03/01/2005

Educational Development: Human Resource Development Degree Program in two of the Crossroads Coalition counties

In 2002 UAEDI partners in the College of Education and Health Professions joined with the East Arkansas Community College to bring an important educational opportunity to people in eastern Arkansas. The immediate target audience was Cross and St. Francis counties, but the longer term plan is to reach all those in the new 9-county Crossroads Coalition.

The story really begins when Cross County, with UAEDI as a partner, received a $310,000 grant from the Delta Regional Authority to purchase distance education equipment that would help link the University of Arkansas (through the Engineering Research Center) to Cross County s new Technology Center for the Delta, the county s three high schools (Wynne, Parkin and Cross County Consolidated) and its community college partner East Arkansas Community College (EACC).

Barbara Hinton (chair of the UA Department of Rehabilitation, Human Communication Disorders), Otto Loewer (UAEDI director), and Bill Thomas (Executive Director of the Cross County Economic Development Corporation) collaborated to bring the opportunity for students in the Crossroads Coalition to earn a Bachelor of Science in Education degree in Human Resources Development (HRD) through distance education. The UA College of Engineering played a significant role in terms of providing facilities.

Barbara Hinton, with strong support from her dean, Reed Greenwood and Donnie Dutton, dean of the UA s Division of Continuing Education, took the lead in establishing the program in close cooperation with East Arkansas Community College president Coy Grace and vice president for academic affairs Jan Havens. Thanks to Barbara and her colleagues, HRD classes from the U of A in Fayetteville, designed specifically for full-time working adults, were made available by distance learning at EACC.

With the HRD program, students learn the "people" skills and leadership abilities necessary to improve workplace performance and advance in management, supervision, employee or technical training, or instructional design. Students can complete their college education with a marketable bachelor's degree from the University of Arkansas in as little as two years.

Currently in their second year, the first group of students from the Crossroad Coalition will complete the degree this spring. “We started with eight students in 2002 and will graduate seven this year,” said Hinton. “That is a remarkable retention record.”

Students attend classes every Friday night and Saturday for nine weeks each semester, completing two courses. In addition, students can earn additional course credit for work experience through preparing and presenting a portfolio of their work. They must complete nine hours of internship, which can be arranged with their current employer.

According to program advisor Phil Gerke, two out of every three Arkansans who start college don't finish within five years and eventually end up in the work force. The HRD concentration is specifically designed for these full-time working adults who need to finish a college degree but can't fit a traditional college classroom into their busy life.

Students work with an HRD advisor to develop an individualized plan of study to complete all degree requirements. They must have at least five years of full-time work experience and can transfer lower-division credit from accredited institutions, such as community colleges or four-year colleges. Although these are considered "Off Campus" classes through Continuing Education, graduates still get their name in "Senior Walk."

EACC is the latest site in the HRD program, which is taught at eight sites throughout Arkansas. HRD, which began in 1996, graduates about 65 students each year. A new cohort of student begins the program each year.

”We didn’t really know where this program would go when it began, but demand has been tremendous,” said Hinton. “It has been gratifying to watch it grow and know it is meeting a very real need for Arkansans.”

From the UAEDI standpoint, the HRD program could not have been offered without Barbara and Bill's leadership, support from the Delta Regional Authority, and the outstanding cooperation of so many both inside and outside the University of Arkansas. Hopefully, this model of cooperation will be expanded, extended and replicated throughout the Crossroads Coalition and elsewhere as a significant piece of the broad-based (economic, community, educational, and leadership) development of our state.

Educational Development: Human Resource Development Degree Program in two of the Crossroads Coalition counties