Three Board of Trustees seats were up for election on the March 3 ballot, and the results were positive for the current office-holders. Trustee Ashley Pointer retained her NWACC Board of Trustee seat for Zone 1 with 56.71% for a total of 1,449 votes, according to preliminary results issued Tuesday night. Pointer’s opponent, Angela Calix, received 1,106 votes. In Zone 5, Trustee Ron Branscum retained his position receiving 56.81% or 993 votes. Branscum’s opponent Peter Bailey received 755 votes. Trustee Amber Latimer ran unchallenged in Zone 8 therefore retaining her trustee position.
Nine individuals from Rogers and Bentonville school districts (the college district) serve on the Board of Trustees. The trustees are chosen by voters in the geographic zones they represent. According to the college’s 2025-26 fact book, members of the Board of Trustees of NorthWest Arkansas Community College are elected by zone in groups of three each even numbered year at the general election.
Pointer, the Zone 1 choice, was appointed by Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to serve on the board to fill a vacancy created by the May resignation of Dr. Carolyn Reeves. Reeves accepted a fellowship with the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, according to the NWACC website. Zone 1 is the area north of Highway 102 (Centerton) and parts of western Bella Vista.
Pointer is a Texas native who relocated to Northwest Arkansas in 2013. She has degrees from Baylor University and Texas A&M University. Pointer is active in the community with her small business, Card My Yard NWA, and engages in local school organizations. Pointer spent multiple years in the education system as an English teacher and dyslexia teacher and later as academic interventionist. She describes herself as “a lifelong learner.”
In Zone 5, Branscum sought re-election to the seat for Zone 5, which is in the central section of Bentonville—for the most part west of I-49 and primarily north of Walton Boulevard. Branscum is a business owner of a company known as Strategic Business Consulting. He also has multiple years of experience in the financial field, including working for the Arkansas State Bank Department. He also served as President of Regional Therapy Services located in Rogers. Branscum is not only a trustee for NWACC, but serves on the board for Family Council and Blackwood Industries Inc. He graduated from the University of Colorado School of Banking and the University of Central Arkansas.
Trustee Latimer of Zone 8, which includes parts of southwest, central and south Rogers, was running unchallenged for the seat. She works for Gibson Real Estate as an executive real estate broker. Latimer has spent many years in education. She holds a bachelor’s degree in early childhood and special education from the University of Central Arkansas. She later obtained a master’s degree in education theories from Arkansas State University. Before moving into the real estate industry, she worked for 12 years in the public school system — in Little Rock and Rogers. She said she supports, “high quality education for all people.”
All candidates for the NWACC Board of Trustees were contacted through email, and no return emails responding to questions were received. All information about the candidates was taken from the NWACC Board of Trustees webpage via https://www.nwacc.edu/aboutus/collegeleadership/botmembers/index.html
