Arkansas Department of Higher Education

President, Vice President for Academic Affairs, Vice President of Business Services, Vice President of Assessment and Nursing and Allied Health, Vice President of Student Services, Associate Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness, Director of Information Systems, Director of Admissions, Counseling, Career Services Coordinator, Financial Aid Staff, Dean of the Library and Distance Learning Division, Distance Learning Coordinator, Director of Information Technology, Technical Studies Chair and the General Studies Chair were on the Perkins transition team and were present or responded to information requests by phone or email.

SEARK College 43.0104 - Criminal Justice Program is seeking to prepare a pathway from area high Schools to SEARK utilizing the FEMA CERT Program. The pathway will be generic enough to apply to the following programs: 51.0904 - Emergency Medical Technology -Basic (leads into the intermediate program, then to the Paramedic program), and 43.0203 - Fire Science Technology.

SEARK College Respiratory Care Program (51.0908) is seeking to prepare a pathway from area high schools to SEARK to UAMS. The pathway will be generic enough to apply to all Allied Health programs. (51.0907 - Radiological Technology, 51.0909 - Surgical Technology, 51.1614 Nursing Assistant, 51.1613 – Practical Nursing, 51.0904 Emergency Medical Technology, 51.0801 – Medical Assisting Technology, 51.0708 – Medical Transcriptionist, 51.1009 - Phlebotomy)

SEARK College has never and will never reduce standards for CTE students. Academic courses are assigned on first come first served basis. Academic coursework is not separated into transfer student only classes or CTE only classes. The proposed Professional Development series will assist Faculty in identifying learning structures and barriers for learning that the majority of SEARK College student population faces.

SEARK College will implement a work-based learning experience utilizing Computer Network Students in the Information Technology Department. These students will be used to assist college personnel in managing the student network and providing limited help desk assistance to college personnel. The developed internship program can be utilized for 11.0101 – Information Systems Technology, 52.1299 – Internet and Web Technology, and 15.1202 - PC Maintenance and Repair.

Allied Health students are required to participate in work based learning through clinical sites. This is required to complete their degree and to sit for state licensing.

SEARK College is considering a Faculty classroom to work program that will allow faculty to intern in the field in which they teach.

SEARK College will develop a Faculty and Staff professional development series that will include Adjunct Faculty, and selected community partners. This series should include Frameworks, Learning Structures, Bridges out of Poverty, Generation Next, First Year Experience, curriculum review, integrating academics with CTE programs and Academic Advising.

Faculty will receive training from a Blackboard (WebCT) consultant on how to integrate technology into the classroom using their system. SEARK College currently purchases, with Institutional Funds, an unlimited user license. Faculty will be taught how to more effectively deliver their content using WebCT. Faculty will also be trained on how to place their course content into WebCT. This allows students 24 hour access to their course content wherever they have internet connection.

SEARK college personnel are provided information about Perkins requirements by the Perkins Coordinator through email, campus news alerts and meetings. Administrators, Department Chairs and Program Coordinators provide information to community stakeholders. The Perkins Coordinator is always available to community stakeholders for more detailed discussions about Perkins funding and how it is implemented on campus.

SEARK college has program advisory committees (PACs) for each program on campus. PACs are made up of CTE faculty, administrators and business and industry representatives. Recommendations from PACs are taken into consideration when modifying program requirements

All Program funding are data driven decisions. Programs with the greatest number of students and need are granted priority. Programs that have local demand and need improvement are also given priority.

SEARK College professional development series targets all Faculty, Adjunct Faculty, and staff. All SEARK students should receive benefit from this developed series.

SEARK College Respiratory Care Program (51.0908) is seeking to prepare a pathway from high schools to SEARK to UAMS. The pathway will be generic enough to apply to all Allied Health programs. (51.0907 - Radiological Technology, 51.0909 - Surgical Technology, 51.1614 Nursing Assistant, 51.1613 – Practical Nursing, 51.0904 Emergency Medical Technology, 51.0801 – Medical Assisting Technology, 51.0708 – Medical Transcriptionist, 51.1009 - Phlebotomy)

SEARK College 43.0104 - Criminal Justice Program is seeking to prepare a pathway from area high Schools to SEARK utilizing the FEMA CERT Program. The pathway will be generic enough to apply to the following programs: 51.0904 - Emergency Medical Technology -Basic (leads into the intermediate program, then to the Paramedic program), and 43.0203 - Fire Science Technology.

