National Park College
National Park College (NPC) is a public community college in Hot Springs, Arkansas. NPC was founded in 2003 as a result of a merger between Garland County Community College and Quapaw Technical Institute.[2] It is now one of the state's largest community colleges, enrolling 3,000 students annually in credit programs and an additional 3,800 students in non-credit programs. Tuition at NPC is less than half of Arkansas' universities.[3] The name of the college is derived from its location adjacent to Hot Springs National Park.
 | |
Former names | Garland County Community College, Quapaw Technical Institute |
|---|---|
| Motto | Find Your Path |
| Type | Public community college |
| Established | 2003 |
| President | Dr. John Hogan[1] |
Academic staff | 98 |
| Students | 2,768 |
| Location | , , United States 34.51259°N 93.11875°W |
| Campus | suburban |
| Website | www.np.edu |
History
National Park College was founded in 2003 as a result of a merger between Garland County Community College and Quapaw Technical Institute, which had been established in 1973 and 1969, respectively.[2] In 2006, as part of its initial capital campaign, the college received a donation of 1.5 million dollars from Frederick M. Dierks of Hot Springs, who had been associated with a business and owned timberland and produced pulp and paper, and that was sold to Weyerhaeuser in 1969.[4][5] This was the largest cash donation in the history of Arkansas community colleges.[4] These funds were purposed for a new nursing and health sciences facility. By December 2007, the college had raised an additional $900,000 for the campaign and initiated a joint program in early-childhood and middle-school teaching with Henderson State University.[6]
After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, NPC assisted students displaced from their home colleges by either enrolling in its college programs or finding colleges for them to enroll in.[7]
In 1994, when it was known as Garland County Community College, the college was censured by the American Association of University Professors for failure to abide by the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure and 1958 Statement on Procedural Standards in Faculty Dismissal Proceedings.[8] As of September 2015 the censure remains in place.[9]
In 2013, National Park College celebrated two milestone anniversaries: the 40th anniversary of the founding of Garland County Community College (GCCC) and the 10th anniversary of the merger of GCCC with Quapaw Technical Institute that created National Park College.[10]
References
- "NPCC Announces New President". Archived from the original on 2016-01-26.
- "History of NPC". www.np.edu. NPC. 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
- Michael, Wickline (13 January 2018). "Home / News / Arkansas / Arkansas Tech also cages tuition". Arkansas Online. Retrieved 13 January 2018.
- Arkansas Business Staff (2006-12-06). "Dierks Gives $1.5 Million to National Park Community College". ArkansasBusiness.com. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
- Fred and Louise Dierks’ $1.5 Million Gift Allows Integration of Research Laboratories Into New Psychiatry Center Archived 2008-04-12 at the Wayback Machine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences press release, July 28, 2004
- Dasté, Holly (2007-12-05). "National Park enrollment rising 20% next semester". Hot Springs Village Voice. Archived from the original on 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
- Moritz, Robert (2005-09-07). "Arkansas colleges seeing enrollment rise in wake of hurricane". Arkansas News Bureau. Archived from the original on February 11, 2007. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
- Committee A (1996). "Academic Freedom and Tenure: Garland County Community College (Arkansas)" (PDF). Academe. Retrieved 2008-11-27.
- "Censured Administrations". American Association of University Professors. 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-08.
- Bell, Jay (28 October 2013). "Arkansas 2-year College Marks 40th Anniversary". Retrieved 13 January 2018.
