Community colleges: Looking toward tomorrow

Sep. 4—EDITOR'S NOTE — This is the third in a three-part series looking at the creation and ongoing impact of community colleges in Northeast Ohio.

It's never too early to look toward the future.

And for Lakeland Community College and Cuyahoga Community College, the future is now.

With both institutions experiencing significant growth in all facets, since being established in the 1960s, operations stemming from past and present challenges and successes continue to shift to adapt to tomorrow's students.

"We initiate changes that are established — we did that then, and the school does that now," said Wayne Rodehorst, Lakeland's founding president. "Again, details always change, but the function in serving people hasn't."

Looking forward

Lakeland's board of trustees recently approved the college's Strategic Plan for 2022-2024.

According to officials, priorities are:

—Student experience: To continue to provide and continuously evaluate the effectiveness of holistic support services designed to allow all students the opportunity to access an affordable, quality education in support of their educational and occupational goals

—Academic success: Strengthen academic pathways and mitigate barriers to completion to help more students succeed and graduate

—Workforce development: Ensure that academic programs align with employer needs to prepare more skilled graduates to keep our local workforce and economy strong

—Community stewardship: To strengthen brand reputation, strategic partnerships, and financial resources to meet student needs and improve the quality of life in the community

Enrollment recovering

Despite the continuing decline in the number of high school graduates, Lakeland's enrollment has been recovering. Fall 2021 enrollment was down just 9 percent, compared to 18 percent in the year's spring semester.

Spring 2022 enrollment was down 4.8 percent, improving over a 15 percent decrease in spring 2021.

Early enrollment numbers for fall 2022 are also up from last year, with adult learners expected to represent the largest portion of enrollment growth in Ohio. Moreover, Lakeland recently received a Fenn Educational Fund grant from the Cleveland Foundation to establish a career mentoring program for adult learners, officials confirmed.

Lakeland is currently participating in Ohio's Second Chance Grant Pilot Program to award grants up to $2,000 to reduce financial barriers that may be preventing some students from returning to college, and the new College Comeback program forgives outstanding balances up to $1,500 so students who stopped out can re-enroll to complete a degree or certificate.

Additionally, Lakeland is one of eight Northeast Ohio community colleges and public universities in the College Comeback (Stranded Credits) Compact with the nonprofit Ithaka S+R to pilot a sustainable solution to settle student debt and release stranded credits.

Academic additions

Moving forward, the school plans to launch a Digital Print Production Certificate and a Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems in Geospatial Technology Certificate in the fiscal year 2023, in addition to degree and certificate programs in industrial engineering, including logistics and supply chain management in the fiscal year 2024.

Lakeland will also continue to engage employers to identify industry trends and ensure job training meets workforce needs, through direct outreach, focus groups, and academic advisory boards.

A recent expansion and renovation of the Health Technologies Building "enables Lakeland to remain an important center of learning and job training."

With studies predicting a nursing shortage as the population ages, the college can enroll and graduate more well-trained nurses, officials stated.

A new workforce-ready certificate and degree pathway, for College Credit Plus students who do not intend to transfer to a four-year college, is also being created, and Lakeland will be awarding a $100,000 STEM Public-Private Partnership Pilot Program grant from the Ohio Department of Higher Education for CCP students completing IT and CS certificates.

In addition, Short-Term Certificate Program Grants, totaling nearly $190,000, will be awarded to students enrolled in one of nine Lakeland programs that may be completed in less than one year.

Other improvements planned

Lakeland plans to renovate and expand its Engineering Building, along with modernized equipment and technology, to meet significant current and near-future resource commitments to workforce development in advanced manufacturing, construction management, and applied engineering.

Design efforts are underway with construction planned over the next three years. The project will be funded by state and federal capital grants.

The college also plans to renovate teaching spaces and teaching and student support spaces, primarily in the A-Building, while continuing its energy management and conservation program.

This fall, a new varsity-level Lakers esports team is being launched to compete in the National Junior College Athletic Association Esports league.

Esports will become the eighth organized sport — and the only coed sport — to be offered by Lakeland. In addition to being a varsity sport, there are plans to create an intramural club on campus, and construction of an esports "arena" is in the final stages for use by both the varsity team and the intramural club, officials said.

Tri-C — New leadership

Michael Baston, Tri-C's fifth president, began his tenure July 1.

A key part of his vision is helping Cuyahoga County residents move from economic fragility to economic mobility.

Under Baston's leadership, Tri-C will concentrate on workforce innovation — removing barriers, meeting people where they are and providing training opportunities that work with their lives.

"As our country faces talent shortages with record numbers of baby boomer retirements, prime-age worker resignations, and the lowest birthrates in our nation's history, we know how increasingly vital colleges like Tri-C will be for the future of the state and the region in developing the talented citizens we will need to thrive as a community," Baston said.

"We have placed a greater emphasis on skill development for our students and understanding the needs of employers," he added. "We want to ensure that we provide real-world work opportunities for our students."

An adapted approach

Baston believes that for Tri-C to succeed in a post-pandemic world, it must "abandon the notion of returning to the world of higher education as before the crisis by expanding virtual services, improving career pathways to meet an ever-changing job market and renewing focus on equity."

Aligning non-degree and degree programs, he emphasized, reaching the adult market with greater offerings and programmatic flexibility and expanding online and international opportunities will all continue.

"Not only are we to contend with the implications and lasting impacts of COVID-19, economic uncertainty, equal justice, and opportunity concerns, but we must also address the realities of how the demographic drought and great resignation are and will continue to impact the economic landscape in big cities and small towns throughout America," Baston said.

"Important institutions like Tri-C must lead the way by modeling how other community colleges can be the catalysts for economic mobility, workforce innovation, and community vitality."