News Release

From:  Micki Somers                                                  Phone: 870-391-3242
Director of Public Relations & Development                   E-Mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Date      FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
________________________________________________________________________:  July 7, 2010                                   

NORTHARK PRESIDENT JEFF OLSON TO RETIRE JUNE 30, 2011

HARRISON - Dr. Jeff Olson will retire as president of North Arkansas College on June 30, 2011, at the end of the 2010-2011 academic year.  The 66-year-old Wisconsin native has served as Northark’s chief executive officer since July 1, 2001.

“As I reflect on my years of service to North Arkansas College, I am proud of that service and pleased with the growth and development of our college,” Olson said.  “Northark is the preeminent force for economic, community, and workforce development within our service area, and our programs and our graduates are highly regarded.”

College trustees are scheduled to begin organizing the search for the next college president during their board retreat, which will be held Thursday evening and Friday morning in the Community First Bank Partners Room in the Durand Center.

During Olson’s tenure, enrollment at North Arkansas College has increased nearly 34 percent, from 1,817 in the fall of 2000 to a record enrollment of 2,429 students this past fall.  According to the college’s admissions office, registration numbers are currently running about 200 students ahead of last fall’s pace.

Under Olson’s leadership, Northark added an 11,000-square-foot, $3.8 million Allied Health Addition in 2009, and on August 26 will dedicate the newly renovated Bradley Student Center on its South Campus.  The college also purchased the former Regions Plaza in 2005 and renovated the bank portion of the facility into the L.E. “Gene” Durand Center, a 22,000-square-foot multipurpose facility which was completed in 2008.  That same year, Northark opened its Carroll County Center in Berryville. 

Northark has been very successful in resource development during Olson’s time as president.  The college received a $2 million, five-year federal Title III grant in 2006 to promote student success and retention.  The highly competitive award has funded programs and equipment enhancing instructional technology, faculty development, and student and academic support.

More than $1.2 million in federal appropriations have come to North Arkansas College under Olson, the first federal earmarks in the college’s history.  Northark also has received more than $2 million in state general improvement funds over just the past two legislative sessions, and private giving through the North Arkansas College Foundation has topped $4 million during Olson’s time in Harrison.

Through retirements and reorganization under Olson’s leadership, the college reduced its number of senior administrators from six to four, and reorganized its academic staff, replacing division chairs with deans and creating lead instructors in various disciplines.

Olson is the second president in Northark’s history.  He followed Dr. Bill Baker, the college’s founding president, who started March 1, 1974, and retired June 30, 2001.

Prior to coming to Northark, Olson served six years as president of Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College in Orangeburg, South Carolina.   Previously, he was dean of occupational education at Coastal Carolina Community College from 1989 to 1991 and vice president of instruction at the same institution from 1991 until accepting the presidency at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College in 1995.

A graduate of the prestigious Community College Leadership Program at the University of Texas in Austin with a Ph.D. in educational administration, Olson's first degree came from a community college.  He majored in marketing and received an associate of applied science degree from Milwaukee Area Technical College in 1967.  He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a master of science in business education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Early in his 38-year community college career, Olson taught for nine years at a two-year college.  He was a classroom instructor at Northcentral Technical College in Wausau, Wis., teaching several different business-related classes, before moving into academic administration.

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For more information, contact Micki Somers, Director of Public Relations & Development, North Arkansas College at (870) 391-3242 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .