Perceptions of senior and mid-level leaders involved in the mergers of vocational technical institutes and institutions of higher education in Arkansas since 2003

The expansion of educational opportunities in Arkansas has led to many educational changes since the inception of public postsecondary institutions in 1862. Most recently, Act 1244 of 1991(Acts of Arkansas, 1991) authorized the vocational-technical schools created through ACT 328 of 1957(Acts of Arkansas, 1957) to become stand-alone technical colleges or to merge with existing community colleges.;This study investigated the perceptions concerning the impact of the education institution organizational changes brought about by ACT 1244 of 1991 as held by senior and mid-level leaders of those merging institutions. The study obtained the perceptions of these organizational leaders through the focus on the following research questions concerning these mergers since 2003: (1) What advantages were gained by the mergers? (2) What disadvantages were realized by the mergers? (3) What forces were behind the decision to merge institutions? (4) What obstacles were overcome in creating the mergers? (5) What would be done differently in a future merger situation? (6) What on-going issues are you experiencing as a result of the merger?;Although there has been some limited research conducted to document the political climate in the state of Arkansas which resulted in the virtual elimination of vocational-technical schools (Dunavin, 2003), there has been no research to investigate the impact these mergers had on the state or education in general. People assumed that these mergers would create educational institutions that were more fiscally efficient in meeting the educational needs of the state. Furthermore, these people assumed that the new institutions would provide the variety and quality of career and technical educational opportunities to meet the economic development needs of the state.;This study found that these senior leaders believed that the merging of the vocational-technical schools with colleges and universities resulted in stronger and more comprehensive educational institutions for the state of Arkansas. However, these leaders also believed that financial savings have not been realized due to the grandfathering of personnel and programs, which resulted in duplication. This grandfathering clause was a concession in the legislative merger approval processes for these institutions.