UCA President turns attention to implementation of ACCESS Act

University of Central Arkansas President Dr. Houston Davis has been traveling the I-40 and I-49 corridors this past week.

Davis and UCA officials spent a portion of their week in Northwest Arkansas raising the Conway school’s profile. It makes sense with over 4,000 alumni in the region. Northwest Arkansas is also fertile recruiting ground for the central Arkansas school.

“We like to think that the University of Central Arkansas is central to Northwest Arkansas, and we know that we are a valuable asset to that region,” said Davis, who appeared on this week’s edition of Capitol View. “Certainly, we get students from all 75 counties and we send our alumni to all 75 counties, and that is absolutely true of that corridor and that pocket of our state.”

On Wednesday, Davis participated in a panel discussion on higher education with UA Chancellor Dr. Charles Robinson and Northwest Arkansas Community College President Dr. Dennis Rittle.

In Davis’ TV interview, he touched on aspects of the ACCESS Act, Gov. Sarah Sanders’ overhaul of the higher education funding formula and other aspects of campus life.

“I think that the thing I’m most excited about is a lot of ACCESS is about the connections between K-12 and higher education. It’s thinking about that continuum. It’s thinking about is there a seamless progression of students and citizens and it’s about breaking down barriers that might exist,” he said.

Davis thinks that ACCESS will strengthen opportunities for students beyond a four-year school choice. He says a stacked model of building certificates and degrees that could lead to four-year enrollment or simply lead to developing skills for jobs of the future.

“I love that there’s a nod [in ACCESS] to non-credit activity. We shouldn’t have to have just traditional degree opportunities for citizens. We know there are a lot of certificates. There are a lot of credentials, certifications that have value in the workforce. We need to make certain, whether it be universities or community colleges, that we’re positioning ourselves to meet those needs too,” he said.

Davis said the end of the regular session will turn his focus to the rules and regulations that will govern a new funding formula for higher education. He will help lead a funding formula task force.

“I know that our group is going to be looking at the ROI components of ACCESS. It’s looking at how will some elements of measuring return on investment for citizens, what is their investment in their education versus how long does it take to be able to get a full return on that?” he said. “That’s something that I’m watching very closely and it’s going to be exciting because the reality is at UCA, for instance, we feel very good about the fact that our students, our economic impact studies have shown that within five years, students are getting a full return on their investment. Everything from year six all the way through the remainder of their career is icing on the cake.”

You can watch Davis’ full interview in the video below.