Auxiliary Education Services

Adult Education Program

This program assists adults in the North Arkansas College service area to improve basic skills or complete their educational goals through the high school level. Students can also utilize the program’s instruction to increase academic skills for the ACCUPLACER and/or ACT. Any students wishing to enter the military can also brush up on skills needed for the ASVAB. While enrolled, adults will have the opportunity to enhance their workforce readiness skills to obtain more rewarding employment. To enroll, students must be 16 years or older, not currently enrolled in a high school, and meet other state and local requirements.

Adult Basic Education

This program accepts adults who are seeking assistance in improving skills equivalent to the basic grades of one through twelve. The instruction is provided FREE of charge to all students. Individualized as well as small group instruction is available. Subjects include reading, math, spelling, and writing.

General Educational Development (G.E.D.)

This FREE program accepts students who seek assistance in completing their GED (High School Equivalency). The GED credential is based on four tests. The tests cover reading and writing, social studies, science, and mathematics. The tests also measure communication, information-processing, problem solving, and critical-thinking skills. The GED Test is designed to measure academic skills and knowledge in subjects that are learned during four years of high school. The GED Test is then taken on the computer. Classes are offered to help students learn individually or in a small group.

English as a Second Language

The Adult Education Program offers free English as a Second Language (ESL) classes for all individuals whose native language is not English. ESL classes are offered in Boone, Carroll and Madison counties.

For additional information, please call the Adult Education Department at (870) 391-3198 (Harrison), (870) 423-4455 (Berryville) or (479) 738-1133 (Huntsville).

Career Pathways Initiative at Northark

The Arkansas Career Pathways Initiative is an economic development grant-funded program for low income parents who desire to improve their employment opportunities through education and/or training. Students who have a child under the age of 21 living in the home with them and are current or past TEA recipients, or are receiving benefits from DHS such as Medicaid or food stamps, or are at or below 250% of the Federal Poverty Level should qualify for Career Pathways.

Career Pathways assists with financial barriers such as tuition, childcare, and transportation. CPI will also provide academic and career counseling, remediation in preparation for college entrance exams, tutoring, referrals to outside assistance agencies, and coordination with other Northark assistance programs. CPI facilitates student employment through job readiness skills training, Career Readiness Certification (CRC), resume writing, employment research, placement, and follow-up. We “wrap” our students with total support so they can become self-sustaining citizens of their community.

Career Pathways offices can be reached at (870) 391-3153.

Continuing and Community Education

Continuing and Community Education is a vital service of the total educational program at North Arkansas College. Northark is dedicated to providing education opportunities for all who can profit from the instruction. Continuing and Community Education offerings are developed in response to observed or stated needs, requests, and interests of the residents of our community. The thrust of the non-credit program is to provide meaningful, lifelong learning for citizens of all ages to develop their personal potential, upgrade occupational skills, or simply engage in recreational activity. These courses are offered as non-credit and professional credit courses, seminars, workshops, and other activities. Customized programs can be developed to meet the workforce development needs of businesses and industries in Northark’s service area. We are committed to offering quality, continuing and community education programs and to sharing the academic talents and college resources with the community we serve. For further information, contact the Continuing & Community Education Department at (870) 391-3100.

Developmental Education

For a variety of reasons, students may not have the academic background they need to succeed in college-level courses. For this reason, North Arkansas College offers College Preparatory courses (courses with a prefix of CP) for students who need additional academic work before enrolling in college classes. The goal of these college preparatory classes is to help students make a successful adjustment to college. Classes are offered to support English, math and science. Reading skills are integrated into English and science classes, and study skills are integrated into all three courses. It should be noted that courses numbered below 1000 do not count toward graduation, nor are they included when the registrar calculates grade point averages for the Dean’s List.

Online and Distance Learning

Students often have busy schedules, and our online and distance learning program is designed to help students get the flexibility they need to go to college without sacrificing quality. North Arkansas College offers the delivery of these courses in four different formats - Online, Live Online, Hybrid, and Site-to-Site.

Online: Course delivery is entirely through the internet. A student is not expected to attend classes on campus.

Live Online: Classes meet online in a virtual classroom on specific dates and times. Assignments are done outside of the classroom.

Hybrid: Any course combination of face to face and internet delivery of coursework where the students on site attendance is required.

Site-to-Site: Synchronous course delivered from one Northark campus to another satellite campus or partner site.

