The Campus
Arkansas Tech University-Ozark Campus is the regional provider for technical and career
education, offering more than 25 programs with a variety of industry specific options,
as well as certificates of proficiency, technical certificates, associate degrees
and general education coursework.
The campus, which is more than 26 acres and includes a half-mile exercise path and
disc golf course, is located along Arkansas Highway 23 North in Ozark, Arkansas. The
city of Ozark, with a population of approximately 3,500, is located on the banks of
the Arkansas River and surrounded to the north by the Ozark National Forest and to
the south by the Ouachita National Forest. Located to the west of Ozark is the city
of Fort Smith, a commercial and industrial center for western Arkansas. To Ozark's
northwest are the cities of Fayetteville, Springdale, Rogers and Bentonville, collectively
known as some of the fastest growing commercial centers in the state. Russellville,
home to Arkansas Tech University's main campus and an area of vigorous industrial
development, is located to the southeast of Ozark on Interstate 40.
The Ozark Campus oversees the Arkansas Tech Career Center in Russellville and Adult
Education programs in Franklin, Logan and Johnson counties, giving Arkansas Tech-Ozark
104 full-time faculty and staff members and more than 25 adjunct instructors.
History
Arkansas Tech University-Ozark was created as Arkansas Valley Vocational Technical
School by an act of the Arkansas General Assembly in 1965.
In 1975, the Arkansas State Board of Education/Vocational Education granted accreditation
to AVVTS, making it the first school of its kind in the state to receive that distinction.
The campus was renamed Arkansas Valley Technical Institute (AVTI) in 1991.
On July 1, 2003, AVTI merged with Arkansas Tech University to become the Arkansas
Valley Technical Institute of Arkansas Tech University.
On July 1, 2007, the campus was renamed Arkansas Tech University - Ozark Campus.
In 2011, the Arkansas Valley Technical Center in Russellville merged with Arkansas
Tech University-Ozark Campus to form the Arkansas Tech Career Center (ATCC), which
offers programs in 10 career pathways leading to high skill, high demand jobs, striving to
help build a well-prepared workforce that supports economic development across the
River Valley Region.
The Career Center is one of the largest secondary career and technical centers in
Arkansas serving nearly 1000 high school students at the ATCC Russellville Campus
as well as the satellite campuses located in Clarksville, Danville, Ozark and Paris.
Students arrive from Atkins, Clarksville, County Line, Danville, Dardanelle, Dover,
Hector, Lamar, Magazine, Oark, Ozark, Paris, Pottsville, Russellville, Scranton, Two
Rivers, Western Yell County, and Westside Johnson County high schools to earn concurrent
credit and recognized industry credentials.
For the fall 2003 semester, Arkansas Tech-Ozark had a student population of 307.
In the fall 2018 semester, enrollment was 2,115 (up almost 700 percent since joining
the Tech family in 2003) and an average class size of 25.
General Education Goals
The general education curriculum is designed to provide a foundation for knowledge
common to educated people and to develop the capacity for an individual to expand
that knowledge over his or her lifetime.
Students who have completed the general education curriculum at Arkansas Tech University
will be able to:
- Communicate effectively
- Think critically
- Develop ethical perspectives
- Apply scientific and quantitative reasoning
- Apply the value of the arts and humanities
- Practice Civic Engagement
*See "General Education Requirements"
