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NPC Board Moves Forward With Residence Halls, Food Service

Site plan by Servitas for residence halls for NPC.

National Park College (NPC) Board of Trustees approved resolutions to enter into contract negotiations for residence halls and food services during their regular monthly meeting Wednesday.

Site plan from Servitas of residence halls for NPC.Servitas was selected to build and operate on-campus housing. A comprehensive feasibility study completed by the vendor revealed a significant demand for affordable housing options. Survey results indicated more than half of the 586 respondents were ages 17-24, 86 percent of which would consider on-campus housing. One quarter of all respondents commute more than 40 miles each day to attend NPC and 15 percent travel more than 60 miles daily.

Demand is estimated at 237 beds. Servitas is recommending the College start with a 52,000 square foot 180 bed facility. Housing fees are estimated to be approximately $575-$725 monthly depending on the type of unit. The project will incur no upfront costs and a land lease agreement is expected to provide a modest return to NPC annually. The College has set a goal to have construction completed by the fall semester of 2020.

Dr. John Hogan said he considers on-campus housing an investment in retention and student success. “Residence halls on campus will allow us to attract a new market of students. It is also an economic investment. Our ultimate goal is to retain those students in our community so they learn here, earn here and pour back into our local economy.”

Chartwells was selected to offer food services. The vendor will be housed in the new student commons building that is expected to be completed next summer and will also include a café and coffee bar and optional catering services. Jerry Thomas, vice president for student affairs and enrollment management said quality food options improves a student’s overall campus experience which helps with attracting new students to campus. The move will provide a variety of quality healthy food options for students, faculty and staff at an affordable rate. Students will be able to purchase meal plans using financial aid funds.

NPC will receive commissions from each sale and from catering events. Chartwells plans to have an on campus chef with a staff of approximately 15 employees. They currently provide dining services to Lake Hamilton, Lakeside, Cutter-Morning Star and Hot Springs school districts.

Board chairman, Forrest Spicher reminded the Board of the many successes the campus has accomplished in recent years and spoke of his excitement for the change ahead. “I am fully supportive of the idea for these reasons. Higher education is becoming more and more competitive. For students just graduating high school and the non-traditional student, there are a lot of options out there, a lot of options, and we need to try to capture as many of those students as we can. Residence halls and all the other investments we’ve made have been part of that.”

Attached is a preliminary rendering of the proposed site plan for a three-story residential unit located west of the Fisher Campus Center on Mid-America Boulevard.