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50 YEARS: SEARK TRACES ITS ROOTS TO NURSING SCHOOL

By Larry Fugate/SPECIAL TO THE COMMERCIAL
Saturday, August 29, 2009 9:59 PM CDT

Looking for a job with security and a regular paycheck? Newspaper and Internet job lists are filled with openings for nurses and other professions in the medical field, with a number offering signing bonuses.

“A recent survey in Arkansas showed an increased need for nursing services,” an undated flyer reads. “There are not enough registered or practical nurses graduating to meet this need.”

The flyer was probably printed in the early 1950s judging by the style of clothing and uniforms worn by the five women in three photographs. Another clue was the cost of admission fees ($35 total) and uniforms and books ($50) to become an LPN.

Southeast Arkansas College is observing its 50th anniversary this year, but can trace its roots to the Pine Bluff Practical Nurse School, which began its first class on Jan. 26, 1953, in old Davis Hospital under the Pine Bluff School District. The first class - all eight - graduated Oct. 8, 1953.

Pine Bluff was chosen as the site for Arkansas’ first state vocational-technical school in 1959, the property on Hazel Street was dedicated in June and the first classes at Arkansas Vocational-Technical School were offered Sept. 21.

The school began offering the practical nursing program the following year, changed its name to Pines Vocational-Technical School in 1966, then underwent three name changes before becoming SEARK in 1998, but never stopped adding programs and class offerings beginning in the 1990s.

The fall semester began Aug. 19.

The ties to the nursing program continue today: Diann Williams, vice president of assessment/nursing and allied health at SEARK, was a member of the first nursing class to graduate from Pines Vo-Tech on May 15, 1966.

Dr. Phil Shirley, named SEARK’s second president in 1999, said the faculty puts emphasis on the “quality of education” offered at the institution.

Because of the name changes over the years, he added, there is probably some confusion over SEARK’s offerings.

While technical and proficiency certificates are offered, along with computer courses and fiber optics, and business courses, many of the hours SEARK students complete successfully can be transferred to four-year institutions.

In addition to a dozen different courses in the health field, nursing is still the largest. Shirley said SEARK has acquired a state-of-the-art $60,000 mannequin as a diagnostic learning tool for nursing students and plans to acquire two additional mannequins.

The mannequins offer “opportunities that are unparalleled in nursing,” Shirley emphasized, providing students the same experience as on-site observation in a clinical environment.

A classroom for emergency medical technician classes was literally built around an ambulance body, for example, to make the environment as realistic as possible.

“While many colleges and businesses say they ‘strive for excellence,’ our faculty and staff take that to heart,” Shirley said in a recent interview. SEARK has 130 full-time faculty and staff.

“We would like to add 30 to the faculty to expand our offerings, but the state funds we receive are the fifth ‘worst’ among the 22 two-year state colleges in Arkansas,” Shirley said, adding that the enrollment is the sixth largest among the 22 institutions.

SEARK may have 6,000 students annually on the campus, credit enrollment usually runs 2,100 to 2,300 per semester, and he anticipates enrollment for the fall semester will be “well over” 2,000.

The college has stopped accepting “concurrent enrollment” for high school students enrolled in advanced placement courses because of the changing rules on textbooks, tuition schedules and scholarships.

SEARK is one of five two-year colleges that does not receive local tax revenues to supplement state budgeting. Seventeen of the 22 receive property tax and/or sales tax revenues from local sources, he said.

Rather than impede development, Shirley said, SEARK has taken the approach that the institution can help build the tax base “through economic growth and prosperity.”

The new Technology Center opened earlier this year and will help provided needed offering for the area’s workforce, he said.

Space freed up with the opening of the new library will allow the nursing program space to be doubled.

New programming in the development stage would allow SEARK to offer on-line credit courses that could be transferred to a four-year institution. He explained working mothers who hold down a job don’t have time and childcare available to attend classes on campus, but can use on-line classes to earn credits.

“It’s changing almost daily and the opportunities available to our students is simply amazing,” Shirley emphasized.

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