Independent college leaders argue against proposed university system approach

Independent community colleges are more efficient than system ones and spend more money on faculty salaries compared to administrative salaries, said Dr. James Shemwell, president of Arkansas Northeastern College in Blytheville.

He also said two of the independent colleges produced higher 2015 salaries for 2014 graduates than graduates of every four-year institution except UAMS, said Dr. James Shemwell, president of Arkansas Northeastern College in Blytheville.

Shemwell testified Wednesday (Sept. 14) before the Legislative Task Force to Study the Realignment of Higher Education. Shemwell told legislators that the state’s 13 independent community colleges make decisions locally and have less bureaucratic overhead than system colleges. For example, his college uses attorneys from the attorney general’s office rather than system attorneys and has never lost a case.

Created by legislation in 2015, the task force is considering changes to the state’s higher education system, including absorbing the state’s independent colleges into the state’s two systems, the University of Arkansas and Arkansas State University. It also is considering issues such as student loan debt and encouraging students to graduate in four years. The task force’s deadline to prepare its report is Nov. 1.

Shemwell said independent two-year colleges have a better “core expense ratio” of spending on students versus spending on administration than two-year system colleges. His college ranks highest in that area, spending six times on students what it spends on administration.

Independent colleges also have a better faculty-administrator spending ratio: 3.4:1 vs. 2.69:1, he said, and his school had the best ratio, spending 5.5 times as much on faculty salaries as it does on administrators. Moreover, system colleges have additional administrative costs at the system level.

Shemwell said employment rates and salaries in 2015 were better for 2014 independent community college graduates than system ones. Two-year graduates in 2014 of Arkansas Northeastern College and Malvern-based College of the Ouachitas had higher 2015 average incomes than graduates with bachelor’s degrees from all four-year schools except the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, he said.

Others testifying where Dr. John Hogan, president, National Park College; Dr. Evelyn Jorgenson, president, Northwest Arkansas Community College; Dr. Eric Turner, president, Black River Technical College; Dr. Barbara Jones, president, South Arkansas Community College; and Dr. Richard Dawe, president, Ozarka College.

The committee’s co-chair, Rep. Mark Lowery, R-Maumelle, later said the purpose of the meeting was to give independent colleges a chance to discuss why they think aligning with systems would undermine their missions.

On Sept. 28, the task force will hear from four-year university presidents from the University of Central Arkansas, Henderson State University and Southern Arkansas University. UA President Dr. Donald Bobbitt and ASU President Dr. Chuck Welch testified in an earlier meeting about what their systems could offer.