NPC Board Moves Forward With Residence Halls, Food Service
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.
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.
