School briefs

NPC to hold ITC grand opening

National Park College will host a grand opening Thursday at 2 p.m. for the new Innovative Technologies Center, located at 2233 Albert Pike.

The event is open to the public. ITC staff will provide demonstrations of CNC machining, drones, industrial robotics and controllers.

Speakers will include NPC Board of Trustees Chairman Forrest Spicher, NPC President John Hogan, ITC Director William Polk and Maria Markham, director of the Arkansas Department of Higher Education.

The ITC is funded by a $894,000 Regional Workforce Training Grant from ADHE. The center’s primary goal is to align workforce development and academic programs with

regional economic development strategies to meet the needs of local and regional employers and prepare a workforce with the skills to be competitive in the 21st century workplace.

MPHS alum advances in cyber competition

LITTLE ROCK — Mountain Pine High School graduate Zachary Long, of Hot Springs, was a member of a cybersecurity team from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to advance to the second round of the Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition.

UALR was among 20 teams from Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico to compete in a virtual qualifying round on Feb. 18. Squads from eight universities advanced to compete in the southwest regional Friday through Sunday in Tulsa, Okla.

“This was a great achievement for our CCDC team, considering that only two members participated in last year’s competition and we had as many as six new members join this year,” said team coach Yanyan Li. “They played as a team helping each other and secured our servers from being attacked.”

During the competition, students assume the administrative and protective duties for a commercial network. While the team runs the companies, it must defend its networks against attacks from a professional team of penetration testers, who find security vulnerabilities in web-based applications, networks and systems.

Frank graduates from Southwest Baptist

BOLIVER, MO. — John Frank, of Hot Springs, recently graduated from Southwest Baptist University during its winter commencement exercises.

Frank graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Newcomb, Sprinkle graduate from UAM

MONTICELLO — Two local graduates were among 335 students at the University of Arkansas at Monticello to be presented 351 awards during commencement exercises in December, according to information released by the UAM registrar’s office.

Ashley Newcomb, of Royal, earned an Associate of Arts degree.

Steven Sprinkle, of Amity, earned a Bachelor of Arts degree.

ASU approves revised Mexico campus pact

JONESBORO — The Arkansas State University Board of Trustees recently approved an updated collaboration agreement with a not-for-profit partner that is building a $100 million campus in Queretaro, Mexico, which will open for classes in August.

ASU System President Chuck Welch said the original agreement with Arkansas State University CQ, A.C., in 2014 addressed the campus plans conceptually. The new agreement outlines more specifics about the operations, including financial matters, personnel, academics and safety.

“As our legal counsel told us, this provides all the protections our university would want and assurances our partner would want,” Welch said. “When the original agreement was written, we had not turned a single shovel of dirt. We developed an agreement about what could be, and now this is about what is.”

A-State CQ is the first American residential campus in Mexico and the first university to award degrees recognized in both the United States and Mexico. Welch said cumulative revenue to A-State could total $140 million over 20 years assuming flat enrollment after 10 years.

U of A Health Center celebrates expansion

FAYETTEVILLE — Preliminary work to expand the Pat Walker Health Care Center at the University of Arkansas began in January and the $15 million construction and renovation project is expected to be completed by fall 2018.

The project will add 20,000 square feet to the building and further extend the reach of the health center and the impact it has on the campus community. The new addition is expected to open spring 2018.

The expansion and renovation will include three new academic classrooms that can be combined into a 200-seat classroom, space for the Women’s Clinic on the first floor, 100 percent increase in dedicated space for Counseling and Psychological Services, larger dedicated space for Wellness and Health Promotion and Administrative Services, improved efficiency and renovated space for the Primary Care Clinic and Allergy, Immunization and Travel Clinic.

The center opened its doors in 2004.