President of NorthWest Arkansas Community College
About the College
NorthWest Arkansas Community College (NWACC) is a comprehensive two-year higher education institution, fully and most recently reaccredited by The Higher Learning Commission in 2020, to offer associate degrees, technical certifications, certificates of proficiency, workforce and economic development and adult and community education and training. Founded in the summer of 1989 by a generous commitment of support from people in two local school districts, NWACC began offering instruction in Benton and Washington counties to approximately 1,200 in the spring of 1990. Over the past thirty years, the College quickly expanded programs and locations to deliver exceptional instruction and comprehensive student support services in facilities on the main-campus in Bentonville, on additional campuses in Springdale and Fayetteville, and at several outreach centers. These facilities include unique Centers for Global Business Development, Health Professions, Regional Technologies, Workforce Technologies, the Study of Food, and a Student Center; an Integrated Design Lab; and a National Child Protection Training Center. Today, NorthWest Arkansas Community College is the largest community college in the State, offering over seventy-five degree programs and certificates. The 2020-21 academic year enrollments at NWACC included 4,373 full-time equivalent (FTE) students, with an unduplicated headcount of 10,215. The College has approximately 800 full-time and part-time staff and faculty.
NorthWest Arkansas Community College is located in a beautiful, diverse and rapidly growing region of the State. Situated within the foothills of the Ozark Mountains, approximately 500,000 residents have access to a rich variety of education, employment, career, cultural, and recreational opportunities and activities that enhance quality of life for an expanding population. The two-county area served by the College and Northwest Region of the State has been recognized by national publications as one of the best places to live and work in the country. Economic vitality throughout the college's service area is sustained by three Fortune 500 employers, multiple other corporate offices that include many nationally recognized firms, and a thriving business community. Strategic financial and capital investments have enabled NWACC to maintain high academic standards, while delivering a well-prepared workforce that meets the needs of business and industry.
The NorthWest Arkansas Community College Foundation receives generous and benevolent corporate, community, and employee support. This support generates scholarship opportunities, program enhancements, and capital construction funds that enable students to access affordable and convenient education and training services. NWACC has also established successful student partnerships with Arkansas' public and private baccalaureate degree-granting institutions; on-campus and high school-based concurrent enrollment and summer bridge programs for first generation students with multiple secondary institutions; and apprenticeship programs with employers in trades occupations. These partnerships enable NWACC students to navigate education and career pathways that lead to associate or further degree completion, explore college-level courses while obtaining credits toward accelerated achievement, and assure regional employment opportunities in high-demand occupations. The College also provides comprehensive academic advising and student success services that foster transfer possibilities, and lead to successful careers in business, nursing and allied health professions, computer science, engineering, culinary, and criminal justice professions that meet employers' requirements for well-educated and skilled associates.
NorthWest Arkansas Community College also enjoys strong bonds with and connections to the communities and region it serves. An awareness of significant regional growth, coupled with the fact that most students who attend the College remain within the community, NWACC has developed and delivers relevant and responsive academic and professional development, customized training, construction technology, robotics, integrated design, certified retail analysts, and small business programs and services that coterminous fulfill student career interests and meet employer needs. The College is the connection between successful student completion and business and industry demands. This linkage improves and the quality of life for all citizens in Benton and Washington counties and throughout the region.
The current mission of NorthWest Arkansas Community College includes empowering lives, inspiring learning and strengthening the community through accessible, affordable, quality education. This mission clearly reflects a student-centered agenda. The current vision statement is also focused upon changing the lives of those served by the institution. In addition, NWACC has established five strategic goals that connects it with multiple community partners. The College's community partners include student-learners, faculty, staff and alumni, educational institutions, taxpayers, and business and industry. For each of the partners, the College has identified goals that speak to its responsibility to strengthen programs and services, be an effective and ethical steward of the resources entrusted to it, create and maintain an atmosphere of openness, host a safe work and learning environment, its ability to nurture and expand its partnerships, and be innovative in furtherance of its mission, vision and values. Finally, the College commits to becoming the premier provider of education and training by establishing College "End Statements" that actualize its goals.