Colleagues,

I am very pleased to share that the College of the Ouachitas (COTO) Board of Trustees voted late Tuesday to join the Arkansas State University System.

Subject to approval of the ASU Board of Trustees and the Higher Learning Commission, COTO would become the sixth member institution in the ASU System. Located in Malvern in southwest Arkansas, COTO would help fulfill a goal to expand the geographical scope of the system across the state. I will work with COTO President Steve Rook to develop a merger agreement, and we anticipate a joint board meeting sometime in March. Our goal is for COTO to officially become part of the ASU System in January following the HLC review process.

I am very grateful to the College of the Ouachitas board and Dr. Rook for choosing to align with the ASU System, and I appreciate the confidence they are placing in our system.  The college has researched system alignment for several years and conducted a very thorough analysis of available options. I am absolutely thrilled they concluded the ASU System is the best fit.

COTO has a rich history of providing high quality educational programs to residents of south-central Arkansas, and I am confident that our partnership will only further elevate those offerings and opportunities.  The ASU System is committed to developing collaborative relationships that promote greater operational efficiencies while maintaining strong local autonomy.  I believe that COTO is a perfect fit for our system, and I am eager to get started working together.  I have absolutely no doubt that this partnership will be beneficial for the ASU System, COTO and our entire state.

Our ASU Board of Trustees chair, Niel Crowson, said: “This is very exciting news for the ASU System.  When the Board of Trustees originally created a system, and ultimately chose to locate in Little Rock, there was a goal of promoting growth and development across our state. The addition of College of the Ouachitas will now allow our system to provide even more opportunities to Arkansans across a much larger geographic area.  This partnership will undoubtedly produce more educated Arkansans while facilitating more efficient operations.  This is a significant day for our system, and I look forward to being on the COTO campus very soon.”

COTO has a five-county service area of Hot Spring, Saline, Clark, Grant and Dallas Counties. It partners with high schools in Benton, Bismarck, Bryant, Glen Rose, Magnet Cove, Malvern, Poyen and Sheridan to offer concurrent core courses. Additionally, COTO will staff the new 120,000-square-foot Saline County Career and Technical Center that will funded by a recently approved county sales tax and open by 2021 to serve some 500 students.

I hope you will join me in welcoming COTO’s faculty, staff and students to the ASU System in the months to come. We appreciate all you do to contribute to the outstanding reputation of our existing ASU System institutions for educating and graduating students, and I am confident COTO will be an excellent addition.

Chuck

Dr. Chuck Welch
President
Arkansas State University System