Wade Derden was teaching history at Pulaski Technical College when he became interested in the question that would lead him into higher education administration: what were the factors that led some students to earn advanced education and others to drop out of school?

It was a question that resonated personally with Derden, who had friends and family members who didn't complete high school, while he would go on to earn graduate degrees. And his journey to answer that question led Derden to the public policy interdisciplinary doctoral program at the U of A — and eventually, to his new role as president of National Park College in Hot Springs, where he's using the knowledge he gained from the Public Policy Program to better support his students.

Initially interested in pursuing a doctorate in history, Derden redirected his interests to public policy after his experience at Pulaski Tech, where he saw first-hand the struggles of low-income students.  

"Every day, I saw these students struggling," he said. "It was so different from my experience — even though my family was relatively poor, these students had issues I never understood. I had students that were living in cars. I just wanted to help them more than anything else."

Those student experiences and the factors that influenced their likelihood to earn a college degree became the focus of Derden's research in the Public Policy Program. While in the program, Derden's research was complemented by classes that included fellow students from a variety of disciplines and fields that enriched his knowledge and expanded his perspective.

"In any given class, I could have classmates focused on anything from healthcare policy or criminal justice policy to agriculture policy or environmental policy," he said. "The conversations were rich and from different angles I'd never quite experienced before. There were also a lot of international students in that program, and so there was just a lot of diversity. There was so much to learn beyond what was in the coursework."

For his research project, Derden took factors such as wealth and parents' education and analyzed them on the community level to see if there were commonalities shared among communities. He found that the wealthier a community, the more likely students were to earn college degrees. Not only that, but social networks played a vital role as well.

"Social capital is extremely important to your success," he said. "The wider and richer your network and the more access to income that you have, the more successful you'll be."

Those findings may seem like common knowledge, but Derden saw opportunities to apply his research in unique ways when he began working at National Park College, starting as a chair of the Social Science Division before being named vice president for academic affairs. In that administrator role, he led an effort to improve academic transfer programs, including a transfer degree in social work. This degree led to the addition of licensed social workers on staff who not only assisted students but also brought awareness to student needs such as improving food services and adding a medical clinic on campus through a partnership with a local hospital.

Those efforts have paid dividends. Even with declining incoming enrollment, the college has graduated more students in the past three years than any other year in the past decade.

"I find myself often advocating for students in ways that surprise people," he said. "We're seeing greater success of our students and higher on-time completion rates because we've developed our campus around this idea of creating a strong social network for students. Having access to resources for mental health and healthcare creates a stronger social network for our students, and that in turn creates the groundwork for them to be successful."

In 2023, Derden was promoted to executive vice president for advancement and government relations — a role he was well prepared for thanks to his time in the Public Policy Program.

"The public policy degree has come in handy for me," he said. "I spent more time in the state capitol advocating for the college, and this degree gave me a toolkit to do that."

This spring, Derden was named the fifth president of National Park College — a position he readily admits is new to him, as he is used to being the person who "helps the leader be successful." Now, as the leader of the college, he seeks to chart a path forward focused on diversifying revenues, expanding community support and continuing to support students.

"With my presidency, we've got a great foundation because of our previous president, and my job is going to be to continue elevating our status in the community and state," he said. "At NPC, we have a simple and direct mission statement: 'Learning is our focus; student success is our goal.' I hope to help our campus continue to live up to that mission."