MSCC to Discuss Possible Merger with Arkansas State University

Mid-South Community College’s Board of Trustees has voted unanimously to engage in formal conversations with the Arkansas State University System to investigate the possibility of a merger.

“We have carefully considered the opportunities for continued growth and long-term success of Mid-South Community College and believe as a board that a merger could help us do more for our city, county, and region,” said Chair Mary Meux Toney, who has been a trustee since the College’s inception.

“Dr. Fenter and his staff have done a wonderful job in taking us further than anyone ever imagined, and now we see the need to consider additional support at a very important time in our region’s history.”

If the merger were to happen, MSCC would likely become known as Arkansas State University Mid-South.

The ASU System currently features campuses/presences in Jonesboro, Beebe, Mountain Home, Newport, Searcy, Marked Tree, Heber Springs, Paragould, and the Little Rock Air Force Base.

“Arkansas State University’s stock has risen dramatically in the last decade, as has Mid-South Community College’s,” said MSCC President Dr. Glen Fenter. “There are some things going on right now in a very narrow window that we must capitalize on while the opportunities are available to us. We can’t afford to look back a year from now and wish we had done something differently.”

“A merger with the ASU System could potentially give us the edge that we’ve never had on our own. If it is approached in the right way, I think it has the potential to become a very powerful catalyst for our region to maximize some great opportunities.”

Dr. Fenter said MSCC has managed to reach the pinnacle of workforce training and education because of its ability to foster partnerships throughout the region.

“If this institution has been an example of anything, it is the power of partnerships, whether you chronicle the humble beginnings of the nationally-recognized biodiesel program, the world-wide listenership of the KWEM radio station, the recent $9.8 million TAACCCT IV grant, or the $65 million in resources that has been brought to a consortium of two-year colleges that has set the model now for the entire state.”

“Everyone recognizes that we are at a place that is desirable for an institution, one where it would be easy to just talk about how cool we are, but because of our accomplishments, we also have an elevated sense of responsibility to continue to maximize our opportunities for the communities that we serve.”

Two opportunities in particular – the Big River Steel project and the workforce training efforts by the Greater Memphis Alliance for a Competitive Workforce – require immediate attention.

“Mississippi County has now created the potential for something like 3,000 jobs in the last six months, jobs that can forever change eastern Arkansas. We have an opportunity that hasn’t existed in our lifetime. Some of the companies that will come to this area in support of Big River would like to locate in Crittenden County, but they have to have a reason. We have to create those opportunities, and having ASU in our corner would be a great asset.”

“Our involvement in the GMACW puts us in a very good position to engineer unparalleled growth opportunities in eastern Arkansas. We have to embrace the potential power of what Memphis represents just as DeSoto County, Miss., did. That whole region represents one of the fastest-growing retail markets in the nation.”

“The good news is that growth is not over; it’s not stopping. It simply has to have a reason to redirect itself. We have to find ways to be attractive to those folks, and having an alliance with Arkansas State would strengthen our ability to affect positive change.”

MSCC’s president pointed out that the time to act is now.

“In the next five years, there could be as many as least six automotive plants reshoring in the South, giving states like Arkansas the chance to reinvent a part of their economic future. For us to be one of those states, or to attract any other significant economic development opportunity, we have to have a skilled workforce in place. The concept of jobs coming back to this country through reshoring is the greatest opportunity for job growth that the South’s ever had.”

“If we’re going to participate in that, we must have all of our ducks in a row. There probably won’t be any second chances. We have to do some bold things to make certain that we capture every opportunity we can. If we do this right, we have a chance to skip a couple of decades’ worth of normal progress because we accelerated our model.”

Dr. Fenter said one of the key points of any merger agreement will be local autonomy. In its “Membership Benefits” document, the Arkansas State University System asserts a commitment to allowing “significant autonomy to each member campus,” including the appointment of a local board and the freedom for campuses to develop or maintain their unique identity, mission and purpose.
“If our board members determine that a merger would be of benefit, the Board of Trustees would become a ‘Board of Visitors’ and would remain intact. They would have similar responsibilities to what they have now.”

Dr. Fenter said the board has assured him that it will not vote to merge “until we get the agreement the way we like it.”

He said the College’s organizational structure would remain the same, except that the president would become a chancellor.

“We’re not plowing brand new ground,” Dr. Fenter said. “There have been a number of people who have chosen this option for their institutions for the last couple of decades.”

Fenter emphasized that any merger agreement would not include additional funding to MSCC in the short run.

“It doesn’t mean more money; it means we could have more people rowing our boat. Arkansas State University needs a presence in economic development and workforce training, and they know we are viewed as a leader in the state in those efforts. We need their support to help us speed up changing the state’s funding formula for workforce training-related efforts.”

“At the end of the day, their resources as a system can’t help but positively impact what we’re doing, and I can think of a 1,000 benefits in our direction. I am absolutely, totally convinced that pursuing this merger is the right thing for us to do and believe it’s a tremendously exciting and powerful opportunity for our students, faculty, staff and the region that we serve.”

Academic All-Star Beats Odds, Shines Brightly

By his own admission, Mid-South Community College student Treyvon Olden is unaccustomed to recognition for academic success. To this point in his life, most of the 19-year-old’s accolades have come from athletic endeavors. So when he earned our institution’s highest honor for a student, he had a simple question – why?
 

The answer is also very simple; the story behind it is much more complex. Treyvon Olden is a classic example of why Mid-South Community College exists. Raised in a one-parent home in a rough section of Memphis, Olden’s prospects for the future looked bleak at best. He has described his surroundings as hostile and has shared that he felt he came from a “generation that’s cursed. My father’s father was not in his life, and my father was not in my life. My father really didn’t want to have anything to do with me.”