University will offer more degree programs at Leesville campus.
The signing of the memorandum of understanding addendum will take place at 1:30 p.m. Monday, April 27 in the courtyard of the NSU-Leesville campus with Garrison Commander Colonel T. Glenn Moore and Northwestern State President Dr. James Henderson. Tours of the campus will be available following the signing.
The agreement allows NSU to streamline management of the Army’s postsecondary voluntary education programs and will offer courses at dates and times that meet the needs of military students, their families and Department of the Army Civilians and civilians at the Army Education Center.
“Northwestern State aligned programs to fill some of the education gaps that had been identified in the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Polk Education Needs Assessment. We now are approved to offer the programs,” said Jason Parks, executive director of NSU’s Cenla and Fort Polk campuses. “This extension recognizes the needs of students and the Fort Polk community.”
“We’ve enjoyed a long relationship with Northwestern State University in pursuit of broadening the educational opportunities for Fort Polk soldiers and family members,” Moore said. “I’m pleased that we are expanding this relationship. The additional programs NSU will offer right here at the Fort Polk campus are going to be a boon for our families in achieving their higher education goals.”
“We at Northwestern State are proud of our military-friendly history,” said NSU President Dr. Jim Henderson. “Northwestern State’s agreement with Fort Polk plays an important role in supporting economic development at the local, state and national levels. This agreement illustrates the university’s willingness to support our military by providing improved access to programs and services that will follow them in their military careers.”
Northwestern State and Fort Polk have had a relationship since 1968 when NSU established its Leesville campus on land donated by Fort Polk and agreed to provide education services to prospective or enrolled students at the army installation. As part of the agreement, NSU built classroom buildings, a library and administrative offices. Since then, Northwestern State has provided academic support to new and previously enrolled military students, family members, the Department of Army civilians and civilians at the Army Education Center.
“These services help prospective and enrolled students complete educational goals successfully,” Parks said. “We strive to teach as many courses as possible on evenings and weekends and often enough so that a student can complete a degree in minimum time.”
Northwestern State is a member of the Service Members Opportunity College Army Degrees (SOCAD) in which institutions like Northwestern State offer associate and bachelor’s degrees to soldiers, their spouses and adult children worldwide. The colleges have flexible policies that allow mobile soldiers and their families to complete degrees without suffering loss of credit and offer both traditional and distance-learning delivery tailored to military experience and training.
“We all know that military students, with their transitory lifestyles, face a variety of challenges in completing college degrees,” Moore said. “Thanks, NSU, for listening to what our soldiers want and need for themselves and their families.”
In case of inclement weather, the signing will take place in Room 1 Building 551 of Northwestern State’s Leesville-Fort Polk campus. The campus is located at 3329 University Parkway in Leesville.
For more information on the signing for the Memorandum of Understanding Addendum, contact Northwestern State’s Director of Informational Services Leah Jackson at (318) 357-4553 or e-mail jacksonl@nsula.edu. For information on the Leesville-Fort Polk campus, visit leesville.nsula.edu.
Press Release: Leah Jackson, Northwestern State University
04/22/2015
