President's Perspective
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THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE JANUARY 2014 from DR. DEVIN STEPHENSON, President Three Rivers ranked among fastest growing for second year hree Rivers has again been named one of the The college’s explosive growth has been the re- Southeast Missouri; and also online. Tfastest growing community colleges in the na- sult of an institutional focus on finding and meet- Another key to our success has been a focus on tion among institutions our size. ing the needs of the college’s 15-county service retention efforts. Through the use of intensive ad- For the second year in a row, Three Rivers has region. vising, enhanced academic and student support made the fastest growing list compiled by Com- We’ve put intense effort into working within services, and early identification of at-risk stu- munity College Week, the nation’s leading peri- the communities we serve and forming partner- dents, Three Rivers is working to help more stu- odical for community, technical, and junior col- ships with local employers and leaders. We’ve dents succeed and progress toward their educa- leges and an official publication of the American customized our career/technical programs and tion goals. We are committed to helping students Association of Community Colleges. Last year, we job skills training to meet the needs of residents develop the skills and earn the degrees that will were ranked seventh. This year we took the No. 5 who want to build a better future for themselves. improve their careers and lives. spot for colleges with 2,500-4,999 students. That focus is clearly paying off. At Three Rivers we strive to be the best higher During the time period for the rankings, Fall Students can now take courses at the Three education institution in Southeast Missouri and 2011 to Fall 2012, enrollment at Three Rivers rose Rivers Poplar Bluff campus; at centers in Sikeston, stay clearly focused on our mission. To see our by 417 students, with an overall 10% jump in en- Dexter, Kennett, Malden, Willow Springs, and hard work recognized on the national stage is the rollment. Cape Girardeau; at satellite sites throughout best kind of reward. Retention efforts focused on helping students meet their education goals has again put Three Rivers on the list of fastest growing community colleges compiled by Community College Week. Testimony promotes community colleges, equity funding to legislators Recruiters Zach McAnulty and Tabitha Pierce welcome students back on the first day of the Spring semester. he fight for funding equity in state appropria- ers’ Fire Science programs can expect to start out Ttions is one of the highest priorities in Three making $40,000, right here in Southeast Missouri. Rivers’ legislative agenda. Thanks to the Missouri This is a dramatic jump from the $15,000 per year Community College Association, I had the honor that minimum-wage workers can expect to make, Spring semester and opportunity of taking the fight for equity to if they’re allowed to work full-time. Spread across Jefferson City in January. a lifetime, it represents hundreds of thousands of opens with new Speaking not only as President of Three Riv- dollars in extra income. ers but also as Chair-Elect of MCCA’s Presidents/ In addition to benefitting students, community Chancellors Council, I partnered with Dr. Craig Lar- colleges, and the training we provide are vital to locations, great son, Board chair at St. Louis Community College the Missouri economy. The workforce that we and Chair-Elect of MCCA’s Board of Directors, to train helps attract and retain employers such as testify before the Missouri House Education Ap- Boeing, Briggs and Stratton, and Unilever. MCCA’s opportunities propriations Committee. We explained the vital member institutions have delivered over a billion role that community colleges across Missouri play dollars in workforce training across the state and pring semester is here again, and the new year in developing a strong economy for our state and have trained over 30,000 workers through our Shas brought extensive changes, fresh chal- asked for fair and adequate funding. Customized, New Jobs, and Job Retention Train- lenges, and great opportunities at Three Rivers. We started by reminding the representatives ing programs. Despite frigid weather, we’re starting 2014 strong of the massive role that community colleges The pipeline of highly skilled, highly trained and continuing the hard work of building futures play in higher education in Missouri by serving workers that community colleges create is key to throughout our service area. over 100,000 students, over 40 percent of the keeping Missouri attractive to the manufacturers As of the end of Spring registration, Three Riv- higher education enrollment statewide. Another that fuel our economy. It is a role that only com- ers had enrolled 4,071 