College Profile
College of the Ouachitas, formerly Ouachita Vocational Technical School (OVTS), located in Malvern, Arkansas, was authorized by the State Board of Education in July, 1969, to serve the vocational training needs of a five-county area surrounding Malvern and Hot Spring County. College of the Ouachitas is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and School, www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org.
In May, 1985, OVTS was designated as a high school vocational center as the state attempted to make vocational education accessible to all Arkansas high school students. Five high school vocational programs were made available to 11 high schools in the area surrounding Malvern. Additionally, various federally funded short-term programs have been offered to meet the employment training needs of the area.
In September of 1988, the Arkansas Business Council Foundation, a group of 19 prominent Arkansas business and industry leaders, issued a report entitled In Pursuit of Excellence that called for "reform of and increased support for our state's system of elementary, secondary, vocational, and higher education." Among the Arkansas Business Council recommendations were transfer of postsecondary vocational programs from the State Board of Education to the State Board of Higher Education (SBHE), expansion of general education programs in the votech schools, development of more sophisticated technical training in close cooperation with business and industry, conversion of existing vo-tech schools into technical colleges or comprehensive community colleges, and support for additional funding of these proposals.
The 1991 Arkansas Legislature responded to In Pursuit of Excellence with a series of Acts centered on Act 1244, the "Two-Year Postsecondary Education Reorganization Act of 1991." OVTS was not included in the original legislation that became Act 1244; but, following a meeting of Malvern and Hot Spring County business leaders, legislators, and OVTS faculty and administrators, Senator George Hopkins introduced separate legislation to designate OVTS as Ouachita Technical College under the coordination of SBHE. This separate legislation (Act 617 of 1991) actually was signed into law before the enabling legislation (Act 1244) was passed; thus, OTC became the first Arkansas technical college.
Transfer from the State Board of Vocational Education to the State Board of Higher Education took place on July 1, 1991. The governing board of Ouachita Technical College was appointed by Governor Bill Clinton in October, 1991, and a President was hired by the Board in August, 1992. In February, 1996, Ouachita Technical College received initial accreditation and in February, 2001, continuing accreditation from The Higher Learning Commission - North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org.
Currently, College of the Ouachitas serves a five-county area in south-central Arkansas. The counties include Clark, Dallas, Grant, Hot Spring, and Saline. College of the Ouachitas service area is more than 50% rural and predominantly white (89%). Nine percent of the population is African-American, and two percent are other ethnicities. Females constitute 51% of the population and males 49%