SEARK College utilizes a variety of 3rd party assessments for evaluating CTE programs. These assessments are administered through out the semester for Allied Health and at semester close for CTE programs. The primary tool used to evaluate CTE programs are NOCTI or are created by faculty for their program if a NOCTI exam is not available. These assessments are used to evaluate what the student has learned and compares them to other SEARK students, students in the state and nation who have taken the same type of course and Program. SEARK Program Directors review these statistics on an annual basis for any major changes in student performance. Along with these statistics and Program Advisory Committee (PAC) meetings, that include Business and Industry representatives, necessary adjustments are made to the Program.

SEARK College requires that all Faculty integrate pre and post assessments for their courses. Course level pre and post assessments are entered into an assessment database for further analysis by College personnel.

SEARK College evaluates teachers randomly every semester. That evaluation consists of Division Chair visits to the classroom and student evaluation of the Instructor. The completed evaluation is reviewed and discussed by the Division Chair and Instructor. If necessary an improvement plan is discussed.

Students receive counseling in the Counseling Center and Career Center on degree program selection. Students have various computerized career planning systems, guidance and information on selecting career, related occupations, educational opportunities, and job seeking skills available to them in the Career Center.

SEARK College is seeking to develop a Faculty and Staff professional development series that will include Adjunct Faculty, and selected community partners. This series should include Frameworks, Learning Structures, Bridges out of Poverty, Generation Next, First Year Experience, curriculum review, pathways, integrating academics with CTE programs and Academic Advising.

SEARK College will integrate employability skills into the Learning to Learn curriculum. Learning to Learn is a course that is required for most CTE degree plans. The integration began Summer 2007.

The Career Center provides students with career planning assistance and job placement services. Utilizing various computerized career planning systems, guidance and information on selecting careers, related occupations, educational opportunities and job-seeking skills is provided in the Career Center.

Books, brochures, individual assistance and workshops are available to strengthen the students’ employability skills in the areas of interview preparation, resume development, and job search skills. Full-time and part-time job openings are posted in the Career Center for students review as well as access to the Internet to view career-related web sites. Services are also available to alumni of Southeast Arkansas College.

Academic Counseling will be provided by one on one counseling, e-mail, or by phone. All academic counseling links to baccalaureate and above education or other training opportunities.

SEARK College is seeking to develop a Faculty and Staff professional development series that will include Adjunct Faculty, and selected community partners. This series should include Frameworks, Learning Structures, Bridges out of Poverty, Generation Next, First Year Experience, curriculum review, pathways, integrating academics with CTE programs and Academic Advising.

Faculty will receive training from a Blackboard (WebCT) consultant on how to integrate technology into the classroom using their system. SEARK College currently purchases with Institutional Funds an unlimited user license. Faculty will be taught how to more effectively deliver their content using WebCT. Faculty will also be trained on how to place their course content into WebCT. This allows students 24 hour access to their course content wherever they have internet connection

The majority of faculty in the nursing & allied health arena are recruited from the Service sector, and therefore, are in need of professional development in curriculum development/ management as well as classroom instruction techniques. It has become more and more difficult to attract nursing faculty with the needed experience. This shortage is well documented both at the state and national levels. For some years, SEARK has adopted a “grow your own” mentality through recruiting many of the best program graduates from our local area since state and national advertisements have not proven effective in bringing the needed expertise to our area. While our program outcomes are good, perspectives from outside consultants and evaluators help us to assure that ‘inbreeding’ does not stifle the academic growth that is required for our graduates to continue to compete in a global market. One sure economical mean of achieving this is through bringing in consultants who are able to review the educational programs that we offer and present, from a broader perspective the changes that are evolving in nursing and allied health. This is a tremendous growth opportunity for the faculty- one whose worth to the program can be immediately evaluated.

Data for the Perkins report is obtained from the Colleague data system. The configuration of the Colleague system was implemented over a three-year period involving all levels of administrative staff, from data entry personnel to Vice-Presidents. The Information Systems staff moves the data from dynamic tables used by Colleague into static tables to ensure data integrity and to prevent unauthorized alterations. All machinations and manipulations of the data are performed in an attempt to comply with the data standards as promulgated in the SISDB handbook of the Arkansas Department of Higher Education.