The Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board (AHECB) voted on Friday, Oct. 29, to recognize the Arkansas Tech Institute as a non-formula unit of Arkansas Tech University.
The decision is one step in a process that aims to create a non-credit educational and training entity that would utilize career coaching, prior learning assessment, work-based learning opportunities and micro credentials to connect adult learners, underemployed workers and unemployed individuals with career advancement and support economic development in the Arkansas River Valley.
According to information provided by ATU and reviewed by the coordinating board, the workforce development efforts of the Arkansas Tech Institute “will be implemented and sustained through collaborative regional partnerships with public and private entities, including ATU and other higher education institutions, chambers of commerce, industry partners, K-12 public schools, the Arkansas Division of Workforce Services, adult education providers and third-party education and training providers.”
Business, engineering, emergency management, agriculture, health care, technical programs and computer science are among the disciplines that could be included in the programming provided by the Arkansas Tech Institute.
