Post by gatormom on Apr 7, 2009 6:24:04 GMT -5
Is COD seeking to offer four-year courses?
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1512666,cod-four-year-courses_na040409.article
April 6, 2009
TIM WALDORF
More than 30,000 students attend College of DuPage each semester, making it the third-largest single-campus community college in the nation and the second-largest institution of higher education in Illinois.
The school offers those students more than 90 certificate programs, 59 occupational degrees and 45 transfer pre-baccalaureate programs.
But could this two-year community college begin offering four-year degrees?
It's a rumor that has riled up area four-year institutions, which are, predictably, opposed to the idea.
But Bill Troller, COD's director of public information, insists the rumor is "baseless," and that "no one, not a single person knows anything about this issue."
"Because we're so large, the questions and rumors have come up from time to time," Troller said. "But we're a community college, and we're going to stay one. There's nothing to it."
What about Harper?
Well, maybe there's a little something to it.
State law says community colleges in Illinois can offer only two-year degrees.
Officials at Harper College in Palatine are seeking an exemption to these parameters. Harper has petitioned the state for permission to offer four-year degree programs in public safety and technology management. Officials there are arguing there's a community demand for affordable and accessible degree programs in these areas of study.
The Illinois Board of Higher Education isn't supporting Harper College in this endeavor, and the Illinois Community College Board studied and rejected the idea in 2005.
But College of DuPage has supported Harper's effort.
It also named Robert Breuder as the college's new president in November. Breuder had been Harper College's president before accepting the post.
A call to Breuder's office seeking comment for this story went unreturned.
But Mike McKinnon, chairman of COD's board of trustees, did return The Sun's call.
McKinnon said he knows of no plans for COD to seek a similar exemption that would allow it to offer four-year degrees.
"And I'm the board chair, and I've even talked to the president about that," he said.
He said he could envision the college doing so only if the community demanded it.
"If the taxpayers are saying we need to do something different, then we would need to look into it," McKinnon said.
A bad deal for taxpayers?
In response to Harper's actions, institutions such as North Central College and Benedictine University already have done some of that looking, and they aren't happy with what they've found.
"Higher education in the state of Illinois is a finely crafted fabric," said William Carroll, Benedictine's president. "It is nicely woven, and I think this is a break in the fabric, and it is going to cost everybody a lot of money."
Whereas community colleges can levy property taxes to fund their operations, private, four-year institutions like Benedictine and North Central rely on the generosity of donors to support their efforts. So, to a certain extent, these schools are afraid that allowing community colleges to offer four-year degrees would erode their viability — that they wouldn't be able to continue serving as higher education options alongside public institutions supported by significant amounts of property taxes and state funding.
"Our concern is if community colleges start offering four-year degrees, that's going to direct more property tax revenue to those two-year institutions, and more state money, and it is just redundant," said Ted Slowik, a spokesman for NCC. "So we primarily feel this is a bad deal for taxpayers."
Blurring the boundaries
The government's subsidization of College of DuPage allows it to offer classes for $116 per credit hour. Classes at North Central cost $600 to $700 an hour.
So, on average, 100 students a semester complete their lower-level coursework at College of DuPage and transfer to North Central College to finish their degrees, making COD North Central's top transfer school.
"We don't want to sound self-serving here, because we co-exist quite nicely with College of DuPage," said Slowik. "We're just concerned that, once these boundaries are overstepped, there will be further pressure to erode and muddle those boundaries even more."
That's the other fear of these schools: that creating four-year degree programs at two-year institutions will divert resources and attention away from the primary mission of community colleges. That mission, they maintain, is to provide low-cost alternatives for primary division college courses and vocational and occupational certificates.
"They were founded for a particular purpose, for a particular mission, and to change that mission I think is just wrong," Carroll said. "Somebody has to do that job, because it is a wonderful service to the community."
Meeting community demands
Thirty percent of COD students already have a bachelor's degree or better, noted McKinnon.
