The University of Arkansas is in merger talks with both Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock and Rich Mountain Community College in Mena, system spokesman Nate Hinkel confirmed on Friday.
“As our Board of Trustees discussed at a recent meeting, the UA System is willing to explore potential partnerships with interested institutions that would make strategic sense for both parties and the constituencies that are served,” Hinkel said in an email. “Right now, Pulaski Tech and Rich Mountain are the only two institutions that have expressed an interest in a potential partnership.”
Donald Bobbitt, president of the UA System, is scheduled to make a presentation to Pulaski Tech’s board of directors on March 28, the two-year college’s spokeswoman, Tracy Courage, said.
“At that time, we’ll have UA perspective and our PTC board perspective,” Courage said in an email.
Margaret Ellibee, president of Pulaski Tech, signaled her willingness to hear proposals when interviewed by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for a Feb. 1 story on renewed interest in institutional mergers. At the time, neither the UA System nor the Arkansas State University System had any pending mergers.
Mid-South Community College at West Memphis was merged into the ASU System last summer, but spokesman Jeff Hankins said Friday that ASU has not reached out to Pulaski Tech.
“The ASU System has had no communication with Pulaski Tech regarding a merger. We are aware of Pulaski’s discussions with the UA System,” Hankins said in an email. “We have had discussions with multiple institutions and are always willing to discuss the advantages of being part of the ASU System.”
KFSM, Channel 5, in Fort Smith reported Thursday that Rich Mountain was considering joining the UA System.
“We’re a very rural community college,” RMCC President Phillip Wilson said in an on-camera interview. “We love our independence, but in today’s ever-changing higher education landscape being a part of a system might be a very good thing for us.”
Rich Mountain has about 950 students. Pulaski Tech’s enrollment slumped to 7,650 in the fall of 2015 after reaching nearly 12,000 in the fall of 2011.
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