A Calling 1 | Page 50

HIGHER EDUCATION, LOWER PRICE Engaging in students’ lives today for a successful tomorrow NORTHWEST ARKANSAS COMMUNITY COLLEGE (NWACC) is empowering lives through affordable, quality education. Small class sizes and personalized instruction are designed to prepare you for success. NWACC’s main campus is in Bentonville, and its new state-of-the-art learning center in Springdale begins welcoming students in 2020. The center will provide general education courses, health professions programs and student services. It will also serve as headquarters for NWACC’s Early College Experience program, which offers concurrent college credit for area high school students. NWACC offers more than 75 technical certificates and two-year associate degree programs in various subjects, including business 48 | FAYETTEVILLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE management, graphic design, computer programming, criminal justice, culinary arts, and two of the area’s most in-demand careers, nursing and construction management. Dena Stone was one of the first graduates of the construction management and building sciences program. She works as a construction project manager for the college and oversees the planning, design and construction of new buildings. Stone says she didn’t plan on a career in construction. “I grew up on a farm and always enjoyed working outside and taking agriculture classes, but construction wasn’t a field many women thought about at the time, so I focused more on business,” she said.