students taking 44,042 125,000 people take non-credit classes. munity colleges can fill. credit hours across all of our locations. We re- Thanks to the community-oriented, highly flex- This vital and irreplaceable role of two-year in- tained 95% of our enrollment from Fall 2013, an ible nature of two-year institutions, enrollment stitutions is why we asked the committee to -cor achievement by our Enrollment Services staff that at Missouri’s community colleges has exploded, rect the crippling oversight that Governor Nixon deserves recognition. I want to personally thank growing 50 percent since 2000, and 25 percent in made when he announced his latest education all of our employees who worked extended hours the past five years alone. budget proposal. Community colleges enroll close in December and January to make up for the win- The reason for this growth is plain: community to 40 percent of higher education students in the ter weather closings. Your hard work makes our colleges are the most economically effective form state, yet receive only 14 percent of the state continued success possible. of higher education. Unlike the general education higher education appropriations. The Governor’s We have continuing growth in accessibility to or liberal arts degrees churned out by four-year proposal to allocate only $7.9 million in new fund- celebrate this spring, starting with the relocation institutions, our workforce programs are based ing for community colleges, while four-year insti- of our Center at Kennett to its new home at 1002 on economic projections of the number of jobs tutions receive over 10 times that amount, isn’t Great West Drive. With over 25,000 square feet of available in those fields. In other words, students just unfair, it also threatens to negate the progress space, the new location gives us room to expand who enter workforce programs at a two-year in- we have made in recovering Missouri’s economy. our program offerings in Kennett and facilitated stitution know going in that there will be a job on In the face of the overwhelming facts about the the consolidation of our LPN programs in Kennett the other side if they complete their certificate or benefits of community colleges, we call on Mis- and Hayti under one roof. Outfitted with new sci- degree. As I told the committee, no one has ever souri’s legislators to make the right choice - the ence labs and state-of-the-art learning technol- asked a student who’s training to be an electri- choice for equity in funding, the choice to drive ogy, the new Center at Kennett will continue gen- cian or a welder what he’s going to do with that our state’s economy instead of hinder it. We call erating highly skilled graduates for years to come. degree. on our state senators and representatives to sup- Three Rivers also is celebrating the opening of The training leads to jobs that change the lives port us with funding that will assist us in continu- the South Central Education Consortium in Wil- of our students. A firefighter trained in Three Riv- ing to build futures in the communities we serve. low Springs, in partnership with Missouri State University-West Plains. We’ve hired Scott Wil- liamson, a long-time Willow Springs resident, to be Director of the Three Rivers programs there. The center is off to a good start with 31 students, and we expect to see dramatic growth. This Spring also marks the first semester that Three Rivers has offered classes in New Madrid. Thanks to a generous offer from the City of New Madrid, area students can now take our Devel- opmental Math and ACAD 101 classes at the O’Bannon Community Center. In addition, when classes are not in session, the classroom serves as a Public Computing Center that offers New Madrid residents free high-speed Internet ac- cess. With teachers drawn from the New Madrid school system, this new classroom is a prime ex- ample of the community-driven focus that keeps Dr. Devin Stephenson (left) and Dr. Craig Larson of St. Louis Community College testified on behalf of all Missouri community colleges Three Rivers growing and strong. before the state House Education Appropriations Committee. State officials recognize Three Rivers Three Rivers as an influencer meets all five tate officials continue to recognize Three -Riv just five counties in the nation to earn the Certi- Sers as an influencer. In January, Missouri House fied Work Ready designation. Speaker Tim Jones chose Three Rivers as a stop The designation is earned by achieving goals performance on his 4G Agenda Tour of the state. In addition, in the number of businesses that make a com- Three Rivers’ efforts were recognized at an event mitment to the program and the number of to announce that Butler and Ripley counties were residents who earn a National Career Readiness funding among the first in the nation to be designed Certi- Certificate, which uses a WorkKeys assessment fied Work Ready Communities.