be defined and measured, such as typing or operating machinery. Soft skills, sometimes called "people skills," cover things such as communication, teamwork and time management, which are often hard to measure. Most of those with cognitive disabilities need help with both kinds of skills.
Northwest Arkansas Community College officials began to explore the occupational and life skills concept more than two years ago. They earned state approval for the program. They spent about $1.8 million renovating a floor of the Center for Health Professions, t̶o̶ ̶m̶e̶e̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶g̶r̶a̶m̶'̶s̶ ̶n̶e̶e̶d̶s̶.̶in part, to meet the program's needs.* They hired Karen O'Donohoe in May to direct the program.
The college originally intended to begin the program last fall. Officials announced in July that they were postponing the launch by a year to allow more time to recruit students. An email sent in July to those on the program's mailing list stated, "The college is 100 percent committed to launching the program in the fall of 2016."
The college announced March 23 that it was suspending the program.
Evelyn Jorgenson, the college's president, said the decision was "incredibly difficult" but that it appeared the college would be unable to sustain the necessary enrollment level in the program to make it financially feasible.
The state Department of Higher Education requires schools to continue offering a program until each student enrolled gets through it or drops out. Occupational and life skills is a four-year program.
"So we just couldn't afford to take the risk, not knowing what the future holds for higher education and knowing we're in this environment now where the Legislature wants to cut higher education," Jorgenson said. "It's certainly a very deserving population, certainly something that is needed in Arkansas. That's why we pursued it in the first place. But the risk was just too great."
Steadily declining enrollment over the past few years has put college officials on edge. The college reported a record 173,282 credit hours taken by students in 2011. That number fell to 153,879 last year and is expected to be 146,322 this year, according to college documents. Another 3 percent decrease in credit hours is projected for next year, and officials are seeking ways to plug an anticipated shortfall of $880,000 in next year's budget.
Bellevue College, located just outside Seattle, has successfully operated its program for 16 years. It was the only program of its kind in the nation until Lone Star College in Texas started a program last fall.
"I think we were a little bit worried, too, because the Bellevue program is in Seattle. That's a much larger population base than [Northwest Arkansas]," Jorgenson said. "They have many more people to draw from."
O'Donohoe, who led the program for nearly a year, said she was "very surprised" by the decision.
"The administration has been very open about the current budget situation," O'Donohoe said. "But I didn't think we'd be included in any cuts."
She and Muhlestein said they were confident there is enough interest in Northwest Arkansas and in the state to sustain the program for the long term.
The college had hoped to enroll between 12 and 14 people for each new class of students that began the program. As of March, O'Donohoe had three people enrolled for the fall semester; another 14 people had applied, even though the application deadline wasn't until June 30. The program had drawn applications from as far as Little Rock, Cabot and Mountain Home, O'Donohoe said.
"These families are grieving. And so am I," O'Donohoe said.
O'Donohoe was making a salary of $45,059 as occupational and life skills program director. She is moving into a new job as annual giving officer with the college's foundation.
Cognitive disabilities cover a wide range of disabilities that affect mental functions. Examples include nonverbal learning disability, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, traumatic brain injury, sight impairment and autism, according to the Bellevue College website.
Students with cognitive disabilities have difficulty with initiation, organization and attention, which results in limited practical skills, work production and social interaction, the website states.
Bellevue College describes these students as "tweeners" -- adults with a disability who are often overlooked as potential college students.
There are about 100,000 people in Arkansas between the ages of 18 and 64 who have some kind of cognitive disability, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Typically, around 70 percent of such people are not employed, but graduates of Bellevue College's program have an employment rate of 85 percent, Muhlestein said.
Tina Alley of Little Rock said she was prepared to move to Northwest Arkansas this year so her autistic son, Grant, could enroll in the occupational and life skills program. Grant Alley, 19, will graduate from a Little Rock charter school next month.
"We attended orientations, we submitted transcripts, we went through an application process," Tina Alley said.
When the college shelved the program, "it was like a slap in the face," she said.
"We missed deadlines for other programs, so as of now we have no plans. I am scrambling to figure out a program for him. I'm ticked. That's saying it nicely," Alley said.
Muhlestein, the national program director, sent an email to program supporters April 5 seeking their help in finding a different partnering college in Arkansas.
"We are exploring hosting a community forum where OLS supporters can gather, voice their support, and plan next steps," the email stated.
That forum likely will happen in May, but Muhlestein didn't have the details finalized as of last week. She already had 50 people interested in attending the forum, she said.
Muhlestein said she had informal discussions about the program earlier this month with people at Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock.
Because Arkansas already has approved the degree program, it would not be hard for another college to adopt it, Muhlestein said.
"It's just a matter of finding that right college," she said.
Metro on 04/25/2016
*CORRECTION: Northwest Arkansas Community College had multiple purposes in mind when it recently spent about $1.8 million renovating the third floor of the Center for Health Professions, according to college President Evelyn Jorgenson. All of the space is being used or will be used in the future, Jorgenson said. This story implied the project was done solely to accommodate the occupational and life skills program, plans for which the college has suspended.