JBU graduate classes relocate from Rogers to NWACC campus in Springdale

by Paul Gatling ([email protected]) 1,757 views 

Since 2007, John Brown University in Siloam Springs offered graduate classes in this office building at 2807 Ajax Avenue along Interstate 49 in Rogers.

John Brown University in Siloam Springs has stopped offering classes in Rogers for graduate students. The last class was on Aug. 17.

A JBU spokeswoman said the college is partnering with NorthWest Arkansas Community College to continue teaching graduate classes at a classroom inside NWACC’s Washington County campus near Arvest Ballpark in Springdale.

Since 2007, JBU offered graduate classes in Rogers inside a highly visible office building on Ajax Avenue along northbound Interstate 49. Julie Gumm, the college’s chief marketing and communications officer, said several factors contributed to the downsizing.

“Fewer students are taking classes in person, opting for the flexibility of online classes, and more JBU graduate classes are being held on the main campus in Siloam Springs,” Gumm said. “It made more financial sense to rent space as needed.”

Gumm said the college’s graduate and online admissions counselors, housed in the Rogers building, moved to the Siloam Springs campus last spring and are now integrated with the undergraduate admissions counselors into the Office of Enrollment Management headed by Ryan Ladner, JBU’s new vice president of enrollment management.

A limited liability company whose members include Chambers Bank chairman and CEO John Ed Chambers III and Gerald Johnston, a former Tyson Foods Inc. chief financial officer, owns the 43,524-square-foot Ajax Avenue building.

Gumm said JBU signed a lease for 15,000 square feet in 2012, but that’s reduced by 40% to 60% over time.