By TAMARA JOHNSON
Managing Editor
A merger between two local schools of higher education is necessary in order for the Delta to continue moving forward, according to the president of one of those institutions.
East Arkansas Community College President Dr. Coy Grace said a merger between EACC and Crowley's Ridge Technical Institute would benefit students and the community.
"If you are going to attract new industries and jobs to the Delta, then change has to start somewhere," Grace said.
The Senate Education Committee on Wednesday morning will conduct a public hearing to review both sides of the proposed merger between EACC and CRTI. The hearing is set to begin at 10 a.m. at the state capitol in Little Rock.
Grace said he is in favor of continuing the "bread and butter programs already in place at the technical institute. I want to compliment CRTI on what they're already doing. Their program offerings are needed to continue providing viable services to our area."
According to Grace, rumors regarding the loss of jobs and programs have surrounded the proposed merger, but those rumors are "simply not true."
Should the legislature vote to merge the institutions, a merger committee will be created, whose composition will include employees of both institutions. The committee will make recommendations concerning the "blending" of staff and programs of the two institutions, according to Grace.
"Even if there are duplicate job positions created by the merger, positions must be offered to all employees of both institutions," Grace said. "State law provides for the continuation of employment and benefits for employees of merged institutions."
As for program offerings, Grace said a loss of programs is not expected with the merger. "Both the Department of Higher Education and the Department of Workforce Education currently monitor programs within their jurisdiction as to their viability," Grace said. "Programs would continue as long as they are feasible and attract students. Therefore, no programs would be dropped resulting from the merger."
Citing an example of one merger, Grace said, "At one merged college, 13 new vocational programs were added within the first five years after the merger."
Tuition changes could be noticed by those seeking vocational certification. Currently, CRTI charges $30 per credit hour and EACC charges $32 per credit hour for in-county and $39 per credit hour for out-of-county students. According to Grace, only the students who do not receive financial aid would be affected.
Grace said many people also believe that upon merger, students wanting basic knowledge in certain areas would then be required to take general education courses.
EACC currently offers four degrees/certificates. The degree programs include an associate of arts degree, which is primarily a general education degree; an associate of applied science degree, which blends vocational/technical offerings and general education; the technical certificate and the certificate of proficiency. The certificate of proficiency requires no general education courses. The technical certificate requires a minimum number of general education courses and is similar to the general education courses that are currently required for certificates at CRTI, according to Grace.
Another way both institutions would benefit from the merger, according to Grace, is in the current resources of the other.
He cites one example as being those students who attend CRTI would benefit from the library services available at EACC while students attending EACC would benefit from the transportation services currently provided by CRTI.
Educational offerings are the primary advantage of the merger, according to Grace. EACC is accredited by the Post Secondary Division of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.
Students attending EACC may transfer many of its courses to other institutions. "If a merger occurs, there would also be an advantage to students who begin certificate programs and then wish to return to complete an associate degree," Grace said.
"The consolidation of services would lead to more money available for programs/instruction and the development of new programs, particularly advanced technology," Grace said.
By DAVID NICHOL
T-H Staff Writer
The needs of this area of Eastern Arkansas are best served by keeping East Arkansas Community College and Crowley's Ridge Technical Institute as separate entities.
That is the message from Burl Lieblong, president of CRTI.
Lieblong said CRTI isn't getting a fair shake from the task force which recommended that the two schools be merged.
"This task force was made up of individuals who had no relationship to Eastern Arkansas," said Lieblong. "This task force also had no minority representation. This task force did not visit Eastern Arkansas and most definitely did not visit the campus of Crowley's Ridge Technical Institute."
Lieblong also said that originally, mergers between community colleges and technical institutes were supposed to be voluntary, with both boards agreeing.
"At this particular time, the board of Crowley's Ridge has no desire to merge, and the senators in this area are in support of the board's position," he said.
According to Lieblong, Senate Bill 401 takes local control away. Also, he said, "It eliminates the Crowley's Ridge Board and leaves all the decisions concerning merger to the EACC Board."
Lieblong said that currently, CRTI serves St. Francis, Cross, Crittenden, Monroe, Lee, Woodruff and Prairie counties. He said that if CRTI and EACC were merged, students from counties outside St. Francis County would have to pay out-of-district tuition, which is higher.
In addition, CRTI provides free transportation.
"No community college in the state does so," Lieblong said. "Just because there is enabling legislation...indicating that a technical college or community college may establish and operate transportation systems for students, EACC has not done so. Therefore, there is no reason to believe they will do so or that they will continue the services currently offered by CRTI."
According to Lieblong, vocational programs are more expensive to operate than academic programs, and there is no guarantee that vocational programs will not be closed.
