Arkansas administrators go back to class.

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Several of Northwest Arkansas Community College's senior administrators are doing something they haven't done in years--teach.

The administrators are teaching courses for free so the school can keep offering courses for the fall semester amid an enrollment boom.

Jim Lay, the college's director of development and support, is back in the classroom, although it's been 20 years since he taught.

Lay teaches a three-hour class in organizational management Friday mornings and teaches the same subject for three hours on Monday nights, to pick up the slack for short-handed faculty.

Northwest Arkansas Community College has grown by 1,000 students over the last two years, but the number of faculty has remained the same, administrators said. It's the state's second-largest community college and among the top 25 fastest-growing two-year colleges nationwide.

Jane Guyton, the college's interim president, is team-teaching with two other instructors a "freshman skills" class this fall. It's designed for first-year students who are getting accustomed to college life.

"I really missed the opportunity to work more directly with students," Guyton said. "Students are so fascinating to me."

Steve Pelphrey, the college's dean of fiscal affairs, teaches marketing on Tuesday nights. He said his return to the classroom after three years has meant spending weekends preparing lessons.

"It took a little while to think in terms of how I fit those responsibilities into my usual job here," Pelphrey said. "But in the short run, it has its benefits. You get new ideas. I enjoy it."

Pelphrey and Guyton agreed that their return to teaching isn't a long-term solution.

"In the long run, it's probably not the best strategy to have administrators in the classroom," Pelphrey said. "It takes your focus away from the college."

Karen Hodges, vice president of learning, said the Northwest Arkansas Community College staff, including 80 full-time instructors, is being pushed to provide adequate services to a student body that has grown by 17 percent in the last two years.

Not every administrator jumped at the chance to return to the classroom.

"Some people started hiding from me," Hodges said. "But in times when you're struggling, it brings people together."

She said some faculty are overworked, teaching as many as six classes this semester.

Still, Hodges said the college's senior management team realized this would happen. Administrators met several times in the spring to discuss the 2001-2002 academic year. They considered capping enrollment, closing sections of classes or raising tuition.

But limiting class offerings and raising fees are not goals of a community college, Hodges said.

"Our hearts won out," she said. "How in the world do you turn away students? We started getting creative."