State University of New York (SUNY) Chancellor John B. King visited a nursing lab, the FABLab and the swimming pool during a visit to Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica on July 24.
All three spots represent ways in which community colleges in the state are changing. The pool has taught swimming or lifeguard certification to 800 students since receiving a NY SWIMS grant to increase access to swimming in underserved communities.
It’s a great example of how community colleges can benefit their communities beyond offering degrees and certifications, he said.
But the nursing lab — with six hospital beds with simulation mannequin patients — and the FAB Lab — a workshop with industrial-grade fabrication equipment and electronic tools — represent more sweeping changes in the education offered by community colleges.
Community colleges will always continue one of their core missions to prepare students to transfer to four-year colleges (and to prepare high school students for college with dual credit courses), King said.
But focus has increased on their second core mission — offering associate degrees, certificates and microcredentials to prepare students to enter the workforce, he said.
There is a growing realization that in order for the state to be economically competitive, it needs to align its education system with the economy, he said. And that includes community college programs that teach the skills that local employers need, King said.
Affordability has also become a bigger issue in higher education with students and families more concerned about the return on their investment in education, something community college programs in high-demand careers can offer, he said.
For example, a graduate of a two-year nursing program can earn a starting salary of $80,000 or $90,000 a year and sometimes more, he said.
And community colleges are teaching more adult learners, King said. About 28% of community college students in the state are older than 25 and that number is only going to grow, he said.
That is why the state launched the SUNY Reconnect initiative last fall, a program that pays college tuition, fees and expenses for books and supplies for students ages 25 to 55 attending community colleges or SUNY’s technical four-year colleges in certain high-demand fields, including nursing, engineering and advanced manufacturing.
SUNY Reconnects
King stopped by MVCC as the 28 stop of a planned 30-stop tour of community college campuses, begun in June of last year, to promote SUNY Reconnects.
“Campuses like Mohawk Valley Community College serve as engines of upward mobility for all New Yorkers and I applaud the campus for its excellent course offerings and support of SUNY’s adult learners,” King said in a statement.
SUNY Reconnects will expand in the fall to add more fields of study: logistics, air traffic control and transportation, and emergency management. It will also allow, for the first time, students who already have college degrees to participate in the program if they wish to earn an associate degree in nursing, a reflection of the dire shortage of registered nurses, King said.
“SUNY Reconnect speaks directly to MVCC’s mission of opening doors for students and strengthening the communities we serve,” MVCC President Randall VanWagoner said in a statement. “For adult learners in the Mohawk Valley, this program removes major financial barriers and creates a clear path into high-demand fields such as mechatronics and health information technology.”
In its first year, 5,600 students have participated in the program, King said.
The program is designed to remove financial and other barriers that keep adults from returning to college, including extended hours and prep classes. It also gives grants to colleges to implement programs in advising, enrollment, outreach, the awarding of credits for prior earning and other student services to support adult learners in the program.
MVCC received $160,000 through the program, which it has used to hire a full-time Reconnect admissions counselor, create a targeted marketing and outreach campaign, hire a part-time coordinator for credits for prior learning; and plan in-person and online events for adult learners.
A number of MVCC students and alumni told King about what a good job MVCC does of smoothing the transition back to college for adult learners during a roundtable discussion between King, students, alumni, college staff, local employers and VanWagoner.
Heading back to college as an adult learner can feel intimidating, King acknowledged.
“I think MV’s been very intentional about trying to get support in place so people feel welcome, encouraged and connected to the community.,” he said.
Fields of study
NY Reconnects supports students in a number of fields in which there is a high demand among employers for a skilled workforce, including advanced manufacturing, air traffic control and aviation management, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, engineering, emergency management, supply chain/logistics, technology, nursing and allied health fields, green and renewable energy, and Pathways to Teaching in shortage areas.
Here are the programs offered at MVCC for which SUNY Reconnects students are eligible:
Adult learners
There are four million adult New Yorkers without degrees or certificates, according to SUNY. Many have taken college classes, but never earned a degree, King noted.
Many of them work in jobs that allow them, just barely, to make ends meet, he said. But they realize they could achieve a better life by earning a degree or certificate, he said.
King said he was struck by one student he met who had taken classes at MVCC, left to have children and wanted to return — but was still paying off college debt. She did not want to take on more debt, she told the chancellor.
SUNY Reconnect, though, gave her a path back.
But the program isn’t just about helping workers get better jobs; it’s also about helping employers find enough skilled workers, King said.
In the Northeast, there are fewer students graduating from high schools, which means fewer students heading into colleges, he pointed out. So training older workers is the only option for meeting workforce needs, he said.
The area is in desperate need of more workers trained in advanced manufacturing, cybersecurity and information technology as well as nursing, he said.
“For the governor and the state, if we want to continue to grow our economy, we have to help employers like Indium get workers and Reconnect is a way to do that,” he said.
Local employers
Community colleges are evolving to work with local employers so that they’re training students to meet their workforce needs.
Several representatives from three area employers took part in the roundtable with King: Indium Corp. in Clinton, Riverhawk Company in New Hartford and Bartell Machinery in Rome. Indium brought along a few college interns, some of whom had started college at MVCC.
The employers talked about how they work with MVCC to find entry-level employees with the necessary skills, but also to provide professional development to existing employees. For example, Indium has many of its non-technical employees take a class in material management so they can better understand what the company does.
King was really interested in the “incredibly close partnerships” between the college and employers, he said. It was great to hear how responsive MVCC has been to employers’ needs and how it’s worked to align its offerings with employer’s needs both for entry level hires and employee development, he concluded.
What MVCC needs
At King’s request, round table participants made suggestions for improvements to MVCC based on a budget of around $100,000. Here’s what they suggested:
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: SUNY chancellor stops by MVCC to promote program for adult learners
Reporting by Amy Neff Roth, Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Amy Neff Roth, Utica Observer Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
