BENTONVILLE -- Northwest Arkansas Community College has been awarded a $279,000 grant through the U.S. Department of Justice to provide a safer environment for women on campus.
The grant, which is for three years, comes from the department's Office on Violence Against Women. The college was one of 45 institutions of higher education nationwide, and the only one in Arkansas, to receive a grant from the office this year.
Office on Violence Against Women
The Office on Violence Against Women, created in 1995, administers financial and technical assistance to communities across the country that are developing programs, policies and practices aimed at ending domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking, according to its website.
The office administers four formula-based and 20 discretionary grant programs established under the Violence Against Women Act, which Congress passed in 1994, and subsequent legislation.
Source: www.justice.gov/ovw
"I'm very proud of the team that worked to put this together," said Evelyn Jorgenson, college president, during Monday's meeting of the Board of Trustees.
She specifically mentioned Teresa Taylor, the college's ethics and compliance officer and Title IX director, and Ethan Beckcom, director of institutional policy, risk management and compliance, for their work on the grant application.
Through the grant, the college will create a coordinated community response team, provide online mandatory education and prevention information for all new students, and provide extensive training for law enforcement, according to a college news release.
The college also will provide a universal prevention and education program on sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking; establish a bystander intervention program; and partner with service providers for increased services to victims.
All of that will be done in partnership with the Northwest Arkansas Women's Shelter, the Northwest Arkansas Center for Sexual Assault, the 19th West Judicial District Victim Assistance Program of the Prosecuting Attorney's Office, and Peace at Home Family Shelter, according to the release.
The college will use the grant to hire a full-time program coordinator, a move the board unanimously approved Monday.
In other business, faculty member Bryan Aguiar updated the board on efforts to revise the college's mission statement.
A committee working on the matter has done surveys of faculty, staff and students and come up with some themes to build on, including "empower lives," "inspire learning" and "strengthen community through affordable, quality education," according to Aguiar.
"We were just trying to get down to the main words, something memorable and inspirational, rather than some long paragraph," Aguiar said.
Additional input will be sought from the board, which likely will use time at its retreat meeting in January to discuss it.
The college has a mission statement and a vision statement, according to its website. The mission statement is, "Northwest Arkansas Community College is a comprehensive, public two-year college that serves and strengthens the community through learning for living."
The vision statement is, "Northwest Arkansas Community College is committed to being a nationally recognized two-year comprehensive institution that excels in providing education in a learning-centered environment."
Also at Monday's meeting, Jorgenson briefly updated the board on a new roof being installed at the Shewmaker Center for Workforce Technologies, which should last "for decades to come," she said.
The old roof, which came with the building when it opened in 2003, consisted of asphalt shingles and had deteriorated, leading to multiple leaks in the building. The new roof will be made of metal that has a much longer life expectancy, Jorgenson said.
Work on the roof began in August and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
NW News on 10/18/2016