State lends hand to LR college

The Arkansas Department of Higher Education is trying to help Arkansas Baptist College dig out of a hole that developed when the Little Rock campus’ computer network failed in early September, causing delays in student financial aid, employee payroll, course scheduling and other issues, a spokesman for the state agency said Thursday.

Employees from the U.S. Department of Education had worked on campus at the 1,000-student college at administrators’ request to assist in remedying problems created by the computer problem - including a failure of campus email and phone systems and problems with many forms of student and employee documents, Higher Education Department spokesman Brandi Hinkle said. But those federal employees were furloughed after a partial federal government shutdown, leaving the college without assistance.

“So many things are on your computer system,” Hinkle said. “It basically puts you at a work stop when you can’t access things.”

Arkansas Baptist College has asked the Little Rock Police Department to determine if any criminal activity was involved in the computer-system failure, she said. A police spokesman did not respond to a call Thursday.

No one answered a phone call to Arkansas Baptist College on Thursday.

The state agency doesn’t have authority over private colleges, but it does help coordinate some programs, such as the distribution of state scholarships to their students.

• INTERACTIVE: U.S. federal budget

Higher Education Director Shane Broadway met with Arkansas Baptist College President Fitz Hill and campus staff Thursday. The agency plans to handle media questions for the college and to contact retired financial-aid workers from across the state who may be willing to provide short-term help, Hinkle said.

The faith-based college enrolls large numbers of low-income students who are eligible for federal Pell Grants. Many of those students draw grant funding to help cover living expenses, which makes processing their financial aid particularly pressing. Federal websites that track official Pell eligibility were not accessible Thursday because of the federal government shutdown.

Hinkle said the Higher Education Department chose to meet with Hill after receiving calls from several students concerned about aid. The agency will receive daily updates from the campus, she said.

“We have just offered them whatever we can do to help them fix the issues there,” she said.

Students continue to stay on campus, and they are being fed and attending classes, Hinkle said. In addition, Arkansas Baptist staff members are manually processing payroll, she said.