Community Colleges

Community colleges are flexible and quick to respond to emerging technology and to immediate demands in the community

Parked in a classroom at Pratt (Kan.) Community College is a rusty 1970s Farmall tractor beside a gleaming new—and partially dismantled—Case tractor cab. Cody Thompson, 19, is learning how to work on both. With his new skills, Thompson knows he’ll have a job waiting when he graduates next year.

Farm implement dealers from across Kansas helped develop the college’s agriculture power technology program in Pratt (pop. 6,570) to fill a desperate need for skilled farm equipment mechanics.

“We guarantee job placement,” says Jerry Burkhart, the program’s coordinator. “If they don’t have a job, we’ll refund their money.”

Some students enrolled in the two-year associate’s degree program receive tuition assistance from the 72 farm implement dealers involved in the program. All students alternate between eight weeks of class work and eight weeks of paid on-the-job training.

Thompson, who interns at Carrico Implement in Beloit, Kan. (pop. 439), says Pratt Community College was his first choice for continuing his education after graduating last year from Waconda East High School in Cawker City, Kan. (pop. 521). He learned about the program at career day.

“I’ve always wanted to do something on the farm or related,” says Thompson, who’s worked alongside his grandfather, Lloyd Thompson, since he was 13 on his beef cattle and wheat farm in Glen Elder, Kan. (pop. 439).

“I liked the idea of the internship,” Thompson says. “This program seemed really up-to-date and sounded like it had good job opportunities.”

Pratt is typical of the 1,173 community colleges nationwide that react quickly to local employment needs. The two-year colleges traditionally have trained healthcare workers, fire, police and emergency medical personnel. But they also offer degrees in specialized fields such as bowling management at Vincennes University in Vincennes, Ind. (pop. 18,701); homeland security at Fairmont State Community and Technical College in Fairmont, W.Va. (pop. 19,097); and assistive technology at Casper College in Casper, Wyo. (pop. 49,644) to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities.

“Community colleges are flexible and quick to respond to emerging technology and to immediate demands in the community,” says Norma Kent, vice president for communications with the American Association of Community Colleges in Washington, D.C.

The lure of a ready-made job, plus bargain tuition, which averages $1,600 a year nationwide, has created a surge in community college enrollment. Eleven million students, or about 45 percent of all undergraduates, attend community colleges. Another 5 million attend noncredit classes.

Serving the community

In Borger, Texas (pop. 14,302), Frank Phillips College and the community are inseparable because of the college’s $3.2 million Center for Access and Innovation, which opened in 2002 as a result of a partnership among area schools, businesses and industry.

The Frank Phillips campus is a block from downtown, and on any weekday a farmer may be at the center bringing in soil samples, or a military veteran may be inquiring about benefits. High school students are bused to the campus daily to take computer classes.

“The real crown jewel is the community one-stop,” says Herbert Swender, college president. “We took all the social programs–food stamps, veterans’ benefits, employment services–and put them in one building on campus that is open five days a week. People have better access to critical services.”

For Lori Harrah, 38, the cosmetology classes she took at the Center for Access and Innovation helped the mother of three fulfill a lifelong dream. “The instructor went way beyond and gave me individual attention and helped me keep up,” says Harrah, who earned a certificate from Frank Phillips last spring.

Today, Harrah operates a beauty salon in her hometown in nearby White Deer (pop. 1,060), where she does everything from old-fashioned pin curls for older residents to eyebrow waxes and eyelash tints for younger patrons.

A degree in game preserve management from Southeastern Illinois College in Harrisburg (pop. 9,860) landed Jamie Massey her dream job as manager of the 2,300-acre Buckeye Plantation, a popular retreat for vacationers and sportsmen, in Midville, Ga. (pop. 457).

“I grew up in the hospitality business,” says Jamie, 27, who manages the preserve with her husband, David. “My grandparents ran a true-blue guest ranch with three meals a day, horseback riding and fishing.” Her grandparents and parents operated the historic 320 Guest Ranch in Big Sky, Mont. (pop. 1,221).

Bruce Hering designed and coordinates the one-of-a-kind college program, which also offers a shooting complex management degree.

“Thirty years ago if you had some property and bird dogs, you could make it work. No more,” Hering says. “These are huge recreational facilities today, and you need a business core in personnel management, advertising and interpersonal psychology.”

Customized job training

Other community colleges have responded with customized job training to fill local employment needs:

• In Marianna, Fla. (pop. 6,230), area telecommunications industries put out a plea for skilled workers, and Chipola College designed the state’s only telecommunications installation technician course in 1997.

“We can give them four to five years’ worth of knowledge in seven and one-half weeks,” says Charlie Burch, program director, who retired from BellSouth Corp.

Employers helped design the 300-hour program, which trains students to work for telephone and cable television companies.

“One Tallahassee company wanted copper splicing taught, and they pre-hired people,” Burch says. “If you took the course and passed, you were hired.”

• In Farmington, N.M. (pop. 37,844), San Juan College teams with David H. Paul Inc., to offer an associate’s degree in advanced water treatment.

“We offer pure water for industry-semiconductor industry, computers, pharmaceuticals,” says Shawntay Wolfe-Martinez, the company’s sales and marketing director. “There’s a huge boom in this industry.”

• In Sanford, Fla. (pop. 38,291), Seminole Community College and 97 companies built a $5.4 million Center for Building Construction in 2001 to train workers for thousands of available construction jobs. High school students attend classes in the state-of-the-art labs during the day while nearly 400 apprenticeship students are on the job at regional building sites.

“Industry matched half the cost of the building,” says Suzanne Tesinsky, the school’s dean of applied technologies. “This is a true example of a partnership between industry and education. We have a wall of honor in our building with our industry partners.”

Customized job training is a mission of community colleges today, but that wasn’t the role when the first, Joliet Junior College, opened in 1901 in Joliet, Ill. In those early years, community colleges emphasized general liberal-arts classes. During the Depression, community colleges began offering job training. Community colleges flourished after World War II as veterans took advantage of higher education through the GI Bill and employers needed a large number of skilled workers. These community-minded, job-training schools have been growing in size and enrollment ever since.

One aspect of community colleges hasn’t changed in 100 years, Kent says.

“The faculty are there to teach, not to do research,” she says, comparing community college instructors to university professors. “Community colleges are more personal with smaller classes. They tend to offer individual attention.”

And responding to individual needs–of both students and communities–is what community colleges are all about.

Marti Attoun is a frequent contributor to American Profile.

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