For online and distance courses, the student is expected to have access to a computer with the system requirements below. Online and distance learning courses are consistent with the standard for courses offered through face-to-face instruction, although some or all of course content and faculty-student interaction occurs through one or more forms of delivery.

Honors Program

Vision

North Arkansas College’s Honors Program will offer uniquely creative, stimulating, and collaborative learning opportunities for students who have demonstrated exceptional academic or leadership potential.

Mission Statement

North Arkansas College’s Honors Program is designed to enrich the educational experience of students who have demonstrated exceptional academic or leadership potential. The program provides a learning community for outstanding students to develop skills in effective communication, critical thinking, independent learning, and community service.  The Honors Program will assist the growth of students both academically and personally to ensure their continued success in college and beyond.

Entrance Pathways

Students may enter the Honors Program Learning Community through any one of the following paths:

1. An ACT Composite score of 21 or higher
2. A High School Cumulative GPA of 3.25 or higher
3. A minimum of 12 completed college credits with a Cumulative 3.5 GPA or higher
4. Accuplacer scores: Reading 102, Writing 104, Math 116
5. A recommendation from an Advisor or Faculty member at North Arkansas College and Permission from the Honors Program Advisor 

Honors Program Expectations

Completion of the Honors Program requires students to take a minimum of 12 hours from the list of available honors courses with a Cumulative 3.25 GPA.

Students who do not complete the Honors Program but take at least 6 hours of Honors courses with a Cumulative 3.25 GPA will qualify for a gold cord at graduation.

Learning Resource Center - Library, Tutoring and Testing Center

The Learning Resource Center (LRC) includes Library, Testing Center and Tutoring Services in one location. It serves students as well as the Harrison community and is the study and research center for the College.  The LRC has a wide range of materials and services available to meet the needs of its users.  LRC staff members are available for one-on-one assistance in a variety of ways. These services include:

• Tutoring in Mathematics, Writing, English, Science, and other subjects
• Use of computer lab and printers, including a brand-new computer lab
• Within the limitations of software licensing agreements, student-usable versions of all software taught on campus are available, including Adobe Creative Suite.
• Use of laptops, Wi-Fi and wireless printing
• Laptop, mobile hotspot and calculator checkout
• Individual and group study areas are available to reserve.
• Book/DVD/Graphic novel checkout
• Academic, career, social and financial literacy based workshops and activities
• Access to public benefits

LRC staff are available to offer one-on-one assistance in using Library resources, whether print, audio-visual, or electronic. The Library of Congress classification system is used for their print collections, and a single online catalog provides simultaneous searching of resources. The online catalog is accessible through the Library website at: http://www.northark.edu/student-and-community-services/library.
 
The combined print collection is approximately 10,000 volumes, and access to several e-book collections is also provided. Students and faculty are encouraged to use the Inter-Library loan services for research materials not available locally.

The LRC subscribes to several online databases that have replaced physical periodicals. Students can search on virtually any topic within these databases. There are thousands of periodicals covered, with many full text. The Northark LRC also offers off-campus access for students and faculty to most of the subscription databases through the LRC tab on Office 365 Students. Any authorized user of the Northark computer network may access online library materials on-campus. LRC staff can provide assistance in using these resources.

The LRC is open Monday - Friday. Please call (870) 391-3368 for more information.

Testing Center

The North Arkansas College Testing Center (also known as Certification Center) is located in Room L111 in the Learning Resource Center (LRC). The Testing Center offers tests for both paper-and pencil and computer based secure testing for students and professionals. Everyone who works in the Testing Center is a Certified Test Proctor, which means they’ve been through special training by testing companies to professionally deliver tests. Security cameras are installed at every test station and monitored by proctors.

The Testing Center is open Monday - Friday, and appointments are strongly preferred.Testers are encouraged to arrive a few minutes before their scheduled testing time to allow sufficient time to check-in. Walk-ins are accepted only if there is a station available for testing.
 

The Testing Center offers the following services:

• Student testing for makeup testing and online classes
• Accuplacer placement exams
• CLEP (College Level Examination Program) testing
• Workkeys testing for Career Pathways
• Professional testing such as Praxis (teaching certification), Pearson Vue (i.e. GED and EMT), and Kryterion (Microsoft exams), and many others.  Call the Testing Center for a full list.
• Distance learning exams for area distant learning students enrolled in other colleges
   

Due to security issues, the Testing Center restricts items students can have in the testing room. A list of restricted items will be emailed to students/testing candidates when appointments are set.

