Site at high school OK'd for college
A national accrediting agency has approved a new site for National Park College in Hot Springs.
The community college wanted a site at Lakeside High School to offer dual-credit opportunities to high school students. The program officially started in fall 2015 with 291 students, and the Higher Learning Commission approved accreditation of the new location in December.
The commission typically releases its decisions publicly within a month of taking action.
The Lakeside Legacy program allows students to earn an associate degree while still in high school. If students do not complete the degree, they will still have credits that can go toward a degree "at a very low cost and likely with financial assistance" at the college, according to a National Park news release.
Another 311 students started the program in 2016-17, the college said. The two-year school has not yet awarded any associate degrees because the first class of freshmen are now sophomores, it said.
Lakeside teachers lead the courses and receive a stipend for doing so.
ASU study-abroad head paid $60,000
Arkansas State University-Jonesboro will pay its director of study abroad $60,000 annually.
Jeanne d'Arc Gomis started working at the Jonesboro university at the start of this month, leading its study-abroad programs. The program had been run by ex-Chancellor Tim Hudson's wife, Deidra, working part time.
Arkansas State University System internal auditors said the program had been managed poorly, citing as examples a lack of written agreements with certain parties. Auditors had also said Tim Hudson had advocated to bring the position to full time with an annual salary of $50,000, but canceled the advertisement for the post when he learned he could not hire his wife.
Gomis is a multilingual administrator with about 13 years of experience in international education, U.S. and international member relations management, and study abroad advising, the university has said.
UALR program gets renovation grant
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock's Children International building will get a makeover thanks to a grant.
The $400,000 grant from Children International will go toward new floors, new furniture, fresh paint and the removal of a wall, according to a news release. The renovations are to be done before or after spring break in March, the university said.
The building at 2510 Fair Park Blvd. in Little Rock -- certified as the only Children International site in the nation -- serves 3,000 children, the university said. The group has raised money for more space, but the amount raised wasn't enough for what it had wanted, the university said.
Those funds will go to two adjacent buildings and a playground.
Metro on 02/26/2017