Southeast Arkansas College was created by Act 1244 of the 78th General Assembly of the State of Arkansas, which was signed into law by the Governor on April 17, 1991.
As contained in Act 1244, "The purpose of this Act is to serve as legislative charter . . . for the establishment, organization and administration of a system of educational institutions throughout the state offering courses of instruction in technical, vocational and adult education programs, industry training and two-year college transfer programs. The system established under this Act shall provide educational programs which are easily accessible by all segments of the population to benefit from training, retraining or upgrade training for employment and which is highly responsive to individuals needing to achieve basic, general and specialized education to meet the needs of the workplace."
The Act further states that "technical college means an institution of higher education established under this Act dedicated primarily to the educational needs of the service area offering a comprehensive program including, but without limitation, vocational, trade and technical specialty courses and programs, courses in general adult education and courses comparable in content and quality to freshman and sophomore courses which may carry transfer credit to a four-year institution in a chosen course of study."
The above act re-designated and redefined the mission of eleven (11) existing post-secondary vocational-technical schools located throughout the State to technical colleges. Similarly, state authority for these institutions was transferred from the Arkansas Board of Vocational-Technical Education to the Arkansas Board of Higher Education. The latter serves as the state coordinating agency for all public universities, community colleges and technical colleges in the State of Arkansas.
The predecessor of Southeast Arkansas College was Pines Vocational-Technical School, which began offering postsecondary vocational-technical programs as Arkansas Vocational-Technical School on September 21, 1959. With the enactment of Act 1244, on July 1, 1991, all land, buildings, equipment, and personnel associated with Pines Vocational-Technical School was transferred to Pines Technical College. In October of 1991, the Governor appointed the Charter members of the Pines Technical College Board of Trustees. The College's first president was appointed by the Board of Trustees effective December 1, 1992. In order to better reflect the College’s service area, the College changed its name from Pines Technical College to Southeast Arkansas Technical College on July 1, 1996. The word “Technical” was removed from the College’s name on July 8, 1998.
Mission, Vision & Values
Mission Statement
“SEARK College is committed to building a community of lifelong learners who will become the leaders of tomorrow”
Vision Statement
Vision entails the ability to both look and plan forward—to recognize what is now, to see what is immediately ahead, and to create what will become the future. Our vision statement is our commitment to inspiration:
“Empowering students . . . changing lives”
2018-2019 Strategic Plan (PDF)
Core Values
Core values are unwavering principles that guide an organization’s internal conduct as well as its relationship with the outside world. These values declare what is held sacred to SEARK College:
• Students: The reason we exist
• Safety: Providing a safe and secure learning environment
• Integrity: The standard of always doing what is right
• Authenticity: Being genuine and honest in our daily activities
• Innovation: Expanding our world and refusing to simply maintain the status quo
• Diversity: Our diversity in mind, body, and spirit is our strength
• Transparency and Communication: Our institution is transparent, and communication is recognized as a vital component of how we conduct our business
Key Initiatives
Key Initiatives represent factors that are critical to our plan’s success. Our Key Initiatives are in harmony with the Five Forces: Change and Growth, Education, Economic Workforce Development, Intervention, and Support. Ranked in order of priority, these Key Initiatives are:
1. Reaffirmation of Accreditation: We must ensure our entire campus community is prepared for and fully-engaged in the re-accreditation process that will culminate on March 16 – 18, 2020 when a site team from the Higher Learning Commission (HLC) visits SEARK College.
2. Student Success: Our students will realize increased success through initiatives that promote retention and accelerate completion.
3. Closing the Achievement Gap: We will develop programming that reduces academic achievement gaps—particularly with our low-income and first-generation students.
4. Faculty and Staff Engagement: We will continue to improve our campus culture through focused professional development activities, faculty and staff campus events, and opportunities for fellowship both on and off campus.
5. Student Engagement and Campus Culture: We will build extra-curricular opportunities that will increase student engagement and retention.
6. New Program Development: Our future success is dependent upon relevant and sustainable growth. We will develop and implement new credit and non-credit programs.
7. Technology & Infrastructure: We will continue to invest in contemporary technology for our classrooms, offices, and online learning environment.
8. Community Development: We will further engage our communities and partners throughout SEARK’s six-county service delivery area through literacy initiatives, community education programs, and other value-added collaborations.
9. Non-Traditional Revenue: We will develop new conduits for revenue through grants, contracts, donations, and annual giving campaigns.
10. Campus Facility Improvements: We will develop a plan to construct contemporary learning facilities on our campus.
