University of Arkansas Rich Mountain


University of Arkansas Rich Mountain is a public community college in Mena, Arkansas. There are satellite campuses of the college located in Waldron, Wickes, Oden, and Mount Ida that serve Polk, Scott, and Montgomery counties. The college serves the citizens of the Ouachita Mountain Region.

History

UARM was founded in 1973 as the Rich Mountain Vocational-Technical School, where it would serve as an affiliate of the Arkansas Department of Vocational Education. Accepting its first students in 1975, the school enrolled an entering class of approximately 250 students. In 1983, the school was merged with Henderson State University's off-campus program to form Rich Mountain Community College, as part of the establishment of the Polk County community college district. In 1990, it was accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools following 6 years in candidate status and was re-accredited in 2005 with the North Central Association noting it was a "model rural community college".
The forty-acre main campus in Mena includes the new Machine Tool Maintenance Building, St. John's Library, the KRMN-LP 101.1 FM radio station, and the RMCC TV broadcasting studio among the various classroom and administrative offices. Most students major in liberal arts, with business being the second largest concentration.
In February 2017, the college was acquired by the University of Arkansas System and renamed to University of Arkansas Rich Mountain.

Presidents