Rick Massengale said a big part of his job as Arkansas Tech University's associate vice president for university initiatives is finding new ways to educate Arkansans.
He has found an eager partner in ArcBest Corp.
The Fort Smith-based trucking and logistics company has worked with Massengale and Arkansas Tech to develop a Master of Science in Information Technology graduate degree program scheduled to begin this month. The program was created with ArcBest employees in mind, giving them an on-site outlet to further their educations and improve opportunities for growth within the company.
Massengale said the idea came from conversations with his former student Travis Ebert, who is one of the lead trainers with ArcBest Technologies. The first course, which will be taught by Massengale, is a three-hour night class that will be held once a week at one of ArcBest's offices in Fort Smith.
"We've got a Catch-22 right now," Massengale said about the motivation behind the program. "We keep talking about, 'Well, for economic development to grow we've got to get better education.' But we're all so busy working we couldn't do it. So I said, 'Would you be interested if we could bring the program to you? We'll provide training that way and we can work it from there.'"
ArcBest Chief Executive Officer Judy McReynolds said about 40 employees are registered for the initial course, which is the first step toward a graduate degree. The goal is for students to be able to complete the program in about two years through a steady stream of on-site and online courses.
McReynolds described the content of the program as "somewhat of a hybrid" between information technology and business administration, focusing on skill sets needed to "meet the company's strategic needs." The initial class will consist of ArcBest employees, who will have priority in registering for each course. But the program is open to anyone else if space is available.
"It's customized, but it's also not just ArcBest," Massengale said. "It's topics that would be great for the River Valley. But ArcBest has been helping us pioneer and identify those."
The graduate program is expected to have the biggest impact within ArcBest Technologies, an ArcBest subsidiary established in 1962. According to the company's website, the information technology solutions group has more than 300 employees who design, program and maintain business application systems for ArcBest's subsidiaries and other clients.
McReynolds said there traditionally have not been a lot of options for information technology graduate degree programs in Fort Smith and ArcBest has a "high demand" for college-educated workers, especially within ArcBest Technologies. So the partnership is expected to address a big need for the company, which reported $2.6 billion in revenue in 2014 and is in the midst of an expansion expected to add about 975 jobs to the area over the next several years.
"The additional education benefits both the employee as well as ABT," McReynolds said in an email. "As this was not a program that was offered locally, it was important for ABT to identify an educational partner capable of offering a program unavailable within our local area. The choice of Arkansas Tech as a partner was also important because of their willingness to structure the program to meet the needs of the ABT employee group."
Brett Powell, director of the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, applauded the collaboration between ArcBest and Arkansas Tech.
Powell said it's common to see parties work together at the community college level with local employers identifying a need, then working with the school to develop a program to help fulfill it. But putting together a graduate degree program is unique. Powell said having education and businesses work together to better prepare the workforce is "when we get it right."
"I've been in a number of meetings lately where a lot of conversation is about the disconnect between businesses and education, that we don't speak the same language even though we have the same goals. We go at it different ways," Powell said. "So when the two can get together like Arkansas Tech has with ArcBest, that's the way it should be done."
McReynolds said ArcBest's values "encourage employee development" through degree completion, continued education and lifetime learning. The company offers a hand with a tuition reimbursement program for existing employees to help cover the cost. The program pays for half the cost of classes, fees and books for any pre-approved degree program.
Success with the Master of Science in Information Technology program could result in other collaborations as well. McReynolds specifically mentioned the future possibility of beginning an on-site Master of Business Administration program.
McReynolds also said ArcBest has received approval of an associate's program in transportation logistics at Arkansas Tech's Ozark campus. The program's goal is to help prepare students for the "rapidly growing logistics industry and an area of growth for ArcBest."
For now, Massengale said Arkansas Tech and ArcBest are looking forward to the start of what he described as a "new way of thinking" in bringing a customized graduate program to Fort Smith.
"All I did was kind of knock on the door and they invited me in and set the plate," Massengale said. "There's that kind of demand in this area. We want Fort Smith to benefit from this by having more educated people and be a bigger draw for other industry coming in as well."
SundayMonday Business on 01/03/2016