So, when they take advantage of the school's services, which their property taxes in large part provide, they're doing so for reasons that are different than the traditional community college students. This 30 percent is looking to upgrade skills or change vocations entirely, said McKinnon.
"At the end of the day, it's about what is best for the people of this district, and I can't answer that because with this economy, that changes every day," McKinnon said.
If people begin demanding four-year programs from the local community colleges, it will be because the existing four-year institutions aren't meeting their needs, he said.
That's Harper's battle cry as it seeks to establish those four-year programs in public safety and technology management.
And that's a cry that hurts Benedictine's ears.
The school has noted that just 24 miles separate it from Harper, and that it offers the kind of IT degree as Harper would. And, as far as public safety programming is concerned, it also offers a free bachelor degree in administration for first-responders and Iraqi and Afghanistan war vets. Those classes are held at local fire houses, and more than 600 students have taken advantage of the program, which has been offered in 36 different fire districts.
"If we offer a program that is needed, we'll provide it for them, and we'll do it at state prices," Carroll said.
Partnerships solve the problem
Benedictine already offers degree completion programs in fine arts and nursing on the College of DuPage campus.
Both Carroll and McKinnon said forming partnerships like this is the way the state's institutions of higher learning should meet community's needs. McKinnon calls this creating "education malls," but admits he stole that term from none other than Breuder, who used it to describe the College of Lake County.
College of Lake County's University Center in Grayslake partners with 18 private and public Illinois colleges and universities to offer select bachelor's and graduate degrees, as well as professional development opportunities.
Benedictine is among the 18 institutions offering programs at the University Center.
"If there's a need we need to fill, somebody needs to tell us," Carroll said. "Right now, I'm not hearing it."
If McKinnon is right, the current economic downturn means increased demands for affordable and accessible four-year education offering are just down the road.
"We're going to have a boat load of people out there that are going to need to be retrained," he said. "And we are going to get into these turf wars, but, at the end of the day, it is about who can do what best."
"At COD, we are a two-year community college, and that's what we do best," he added.
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1512666,cod-four-year-courses_na040409.article
April 6, 2009
TIM WALDORF
More than 30,000 students attend College of DuPage each semester, making it the third-largest single-campus community college in the nation and the second-largest institution of higher education in Illinois.
The school offers those students more than 90 certificate programs, 59 occupational degrees and 45 transfer pre-baccalaureate programs.
But could this two-year community college begin offering four-year degrees?
It's a rumor that has riled up area four-year institutions, which are, predictably, opposed to the idea.
But Bill Troller, COD's director of public information, insists the rumor is "baseless," and that "no one, not a single person knows anything about this issue."
"Because we're so large, the questions and rumors have come up from time to time," Troller said. "But we're a community college, and we're going to stay one. There's nothing to it."
What about Harper?
Well, maybe there's a little something to it.
State law says community colleges in Illinois can offer only two-year degrees.
Officials at Harper College in Palatine are seeking an exemption to these parameters. Harper has petitioned the state for permission to offer four-year degree programs in public safety and technology management. Officials there are arguing there's a community demand for affordable and accessible degree programs in these areas of study.
The Illinois Board of Higher Education isn't supporting Harper College in this endeavor, and the Illinois Community College Board studied and rejected the idea in 2005.
But College of DuPage has supported Harper's effort.
It also named Robert Breuder as the college's new president in November. Breuder had been Harper College's president before accepting the post.
A call to Breuder's office seeking comment for this story went unreturned.
But Mike McKinnon, chairman of COD's board of trustees, did return The Sun's call.
McKinnon said he knows of no plans for COD to seek a similar exemption that would allow it to offer four-year degrees.
"And I'm the board chair, and I've even talked to the president about that," he said.
He said he could envision the college doing so only if the community demanded it.
"If the taxpayers are saying we need to do something different, then we would need to look into it," McKinnon said.
A bad deal for taxpayers?
