Friday, October 22, 1999
N.Ky. pushes for community college
BY ANDREA TORTORA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Northern Kentucky is the only region in the state without a community college, and the push is on to develop a facility that will serve the educational needs of the public and the worker-training needs of employers.
The community college idea is now the focus of several regional and state committees and a $35,000 feasibility study. Support is coming from all quarters: business, politicians, educators and the public.
Yet the term “community college” is nebulous.
“A community college is like a Rorschach test,” said James Votruba, Northern Kentucky University president. “There are so many different definitions of what it is.”
• To business leaders and those involved in boosting Northern Kentucky's economic development, a new college would be a technical school focusing on occupational training.
• To school superintendents, it would offer students an alternative to a four-year college and an easier, less intimi dating way to continue their education.
• To a group led by Covington City Commissioner J.T. Spence, a new college would take the form of an urban learning center reaching out to nontraditional students.
• To Cincinnati State Technical and Community College President Ron Wright, the solution is a collaborative effort that would eliminate any duplication of services.
NKU and Cincinnati State already have reciprocal agreements that allow students to pay in-state tuition if a class at one school is not offered at the other. A similar arrangement would be possible for the community college.
Supporters hope the study will clarify the direction the school should take. With all of the competing ideas being floated, no one is sure how a new college might develop.
But the community college must reflect the needs of the public, planners said.
“We are underserving educational needs and we need to make sure that we have a comprehensive education program,” said Michael McCall, president of the Kentucky Com munity and Technical College System. “We need to concentrate on the areas not being presently served.”
A study now under way by the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems in Boulder, Colo., is expected to point out the need for more vocational and technical education classes.
The study, to be released this month, will also note the time needed to develop a community college. Educators say it would take five to 10 years to create a fully operational school.
Cincinnati State's Dr. Wright said he understands Northern Kentucky's desire to have brick and mortar of its own. “It would seem at a time when there is heightened emphasis on regionalism that we should be able to come together to provide services,” Dr. Wright he said.
“It will take them 30 years to get where we already are in terms of quality and the expansiveness of programs if they start from ground zero.”
Dr. Wright said he supports a cooperative effort with Northern Kentucky that would expand Cincinnati State's offerings to the southern side of the Ohio River.
The number of community colleges is growing nationally, according to the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges.
There were 1,465 community schools in 1990. That number grew to 1,600 in 1998. One of the major reasons for the new schools is to attract and serve business and industry, said Christopher Shultz, an association research assistant.
For example, Saturn moved its manufacturing plant near Knoxville, Tenn., at least in part because of the community college there. GE Capital decided to come to Northern Kentucky thanks in part to worker training that will be offered by NKU and the Northern Kentucky Technical College in Covington.
NKU essentially acts as two colleges: Twelve associate degree programs and several remedial classes serve the community college needs. A growing number of master's degree programs and the Salmon P. Chase law school fill the needs of four-year college students.
To serve all of these needs, the college hires faculty prepared to teach underprepared and honors students.
School superintendents say a community college could be an option for the nearly 40 percent of high school graduates who do not attend a four-year college.
Ludlow Superintendent Elizabeth Grause said a new college is a necessity. “For a segment of our population it would be helpful to have a more intimate, approachable and less threatening atmosphere.”
Any new postsecondary facility should also consider the needs of the area's urban population, said J.T. Spence, Covington city commissioner. A community college could act as the gateway to the vast resources and opportunities a formal education provides, Mr. Spence said.
“In Covington, a community college is the equivalent of a hope for a better and brighter future,” Mr. Spence said.
Covington's Urban Learning Center is a good model for the community college, said Mike Hammons, president of Forward Quest, a group planning for Northern Kentucky's future. The center is a cooperative effort among several colleges, Covington schools and the local community that provides tuition-free college classes to Covington residents.
“We are overwhelmed with the response and we can't keep up with demand,” Mr. Hammons said. The course most in demand is computers.
The region must provide an educated, prepared work force to remain competitive, said state Rep. Jim Callahan, D-Wilder. “There's no question about it, a lot of the jobs are requiring those technical skills and we need to address it.”
And that's where the economic development wars will be won or lost, said Danny Fore, president of the Tri-County Economic Development Corp., a group that helps lure companies to Northern Kentucky.
“Those communities that can provide existing companies and potential new companies with a well-trained, consistent source of technical labor are going to win the war.”
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