NWACC Provides Step Into Retail Industry

NorthWest Arkansas Community College, with the support of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., has begun offering a certification program aimed at helping students diversify themselves and make the transition into the retailing world.

The associate degree of applied science in business management with an emphasis in retail was started at NWACC in November 2007 with a $600,000 grant from Wal-Mart.

The program is aimed at people who are currently in the retail industry but want to move into the management level or who want to enter the retail industry for the first time.

The 64-hour program is made up of three components; 16 hours of general education, 21 hours of general business courses and 27 hours of additional, retail management courses.

Students receive a certificate of completion for both the general business courses and the retail management courses.

“The beauty of the program is the two certificates,” said Margie Vance, director of NWACC’s retail management program. “We give people baby steps and they can celebrate their success one certificate at a time.”

People can complete the entire degree program or professionals who have already completed their bachelor’s degree can complete only the retail management certificate program.

Classes are offered during the day, in the evenings and about 65 percent of the program courses are also available online.

Vance said the entire degree program will be available online at the start of the 2009 spring semester, allowing students anywhere in the world the opportunity to learn.

“Wal-Mart approached us with the desire to extend this opportunity to all students nationally and possibly internationally,” Vance said. “Right now we are in the process of preparing the remaining six courses to put online.”

Vance said she has received tremendous interest in the program. The program had 35 students during the spring semester and Vance hopes to double that number for the fall semester.

The program’s staff has begun targeting retailers in Northwest Arkansas and will begin expanding their marketing to companies in Oklahoma and Missouri.

Four-year universities are also partnering with NWACC to allow students to transfer all of the program’s credits toward a bachelor’s degree. Franklin University in Ohio allows NWACC students to put the program’s credits toward a four-year business degree and Vance is also in negotiations with John Brown University to allow students to put the program’s credits toward a bachelor’s degree.

The program will be holding open enrollment for its fall semester on June 28 and July 26. The degree takes about two years to complete.