What's in the future for HCC? President gives Washington County officials his predictions

Hagerstown Community College President Jim Klauber thinks a lot about the future.

And he used HCC's annual budget presentation to the Washington County Commissioners last week as an opportunity to rally their support for the schools new programs and goals.

HCC has asked for a 2% increase, or $201,000 in the county's contribution to its budget, which has been allocated in the proposal for the county's Fiscal Year 2024 General Fund budget. The school is also asking for an additional $1.86 million in the county's 10-year capital improvements plan.

Career training opportunities are expanding

"We've got new programs, we've got growing programs," Klauber told the commissioners, including a partnership with the county's Emergency Services division for paramedics to earn credits toward a degree.

HCC is in its first year of a medical laboratory technician program, and Klauber said a new program in ultrasound technology has been approved by the Maryland Higher Education Commission. He expects to start admitting students to that program in the 2024 fall semester. It will be the only such program west of Montgomery County, he said.

"There's not one in Allegany, Garrett and Frederick (counties), so we look to be able to draw students in from those areas, also from Pennsylvania and West Virginia," he said, "because that program is a very high-wage career."

The D.M. Bowman Family Workforce Training Center being developed on Northern Avenue is on track, he said. When complete, the facility will provide a central location for HCC’s off-campus training programs, including commercial truck driver training, the diesel tech program, forklift instruction, the GED program and English as a Second Language classes.

Background:Job openings: New facility will help 'transform skilled trades training in Washington County'

It also will be the new home of the Barr Construction Institute, operated by the Cumberland Valley Chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors.

HCC's students are getting younger

The school is partnering with Washington County Public Schools in implementing provisions of the Blueprint for Maryland's Future framework for education, which represents both a new direction and a massive infusion of state funding for education across the state.

Klauber said school officials "have been meeting every week or two to discuss the nuts and bolts about how this was going to work … We've got a memorandum of understanding that I firmly believe will make sure that the quality of instruction is offered in college-level courses in the high schools will be the same quality that is offered here on this campus."

College courses in WCPS high schools will be using HCC books and course outlines, he said, and administrators will be working together to make sure they count as college credits. HCC also will be conducting Certified Nursing Assistant certification courses in some of the high schools as part of the WCPS junior apprenticeship program.

"And then once we get that under our belt, I want to move to the next level, and let's certify medical assistants while they're in your junior year of high school," Klauber said. Certification takes about a year of training, he said.

He said the these programs will give students certification that not only helps them land a job, but provide a foundation for those who want to come back for nurse training.

"It's just stacking those credential so that they can make a career path of forward progress," he said.

Career preparedness, help for students who need it: Kirwan is already changing education

While he said a number of HCC students take only few classes at a time because they're also working — and therefore remain in HCC programs for several years — he projects the school's student population will be trending younger.

"We're going to have more high school students and traditional college students on this campus in the next few years, and looking forward into the distant future, than we have ever had before," he said. "This campus was built around an average age of about 25 or 26, with a lot of adult students.

"The adult students are way different than the high school students. The adult student comes here to take the class, they go get in the car, they go on to work, that's it. They don't hang around here at all. They don't eat the food, they don't hang out, they don't do anything.

"High school student, dual credit student — way different," Klauber said. "They live here. They come here, they go to class. You go up there on the hill, they're playing ping pong. They're in the game room. They have filled our college clubs. They're enjoying themselves. Well, those numbers are greatly increasing. And pretty soon, our student center is going to be at capacity."

Klauber said he expects more than 400 students to spend at least part of their school day at HCC in the next year.

More of the campus could need an upgrade

He said the school will likely need to look at expanding its administration building to bring student services under one roof, and expanding the student center.

He'd also like to see the Maryland Stadium Authority review the school's athletic facilities, and said he's asked Sen. Paul Corderman, R-Washington, to help with that.

The school's Athletic, Recreation and Community Center "has not been touched since 1989" except for updated air conditioning, he said, and is "starting to show some signs of wear." Athletic fields have not been updated in even longer, he said. "We need to really do a comprehensive plan."

One thing he can't predict, he said, is what state-mandated 25% tuition discounts for high school students taking dual-credit courses will mean to the school's budget.

"It's just an open question at this point in time," he said.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: HCC sees growth in career programs, high school partnerships