SouthArk in negotiations to expand educational center in Warren
EL DORADO — At a Board of Trustees meeting last month, South Arkansas Community College president Dr. Barbara Jones announced that the institution is in negotiations with Bradley County Medical Center to expand its Brunson Education Center in Warren, which houses practical nursing classes.
SouthArk will leave it at its current location for a period of time, Jones said. According to a press release published by SouthArk in July 2012, phlebotomy and practical nursing classes were moved from the Southeast Arkansas Community Based Education Center to the Brunson Complex on August 20, 2012.
In that release, Bradley County Medical Center board chair Freddie Mobley said, “This will be of a great benefit to the citizens in our community, giving them an opportunity to attend college here in Warren. We hope that this relationship will expand in the future.”
Currently, SouthArk conducts classes in three classrooms of the former Thomas C. Brunson Elementary School campus, Jones said.
“We’re kind of on one end of that building of that elementary building, but we have our LPN lecture and lab classroom and then also another classroom we use for non-credit training,” she said. “We’re working with them to get two more classrooms so we hope to have adult ed there so we have all our functions in Warren in one location.”
Chief institutional effectiveness and advancement officer Dr. Stephanie Tully-Dartez said that the college’s adult education program was approved to expand into Bradley County and the transition is expected to begin on July 1.
“We are in discussions with personnel there as well as facilities and we will update you as decisions are finalized,” Tully-Dartez said. “At this point, we just got permission from the state so we’re trying to do the best things for the students. We’ll keep you informed.
Student advising coaches and the college and career readiness coaches in Union, Bradley and Chicot counties logged almost 2,900 student contacts in April. The college’s chapter of the National Society of Leadership and Success (NSCS) has 121 active members, 50 of them being new members, student services vice president Dr. Jim Bullock said.
“The entrance fee for this program is $85, which is rather higher and we were not sure that we could find students who were able or willing to pay $85 to join the society. So, we got a very generous grant from the (SouthArk) Foundation and funded the first 10. We hoped that we could get 10 and I’m happy to report that as of today, that organization has had 390 active members since 2014.”
Before induction, NSCS members have to attend leadership workshops and watch hours of online broadcasts about leadership, he said. He commended student activities director Kim Brown for “doing a great job” with the students.
“These are not honor students in a typical sense (with) the highest GPAs. They are good, solid students that sometimes are overlooked, but this organization gives them the chance to be a part of something … and learn some leadership skills.”
The SouthArk Board of Trustees’ next meeting is scheduled at 3:45 p.m. Tuesday, June 20 in the Administration Building Board Room, located on the college’s west campus.
Brittany Williams may be contacted by email at bwilliams@eldoradonews.com. Follow her on Twitter and like her on Facebook @ BWilliamsEDNT for updates on Union County school news.