Culinary course to see fee increase

Brightwater program supply costs to drop

BENTONVILLE — Northwest Arkansas Community College culinary students will soon be paying more in fees but less for supplies.

Brightwater: A Center for the Study of Food, the college’s culinary program, will see course fees increase from $150 to $265 per course next year.

It was one of three fee increases the college board approved at its meeting Monday. The other two included changing the $20 application fee to a $10 registration fee per semester and increasing the $2 security fee to $3 per student semester credit hour. The security fee also was renamed the Student Health and Safety Fee.

The board voted 5-2 to approve the changes. Board members Debra Hobbs and Mark Scott voted against them. Culinary students will see cost decreases to their textbooks, knife kits and other supplies, which will make the fee increase “pretty neutral,” said Debi Buckley, vice president of finance and administration.

The fee increase will be used to buy more local and organic food and allow the program to be more sustainable and conscious of what’s bought, said Kelly Eubanks, program coordinator. The new facility on Southeast Eighth Street also has more kitchens.

“There’s a lot more that goes into it now than the previous program,” Eubanks said. Eubanks is a 2011 culinary graduate.

She said textbooks will be reduced from $1,400 to $400 for the program. She also compared costs to the culinary program at Pulaski Technical College where lab fees are $500 per course, text books are $2,490, uniforms cost $300 and knife kits are $288.

Brightwater’s costs are $50 to $150 less in each category, Eubanks said.

“We are definitely the most inexpensive associate degree [culinary] program, really, in the entire country, with the most magnificent facility,” she said.

Mike Shupe, board member, encouraged other board members to go out and see the new building.

“That is an awesome facility,” he said. “That fee is nothing compared to what they get.”

“If we’re a top-notch quality program, is this [fee] enough?” board member Joe Spivey queried.

“Right now, this is really all we need,” Eubanks said.

The technology at Brightwater is “extraordinary,” Buckley said, adding $15 of the $265 fee is for technology and support.

Board member Mark Scott questioned Buckley regarding the switch from an application fee to a registration fee.

“The cost that will be paid by current students will take the place of the fee that was being paid by prospective students,” Scott said, explaining the cost for resources needed to help prospective students attend NWACC were going to be passed on to students already there.

Buckley said the switch will simplify the process and allow students to add it to their financial aid.

“It will simplify the record keeping for everyone,” she said.

The Student Health and Safety Fee is more descriptive because the fee is used to provide counseling services as well as security to students, Buckley said. The fee will increase from $2 to $3 to help meet the increase in counseling services needed.

“This increase will allow us to meet the rising demands of safety, health and welfare services demanded by both the state and the Department of Education,” Buckley said.