For more information or to make an appointment, please call the Testing Center at 870-391-3533.

Northark Technical Center

The Northark Technical Center (NTC) allows highly motivated high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors who reside in the North Arkansas College service area to take technical courses on the college campus. Students may earn elective high school credits each year as well as earning college credits in one of many different technical programs. Students spend one-half day at their high school and one-half day on the Northark campus. The participating high schools and the Office of Skills Development provide funding to allow students to attend without incurring tuition and fee expenses and the Northark Technical Center loans textbooks to the students at no additional cost. Credit earned while attending the Northark Technical Center may be combined with other concurrent credit opportunities enabling students to complete college certificate programs while still in high school. All courses taken through the Northark Technical Center may be applied toward a Technical Certificate or an Associate of Applied Science Degree. Detailed information about the opportunities available through NTC can be viewed at www.northark.edu.

Students interested in enrolling at the Northark Technical Center should contact their high school counselor or call the Technical Center at 870-391-3146.

Programs available to high school students at the Northark Technical Center include:

Advanced Manufacturing
The Advanced Manufacturing program prepares high school students for entry-level positions in manufacturing industries, or to continue their education.  Upon successful completion of the program, students are eligible for:

• Northark College Certificate of Proficiency in Workforce Technology
• Northark College Certificate of Proficiency in Manufacturing Technology
• Northark College Certificate of Proficiency in Electronics Technology
• OSHA Safety Certification

Automotive Service Technology
The Automotive Service Technology (AST) program prepares high school students for entry-level positions as Automotive Service Technicians, or to continue their education. Upon successful completion of the program, students are eligible for:

• Northark College Certificate of Proficiency in Gas Engine Repair and Brake Technology
• OSHA Safety Certification
• SP2 Certifications

Collision Repair Technology
The Collision Repair Technology program prepares high school students for entry-level positions as Collision Repair Technicians, or continue their education. Upon successful completion of the program, students are eligible for:

• Northark College Certificate of Proficiency in Collision Repair Technology
• OSHA Safety Certification
• SP2 Certifications
• I-CAR Certifications

Construction Technology
The Construction Technology program prepares high school students for entry-level positions in the construction industry or to continue their education. Upon successful completion of the program, students are eligible for:

• Northark College Certificate of Proficiency in Construction Technology
• Northark College Certificate of Proficiency in Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning
• Northark College Certificate of Proficiency in Workforce Technology
• OSHA Safety Certification
• NCCER Certifications

Medical Professions Education
The Medical Professions Education program prepares high school students for careers in health care professions, including jobs such as Administrative Medical Assistants, Certified Nursing Assistants, and Emergency Medical Technicians. Courses taken also prepare students to continue their education. Upon successful completion of the program, students are eligible for:

• Northark College Certificate of Proficiency in Nursing Assistant
• Northark College Certificate of Proficiency in Administrative Medical Assistant or Emergency Medical Technician
• CNA State Certification
• EMT State License
• CPR Certification

Outdoor Power Equipment
The Outdoor Power Equipment program provides entry-level knowledge and skills to set up, operate and maintain outdoor equipment and technologies commonly used in this industry, including but not limited to mowing equipment, spraying equipment, small engines, ATVs, and UTVs. Upon successful completion of the program, students are eligible for:

• OSHA Safety Certification
• Northark College Certificate of Proficiency in Workforce Technology
• Northark College Technical Certificate in Outdoor Power Equipment Technology

Welding Technology
The Welding Technology program prepares high school students for entry-level positions in the welding industry, or to continue their education. Upon successful completion of the program, students are eligible for:

• Northark College Certificate of Proficiency in Welding Applications & Procedures
• Northark College Certificate of Proficiency in Shielded Metal Arc Welding
• Northark College Certificate of Proficiency in Workforce Technology
• OSHA Safety Certification
• NCCER Certifications

STEMPrep Partnership with the University of Arkansas

The STEM Preparation Program is designed for students at two-year colleges in Arkansas who are interested in a degree in engineering. Through this program, Northark students can take selected University of Arkansas engineering classes online at Northark tuition rates. Interested students should contact Valerie Martin, Department Chair of Math, Science, and Agriculture, at (870) 391-3327.