Arkansas State University System, Mid-South Community College Consider Merger

Mid-South Community College’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously to engage in formal conversations with the Arkansas State University System to investigate the possibility of a merger, the two schools said on Monday (Nov. 17).

“We have carefully considered the opportunities for continued growth and long-term success of Mid-South Community College and believe as a board that a merger could help us do more for our city, county, and region,” said Chair Mary Meux Toney, who has been a trustee since the college’s inception.

West Memphis-based Mid-South has been a two-year college leader in workforce development and training and ASU has been the dominant four-year university in the region. The merger of Mid-South into the ASU system could bring benefits to both institutions.

“It doesn’t mean more money – it means we could have more people rowing our boat,” said MSCC president Dr. Glen Fenter. “Arkansas State University needs a presence in economic development and workforce training, and they know we are viewed as a leader in the state in those efforts. We need their support to help us speed up changing the state’s funding formula for workforce training-related efforts.”

“Dr. Fenter and his staff have done a wonderful job in taking us further than anyone ever imagined, and now we see the need to consider additional support at a very important time in our region’s history,” Toney said.

If the merger were to occur, the West Memphis campus would likely be called Arkansas State University Mid-South, Fenter said.

The ASU System currently features campuses/presences in Jonesboro, Beebe, Mountain Home, Newport, Searcy, Marked Tree, Heber Springs, Paragould, and the Little Rock Air Force Base.

“We have tremendous respect for Mid-South Community College and its leadership,” said Dr. Chuck Welch, president of the Arkansas State University System. “Dr. Fenter and his team have made Mid-South a vital workforce training and education connection between students and employers with very progressive ideas. Mid-South’s efforts are consistent with our system’s goals to enhance educational opportunities and contribute to economic development in the Delta region and throughout the state. We look forward to discussing its possible addition to the Arkansas State University System.”

SUPERPROJECT PREPAREDNESS
Fenter noted that economic developers have estimated that as many as six new automobile manufacturing plants could locate in the U.S. in the next half-decade. Those six factories all have superproject potential, meaning they could be tied to billion-dollar investments and thousands of jobs.

With the two campuses working in conjunction, Fenter said the groundwork for a regional advantage can be laid.

“In the next five years, there could be as many as least six automotive plants reshoring in the South, giving those states the chance to reinvent a part of their economic future. For us to be one of those states, or to attract any other significant economic development opportunity, we have to have a skilled workforce in place. The concept of jobs coming back to this country through reshoring is the greatest opportunity for job growth that the South’s ever had,” he said.

“If we’re going to participate in that, we must have all of our ducks in a row. There probably won’t be any second chances. We have to do some bold things to make certain that we capture every opportunity we can. If we do this right, we have a chance to skip a couple of decades’ worth of normal progress because we accelerated our model,” Fenter added.

Mid-South is often cited by state workforce officials and business leaders as a blueprint for public-private partnerships and the ability to leverage workforce talent, skills training programs, and private sector employment.

“A merger with the ASU System could potentially give us the edge that we’ve never had on our own. If it is approached in the right way, I think it has the potential to become a very powerful catalyst for our region to maximize some great opportunities,” Fenter said.

MAINTAINING INDEPENDENCE
A potential merger between the ASU system and Mid-South would likely be met with concerns regarding local control. Other schools have successfully merged with larger systems including what is now the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, which once was Westark Community College before joining the larger University of Arkansas system.

Fenter said he could think “of a thousand benefits” to the merger and he emphasized that the campus would maintain a degree of autonomy if it folded into the ASU system.

“If our board members determine that a merger would be of benefit, the Board of Trustees would become a ‘Board of Visitors’ and would remain intact. They would have similar responsibilities to what they have now,” he said.