In response to Harper's actions, institutions such as North Central College and Benedictine University already have done some of that looking, and they aren't happy with what they've found.
"Higher education in the state of Illinois is a finely crafted fabric," said William Carroll, Benedictine's president. "It is nicely woven, and I think this is a break in the fabric, and it is going to cost everybody a lot of money."
Whereas community colleges can levy property taxes to fund their operations, private, four-year institutions like Benedictine and North Central rely on the generosity of donors to support their efforts. So, to a certain extent, these schools are afraid that allowing community colleges to offer four-year degrees would erode their viability — that they wouldn't be able to continue serving as higher education options alongside public institutions supported by significant amounts of property taxes and state funding.
"Our concern is if community colleges start offering four-year degrees, that's going to direct more property tax revenue to those two-year institutions, and more state money, and it is just redundant," said Ted Slowik, a spokesman for NCC. "So we primarily feel this is a bad deal for taxpayers."
Blurring the boundaries
The government's subsidization of College of DuPage allows it to offer classes for $116 per credit hour. Classes at North Central cost $600 to $700 an hour.
So, on average, 100 students a semester complete their lower-level coursework at College of DuPage and transfer to North Central College to finish their degrees, making COD North Central's top transfer school.
"We don't want to sound self-serving here, because we co-exist quite nicely with College of DuPage," said Slowik. "We're just concerned that, once these boundaries are overstepped, there will be further pressure to erode and muddle those boundaries even more."
That's the other fear of these schools: that creating four-year degree programs at two-year institutions will divert resources and attention away from the primary mission of community colleges. That mission, they maintain, is to provide low-cost alternatives for primary division college courses and vocational and occupational certificates.
"They were founded for a particular purpose, for a particular mission, and to change that mission I think is just wrong," Carroll said. "Somebody has to do that job, because it is a wonderful service to the community."
Meeting community demands
Thirty percent of COD students already have a bachelor's degree or better, noted McKinnon.
So, when they take advantage of the school's services, which their property taxes in large part provide, they're doing so for reasons that are different than the traditional community college students. This 30 percent is looking to upgrade skills or change vocations entirely, said McKinnon.
"At the end of the day, it's about what is best for the people of this district, and I can't answer that because with this economy, that changes every day," McKinnon said.
If people begin demanding four-year programs from the local community colleges, it will be because the existing four-year institutions aren't meeting their needs, he said.
That's Harper's battle cry as it seeks to establish those four-year programs in public safety and technology management.
And that's a cry that hurts Benedictine's ears.
The school has noted that just 24 miles separate it from Harper, and that it offers the kind of IT degree as Harper would. And, as far as public safety programming is concerned, it also offers a free bachelor degree in administration for first-responders and Iraqi and Afghanistan war vets. Those classes are held at local fire houses, and more than 600 students have taken advantage of the program, which has been offered in 36 different fire districts.
"If we offer a program that is needed, we'll provide it for them, and we'll do it at state prices," Carroll said.
Partnerships solve the problem
Benedictine already offers degree completion programs in fine arts and nursing on the College of DuPage campus.
Both Carroll and McKinnon said forming partnerships like this is the way the state's institutions of higher learning should meet community's needs. McKinnon calls this creating "education malls," but admits he stole that term from none other than Breuder, who used it to describe the College of Lake County.
College of Lake County's University Center in Grayslake partners with 18 private and public Illinois colleges and universities to offer select bachelor's and graduate degrees, as well as professional development opportunities.
Benedictine is among the 18 institutions offering programs at the University Center.
"If there's a need we need to fill, somebody needs to tell us," Carroll said. "Right now, I'm not hearing it."
If McKinnon is right, the current economic downturn means increased demands for affordable and accessible four-year education offering are just down the road.
"We're going to have a boat load of people out there that are going to need to be retrained," he said. "And we are going to get into these turf wars, but, at the end of the day, it is about who can do what best."
"At COD, we are a two-year community college, and that's what we do best," he added.
