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SEARK ADULT ED PROGRAM RELOCATING TO UAPB

By Amy Riggin/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Saturday, July 11, 2009 10:15 PM CDT

After operating on the Southeast Arkansas College campus for 35 years, the Adult Education program is moving to the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff campus within the next month.

Adult Education Director Linda Kittler said SEARK President Dr. Phil Shirley approached her in March about finding a new space because SEARK needed the facility, located at 2505 W. 18th Ave., for other purposes. Initially, she said, Shirley wanted the space vacated by the end of the fiscal year, June 30, but has since extended that time for another month to allow for the transition to UAPB.

The Adult Education program is operated by the state Department of Workforce Education at various local educational agencies (LEAs) throughout the state. Another is operated by the Arkansas Department of Correction School District. The programs offer free GED classes and testing and other workforce training services.

“I’m not sure if we all understand the rationale but it is what it is,” said Bill Walker, Department of Workforce Education director.

Kittler said she and her staff also were surprised by the decision.

“We feed a lot of students into SEARK,” she said. “They feel comfortable because they’ve already been on a college campus and it’s really easy for them to walk over there and enroll.”

First Adult Ed move

Walker added that it was the first time in the history of Adult Education in Arkansas that a post-secondary institution asked that the program be moved.

“Every two-year college in Arkansas has an Adult Education facility connected to it with the exception of one,” he said. “Our concern was being sure that we had the program run where it was wanted.”

Walker said he was not privy to any of the discussions between SEARK and Adult Ed staff that led to the move.

“I don’t know whether we could have assisted or not,” he said. “We could have perhaps rented some space outside of the campus nearby... But we really didn’t have a chance to have any discussion regarding concerns, problems, issues or challenges related to the program prior to a decision being made to just have it moved.”

Kittler said she had looked into occupying a former bookstore at 23rd Avenue and Olive Street.

Shirley said his decision was based solely on “a dire need for space” on campus, and that he didn’t know there was another option for SEARK to keep the program until an agreement with UAPB had already been reached. On June 28 the state notified Dr. Lawrence A. Davis Jr., chancellor at UAPB, that it had accepted the school’s proposal to house the program.

Done deal

“I didn’t realize that you could remain the LEA and still not have them on your campus,” Shirley said. “When I found that out I offered to remain their LEA but I guess it was too late... They had already done a lot of homework and a lot of negotiating and so they decided to stick with the proposal that they had made and had been accepted.”

SEARK had allowed the program to occupy the building without paying rent or utilities and provided accounting services. The total budget for this fiscal year, which includes state and federal funds, is $412,000, Walker said. UAPB will work out its own agreement for rent, bookkeeping and other details, he said.

Walker said the program serves as a “pipeline for future students” for post-secondary institutions.

“We think that connecting Adult Education programs in Arkansas to post-secondary institutions is the way to go,” he said. “Hopefully it might encourage them not only to get a GED but continue on to post-secondary credentials. Our commitment from the state is that we’re going to do everything we can to make sure it’s seamless, smooth and that it continues to be successful for those students ... and that the program continues to grow in size in that community.”

The program currently serves about 75 students, Kittler said.

“We’ve doubled in the last five years,” she said.

Shirley said he hopes SEARK will continue to enroll students who’ve gone through the program.

Workforce education ‘critical’

Dr. Calvin Johnson, dean of the School of Education at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, said he thinks the program will be a good fit and compliment existing services like career orientation and counseling.

“We believe that this is a critical time for workforce education in terms of the economy,” Johnson said. “We look forward to working with the staff and the students to get this program going.”

He said the exact location has not been determined.

“We’re looking at several places on campus,” Johnson said. “What is important to understand is that the program will not be isolated — it will be in one of our academic buildings. We look forward to integrating those students into the regular programming.”

Kittler said her staff and officials from the state and UAPB were expected to meet this week to iron out details. She described the uncertainty of the program’s future for the last few months as “a roller coaster.”

“Dr. Shirley has really worked with us in trying to get it reversed, to keep us as an LEA but it was too late,” she said. “I appreciate him trying — he rallied for us in the end.”

Shirley said the facility will be used to consolidate several existing student services, such as career readiness, a learning lab and testing center, which are currently scattered throughout the campus.

“We had one of the best programs in Arkansas and I know that with UAPB it will be even better,” Shirley said. “Any way that we can help in the future we stand ready to help them out.”

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