"If you look back through history, vocational programs are the first to be closed," said Lieblong.
He also said academic institutions tend to think of technology programs as vocational programs, "Therefore, they report major growth in vocational programs. But they are predominantly business programs computer programs, allied health occupations, etc. They are not geared toward traditional vocational programs such as mechanics, welding, machine shop, etc."
Lieblong said Crowley's Ridge is the only school left in the area with vocational training. Last May, the CRTI board voted to oppose merging with EACC.
"Crowley's Ridge still stands firm on that position," he said.
By KENDALL OWENS
T-H Staff Writer
Madison City Council members met in a called meeting last night to hear an update from Madison Mayor James Brooks on a residential development that may be coming to the city.
At a city council meeting earlier this month, Brooks told council members that he had been in contact with Derwin Sims with the Arkansas Land and Farm Development Council. According to Brooks, Sims had expressed an interest in bringing 24 low to moderate income residences to the Madison area. Brooks told aldermen last night that Sims and some of his associates would be at city hall Wednesday to discuss the matter further.
"Right now, they are looking at an area here in town and may have ruled out the Crow Creek area because they are attempting to keep all of the developments in one area," said Brooks.
Brooks also suggested to council members that the city establish ordinances providing for zoning so that new developments would have codes to work by when doing construction in Madison.
"Because we are getting interest from developers we need to do more in the area of zoning. There are currently state and federal zoning regulations, and most cities have zoning regulations, but we can't find any on the books here in the city of Madison. We need to establish codes for frontage and backage and how much distance should be between buildings. We also need to zone areas for commercial or residential as well as trailers. We are going to have to start from scratch on this, but it can be done," said Brooks.
The council agreed to look into the matter further but for now to inform developers that they would have to adhere to state and federal guidelines.
Brooks also told the council that the city had received a router from the Forrest City Water Department. According to Brooks, the router was given to the city after the FCWU recently purchased a new router.
The results of the 1999 state audit and exit reports for Madison have been received and Brooks said that everything came back in line from the state.
Following the city council meeting, a public hearing was held at city hall. According to Brooks, the hearing was necessary so that the AFLDC could get input from the citizens on the proposed development.
Citizens voiced their opinions on areas ranging from the proposed development to a new fire department and a possible renovation of the vacant school building in Madison.
According to Brooks, the city is looking at two possible locations to build a fire department, one location being in the alley beside city hall and the other on property currently inhabited by a lawnmower repair shop.
"It would benefit the city to put the fire department beside city hall and it would approve the appearance of city hall if the repair shop option was pursued," said Tarzan Lee, Madison resident and former council member.
Brooks said that he would reopen discussions with the property owner regarding the property and report back to the council.
Councilmen also heard from citizens about the conditions of the streets in Madison. Brooks said steps are being taken to improve several streets that bids were sent out for last year.
By CRYSTAL HOLLIS
T-H Staff Writer
A public hearing will be held on Thursday, March 1, at 7 p.m., at Hughes City Hall, for the purpose of identifying and prioritizing the community needs of that city.
Mayor Donnie Mooney said the meeting will outline an application for the Rural Services Block Grant Program (RSBGP) already applied for. He said the grant would be used to remodel the front and inside of the community center, purchased over a year ago.
"We purchased the building on North Broadway Street and property next to it for $80,000," said the mayor. "We are hoping to receive a $50,000 grant to redo the inside and the front as well."
RSBGP funds are federal assistance received by the State of Arkansas and administered by the Arkansas Department of Economic Development. These funds will be made available to cities and counties according to need and can be used for community facilities, but must address one of the following objectives: Provide benefit to low and moderate income families, aid in the prevention of slum and blight or meet other community needs, which pose a serious, immediate threat to the health or welfare of the community where no other funding is available to meet such needs.
Mooney said the community center will be used in the future for all community affairs and voting.
"After we fix up the community center, there is a building in the back we hope to someday make into an exercise facility for the community," said Mooney. "But right now, we have to concentrate on getting the inside of the building fixed up."
Theft of property charges against former Madison mayor Charlene Sykes were scheduled to be nolle prosequi today in St. Francis County Circuit Court, according to deputy prosecuting attorney Gary Mitchusson.
According to court documents Sykes was charged with exercising unauthorized control over money or property belonging to the City of Madison in 1995. The charges stemmed from over $13,300 that was unaccounted for in the 1995 audit by the state.
Mitchusson said that charges were not being pursued due to lack of evidence.
"I've spoken with the authorities on the state level and told them of our intent on these charges and why we were doing this and they were okay with it. I also spoke with the prosecutor and we agreed that we don't have the evidence against Mrs. Sykes to pursue the charges," said Mitchusson.