UACCM Announces Concurrent Class Partnership with Conway County Schools
The
University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) on Wednesday, May 4, 2016 with Conway County schools
regarding the concurrent technical classes that will be offered at
UACCM. This MOU ensures that students
taking advantage of the concurrent enrollment classes will be attending UACCM
as full-time college students while meeting state requirements for high school
graduation. In addition, these classes
will be at little to no cost to the student, with the tuition and fees being
split between UACCM, the student’s high school, and the School Counts
initiative.

While Senator
Jane English was unable to attend, she had this to say about the signing, “I am
so pleased to see this partnership between UACCM, industry and high schools
come together to give high school students the opportunity to gain the skills
and education necessary to move into the workforce or choose to continue their
career pathway education.”
Dr. Thomas Flowers, School Counts! Initiative Board Chair, said in his
comments, “We are pleased to be able to partner on this. I think it is a great investment in our
community. We are so fortunate in Conway
County to have a community college where the students can focus on career and
technical education, whatever their needs are, and that provides workforce
development for our community. Part of
the goal behind the School Counts initiative is that we would have students
graduating from high school that are interested in pursuing continued education,
so that they might come back and contribute to the economic well-being of our
community.”
Of this
collaboration, Dr. Davis said, “We all want the same thing, and that is to help
these kids by giving them the opportunity to obtain the skills necessary to
succeed, and to help Conway County develop a stronger workforce base. We all came together with these goals in mind
to make this happen.”
UACCM is
currently enrolling high school juniors and seniors for the fall 2016 semester
in technical programs on campus. The following technical programs are currently
offering concurrent classes for these students: Auto Collision Repair; Auto
Service; Business; Computer Information Systems; Drafting; Early Childhood
Education; Heating, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration (HVAC); Industrial
Mechanics and Maintenance; Surveying; and Welding.
South
Conway County School District
Superintendent Shawn Halbrook said, “There is no doubt that there is not a
greater investment this community will make than what we just signed. This sends a strong message to the state, our
business community, and our local community about the value that we place on
working together to help our kids and making this the best place to live.”
Because
high school students cannot receive federal financial aid, this MOU includes a financial
plan allowing students to participate at little to no cost to them. UACCM will waive all mandatory fees, the
student’s high school will pay $50.00 per credit hour of the tuition, and the School
Counts! Initiative will pay the remainder of the tuition for the students.
“We
want the people of Morrilton and Conway County to be aware that there are a lot
of great things happening here,” said Dr. Davis. “There are a lot of people working hard, working
together, to make this a better place to live and work. I promise you that UACCM will be at the
forefront of any workforce training that needs to take place, in cooperation
with area high schools and with our business and industry partners.”
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