Members of the Arkansas Northeastern College Board of Trustees met for their regularly scheduled meeting on Wednesday, October 19, 2022, where ANC President Dr. James Shemwell concluded the meeting by announcing his retirement effective June 30, 2023.
Shemwell, who has served as president of the Arkansas Northeastern College since January 2013, has been with the College since 1994, and began his career as the Director of Training and Coordinator of the Osceola Center. With education and experience in banking and finance he moved up the ranks at the College to the Dean for Technical Programs & Training in 1999 then to Vice President for Finance in 2010, where he served until his promotion to president.
Dr. Shemwell is a college success story. Having left Blytheville High School after his eleventh grade year to attend Arkansas Northeastern College (then Mississippi County Community College), he went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Arkansas State University and was named their “Top Graduate” by Arkansas Business. He later earned a master’s degree in finance from Texas Tech University and a doctorate degree in organizational leadership from the University of Phoenix. He began his professional career two weeks after turning nineteen years old as a small business consultant for Arkansas State University, later holding a similar position at Texas Tech. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he worked in banking, last serving as Vice President of Finance/ Chief Financial Officer at SouthBank in Mississippi County as well as Corinth, Mississippi.
Under his tutelage as president, the Arkansas Northeastern College has gained recognition nationally as a leader in workforce education and as an innovator for impoverished communities. Shemwell has been featured in books and magazines as well as serving as a keynote speaker at national conferences.
“Certainly this institution, this county, this region has Dr. Shemwell’s stamp all over it, even nationally he’s recognized for the work he has done and the innovative programs and services he has forged at ANC,” said ANC Board Member and economic developer Clif Chitwood who served as Chairman of the Board of Trustees when Shemwell was hired as president. “He has far exceeded our expectations of him as a president. When looking back over his career, it is really amazing the many accomplishments he has made and the impact he has had for our workforce here in Mississippi County.”
Current ANC Chairman of the Board of Trustees Mr. Curtis Walker stated “We really hate to see him step down, but we know he has paved the way for the next president to continue what he has started. Dr. James Shemwell will be missed after he retires, but he has certainly earned a rest and we wish him only the best.”
The Board of Trustees voted to launch a presidential search process that should conclude with the naming of the 5th President of ANC in late March or April, who would begin work on July 1, 2023.
Prior to Shemwell’s announcement, the Board conducted its regularly scheduled meeting where they approved a new Youth Engagement Initiative. On September 7, the United States Steel Corporation, through its Big River Steel Works facilities, donated $1 million to area organizations to help equip Mississippi County for the future. Among the grants issued, $80,000 was donated to the ANC Foundation to fund a Youth Engagement Initiative in South Mississippi County for two
years. The crux of the initiative is the notion of neighborhood learning hubs designed to build life skills competencies needed to become successful adults. The primary target audience for the initiative are children in grades K through 3rd grade. The basic idea is to plant seeds in the minds of young impoverished children that their futures are not limited. Also intended is implanting in these
young minds that the College is for everyone, regardless of background. Included among the life-skills competencies to be covered will be establishing the importance of education and lifelong learning, interpersonal/intercultural communication and conflict resolution, career development, and the value of a healthy work ethic. The primary feature of these Youth Engagement Initiative
sessions will be fun activities and games to attract children with the learning component sandwiched in between, such that the initiative is not viewed as more “school.” For this initiative, the Board approved using the $80,000 grant ($40,000 per year) from the U.S. Steel Corporation to the ANC Foundation and an additional investment of $40,000 of College operational funds each of the next two years ($80,000 total) to be expended by the ANC Office of Community Relations to launch and to operate a Youth Engagement Initiative in South Mississippi County, as well as the Blytheville area;
Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Christopher Heigle gave an enrollment report for the fall semester which shows an increase in both headcount and student semester credit hours over fall 2021. Headcount is 1,502 compared to 1,457 in 2021, and credit hours being taken is 12,031 compared to 11,855 in 2021.
In other business, the Board approved the financial statements and the personnel recommendations which included the hiring of the following people for grant-funded positions: Michael Graham Director as for Adult Education, Brandi Leaks as Career Pathways Advisor, and Beth Miller and Miranda Sullivan as Adult Education Instructors.
The Board also ratified the TANF Career Connect Subsidized Employment Program Grant. This Arkansas Department of Workforce Services grant, in the amount of $90,942.91 (previous funding was $117,586), is to continue developing a pilot program titled TANF Career Connect Subsidized Employment Program. The purpose of the grant is to deliver a program that connects recent and
soon-to-be ANC graduates with local employers, so that participants can obtain or maintain employment to allow them to become self-sufficient. Eligible participants are Arkansas’ adult (18 and over) parents, who must have child(ren) under the age of 18 in the home. In addition to being a parent of a custodial child, the individual must be economically disadvantaged as either a current TEA participants, SNAP or Medicaid participants, or have an income less than 150% of Federal Poverty Level. The grant will run from August 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023. The grant will provide funds for student support services to include emergency transportation and supplies required for work, up to $400 per student. In addition to funds paid direct to ANC, DWS will also compensate employers by reducing their labor costs. To receive reimbursement through DWS for hiring a Career Connect participant, the employer must pay the employee a minimum of $11 and a maximum of $15 per hour, and must employ the participant for a minimum of 35 hours per week. Participants must also be recognized and treated as a regular employee, who receives all benefits associated with employment. Employers may be reimbursed for 100% of the employee’s first month wages and 50% of wages for months two through six. If the employee is retained for a full year, then the other 50% of wages for months two through six are reimbursed.
The continuation of the Career Coach Grant from the Arkansas Department of Elementary & Secretary Education (DESE) - Career & Technical Education in the amount of $240,674.00 for the 2022-23 academic years was also approved. This grant is designated for the purpose of ensuring
that area students in grades 8-12 have the opportunity and support needed to increase their knowledge, skills, and educational attainment by providing them with college and career guidance. This grant from DESE will provide 50% of the funds needed to support full-time career coaches at Armorel, Gosnell, Blytheville, Osceola, and Rivercrest. The remaining costs for the program will be divided between the school district partners and the college. Activities supported by the grant will include career exploration, college visits/enrollment assistance, and workplace readiness experiences.
Dr. Heigle also updated the Board regarding the student experience in a post pandemic world. As students have continued to prefer more digital learning and supportive services, instructors, advisors, and staff have found it increasingly difficult to facilitate quality interactions with students outside of the classroom. In response to these growing challenges, ANC identified a promising solution from a new company with a nationally-praised product known as EdSights. Launching in
2019, EdSights sought to create an artificial intelligence framework to help students navigate the intricacies of higher education. The chatbot developed into a full-scale solution, targeting the three primary indicators for student persistence (motivation, self-efficacy, and mattering). Arkansas Northeastern College’s chatbot is officially known as Ray (the ANC mascot), and although the software has drastically improved engagement with our students, the most important component of the software is the statistical modeling proprietary to EdSights which builds a predictive model of student persistence using student behavioral indicators. Basically, Ray texts the students and the students text back. The software then builds a model of the student’s wellbeing using those responses and notifies ANC staff of students that may require additional services and supports. So far, Ray has been a tremendous success in terms of student response. The opt-in rate for students desiring texts from Ray is 98%. Since his launch in August, Ray has texted to students four separate but specifically targeted texts, and ANC has received valuable and timely information from each of these text events which helped staff intervene with the appropriate support (academic, financial, transportation, mental health, etc.). Because Ray the Chatbot is a form of artificial intelligence capable of machine learning, the more input/data that Ray receives, the more precise the chatbot is with responses and better able to predict student behavior.
