Pulaski Tech Board to Vote on UA System Merger

The Pulaski Technical College board of trustees will vote Wednesday on a proposal to enter into a formal partnership with the University of Arkansas System.

The special board of trustees meeting will take place at 9 a.m. in the Campus Center Grand Hall, located on the college’s main campus at 3000 West Scenic Drive, North Little Rock.

According to Associate Vice President Tim Jones, the proposal itself is “a plan to make a plan.”

“We’re working on a document, some sort of resolution that will be short and broad that, if our board approves it, will essentially just be a statement of intent to join the system,” Jones said.

Donald Bobbitt, president of the UA System, proposed the partnership to the PTC board at a meeting on March 28.

After his presentation, Pulaski Tech board members, staff and faculty shared questions and concerns about the possible tie-up, including the co-existence of Pulaski Tech and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, which is already a part of the UA System.

Pulaski Tech’s enrollment slumped to 7,650 in the fall of 2015 after reaching nearly 12,000 in the fall of 2011. UALR’s enrollment was 11,848 in the fall, up from 11,645 in the fall of 2014.

Since his presentation in March, Bobbitt has spoken with Pulaski Tech’s staff and faculty senates and Pulaski Tech President Margaret Ellibee has met with several groups on campus to discuss the potential merger.

“Generally we’ve had very positive reception,” Jones said. “I think there are a lot of people that are on board.”

If the Pulaski Tech board votes to approve the proposal, final approval will be considered by the University of Arkansas System’s board of trustees at its May 25-26 meeting at Cossatot Community College of the University of Arkansas in DeQueen.

“When the UA system board meets in May, there is some presumption that on our part that it would be on their agenda automatically — it would make sense,” Jones said. “But until our board votes on it there’s no sense putting it on their agenda, so there’s a little speculation with that.

“If they approve it at that point I think we would look at a fairly lengthy process in actually getting things changed over. I would anticipate the month of June being a time period when a lot of work would get done to hash out exactly what this means. There are a lot of details to figure out with a college our size.”

According to Jones, the timeline for the potential partnership is uncertain but he said that July 1 “would not be unreasonable,” if both boards vote to approve the proposal.

Wednesday’s Pulaski Tech board meeting will begin with a public comment session limited to three minutes per person and 15 minutes total. The college is issuing comment request forms that must be completed and submitted to PTC Board Assistant Tena Carrigan before the start of the board meeting.

Last month, Rich Mountain Community College in Mena unanimously voted to join the UA System, effective July 1, if the UA’s board of trustees gives final approval at that same May 25-26 meeting.

Should both Rich Mountain and Pulaski Tech join the UA System, the system will include seven community colleges and 13 total campuses.