BENTONVILLE -- Northwest Arkansas Community College officials said at a retreat Saturday that having a large, centrally located facility in Washington County will better serve students and help increase enrollment.
The college, which is the state's largest two-year community college, has developed plans for what it calls the Washington County Center -- a 50,000-square-foot building on 20 acres of land near Arvest Ballpark in Springdale. The facility will give the college more space in one location than the four other Washington County locations combined, said Meredith Brunen, executive director of development for the college.
At a glance
Northwest Arkansas Community College leases roughly 25,000 square feet of space across four buildings in parts of Washington County:
• Washington County Center at 693 White Road, Springdale
• The Jones Center at 922 E. Emma Ave., Springdale
• Fayetteville High School West Campus at 2350 Old Farmington Road
• Farmington High School at 278 W. Main St.
Source: Staff report
Organizers have raised about $1.5 million since January, Brunen said during a presentation at the college's board of trustees retreat. Construction is estimated to cost about $15 million and Brunen said she expects to be halfway there by the first quarter of 2017.
The college hopes to start construction in late 2017 and have the facility completed by 2019, Brunen said.
School officials expect between 2,000 and 2,500 students on campus from day one, and the scale of the project leaves room for growth.
Nearly 40 percent of the college's 7,700 students come from Washington County, and having a new facility that's accessible to them has been a primary goal for the past decade, Brunen said.
"We have students trying to drive from all over," Brunen said, "so this will really benefit the college long-term."
The center will offer similar classes and services as the main campus in Bentonville, but courses will be aimed at the needs of Washington County students. That means focusing on programs that train students for jobs and in the construction technology field. And, because of the center's proximity to the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, it will also offer general education courses, Brunen said.
Brunen and others hope the demand equates to more students enrolling at the college.
"Having that all there in one place would be a big draw," said Brunen, pointing to feedback from residents who said they wanted classes exclusive to Washington County. "We definitely think that we would draw additional students."
In February, the college reported a 1.7 percent decline in its spring enrollment from the previous year. Enrollment also was down 2.5 percent from the previous fall semester.
Making the college's services available in two counties also could help with overall enrollment, said Dr. Todd Kitchen, vice president of student services. Kitchen added that his team is "constantly busy" at the current centers in Washington County.
While he's not worried about being spread too thin, Kitchen said he'll have to pay attention to the manpower needed at the new facility to keep staff from becoming overwhelmed.
Information for this article was contributed by Dave Perozek of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Metro on 07/24/2016