Kuttenkuler chosen to head CTE Center starting Monday

Arkansas State University Three Rivers has announced the appointment of Scott Kuttenkuler as the new Assistant Vice Chancellor for the Saline County Career and Technical Educational Center. Kuttenkuler will oversee all operations of the Saline County campus.

Kuttenkuler will assume the position Monday.

He has been in Arkansas higher education in a variety of roles for the past 18 years,and most recently served as the vice president for student affairs at Southeast Arkansas College in Pine Bluff. In this capacity he provides administrative oversight of the college’s efforts in recruitment, admissions, registrar/student record management, retention, concurrent enrollment, student conduct, early alert intervention program, testing, student activities, veteran affairs, disability services, career services, TRIO student support services and campus security.

In addition, he serves as the campus liaison to the Jefferson Area Technical Career Center and provides administrative support of five career coaches that are located in high schools throughout Southeast Arkansas.

Prior to Seark College, Kuttenkuler was with the University of Arkansas at Monticello for 13 years serving in different roles, including the associate vice chancellor for student affairs/ dean of students/director of residence life, director of governmental relations, director of advancement/university relations and initially as a debate coach/speech instructor.

“This is a project like no other in Arkansas. The vision and commitment of the citizens of Saline County to make this investment is amazing,” Kuttenkuler said.

“I am excited to get started and

to do all that I can to foster the development of skill-sets, mindsets and opportunities for the future students of the Saline County Career and Technical campus.”

The campus will serve students from Bauxite, Benton, Bryant, Glen Rose, Harmony Grove and Sheridan school districts. Students will be able to take classes related to careers while they are enrolled in high school. Jerrod Williams, superintendent of the Sheridan School District, expressed his enthusiasm in the hiring of Mr. Kuttenkuler.

“The Yellowjacket Nation is looking forward to working with Mr. Kuttenkuler in his new role [at] the Saline County Campus,” Williams

said.

“His wealth of experience in higher education and strong leadership skills make him an excellent choice to oversee the operations of the new Campus.”

The Saline County Career and Technical campus is the product of an innovative partnership involving six area school districts, Saline County municipalities, the Saline County judge, state legislators, the Saline County Economic Development Corporation,and Arkansas State University Three Rivers. Students will have the opportunity to take classes in 10 pathways.

Bryant Superintendent Karen Walters shared that the Campus “will provide our local high school students with job training and technical knowledge for careers in skilled trades after graduation.

The students will gain career preparation and employability training to prepare them for a successful future. They can directly enter the workforce with the ability to earn a high wage or with the skills needed to continue their education.

“The (campus) is not only a direct benefit to students, but also local industry. Having a high skilled workforce that starts their careers prepared, increases productivity and decreases training costs,” Williams added.

Lamont Cornwell, executive director of the Saline County Economic Development Commission, expressed his confidence in the hire as well.

“From the beginning of our dream to build the Saline County Career and Technical Campus, I knew we had to have the right person to not only work with our six school

districts and ASU Three Rivers, but be able to communicate our vision to the citizens of our county,” Cornwell said. “We had to have the right person that would fulfill the dream of ‘Together, we can make a difference.’ Scott Kuttenkuler is that person.”

The position is being funded by the six Saline County school districts attending the secondary career center.

Kuttenkuler graduated from the University of Central Missouri with a master’s degree in communications with a concentration in training and seminar development and earned his bachelor’s degree in corporate communications. He has been married to Amanda Kuttenkuler for 19 years and they have two sons, Beau, 18, and Gabe, 15.