Summer continues to be very busy at OTC.  This is the time of year we see students visiting campus and making decisions to enroll in the fall.  Along with a busy campus, meetings are happening around the state to prepare for the next year. 

 

The Community College Presidents and Chancellors met for our annual planning retreat last week. As you might expect, the upcoming fiscal year dominated discussions. Newly appointed Interim Commissioner of Higher Education, Dr. David Russell met with us. We appreciated Dr. Russell's willingness to learn about the community college sector. As a long time employee of the University of Missouri, Dr. Russell has not been heavily involved with our sector. We were pleased with his insight and willingness to listen.
 
One area of interest we discussed is the fact that over the last decade, community colleges in Missouri have grown at a greater rate than our university partners. In fact, several universities have actually experienced a decrease in students. While the University of Missouri system has shown very strong growth and Missouri State University has also experienced growth, the sector has not kept up with community college growth. Community colleges have seen our funding in relation to FTE fall during these years of rapid growth. Pointing out this growing disparity will be one strategy for advocating for a more equitable distribution of state funds. As I have mentioned before, OTC's rapid growth would be recognized in any redistribution of state funding.
 
Additionally, Governor Nixon plans to call a Higher Education Summit for Jefferson City on August 17th. The plan is to bring together all parts of higher education, along with national experts and state government to look at how higher education is currently delivered in Missouri and around the nation. The goal, I believe, is to try to push Missouri public higher education to become more aligned, more efficient and more effective. While community colleges will be part of the equation, the inefficiencies, duplication and overlap are largely a four- year issue. Our goal will be to make sure that solutions designed to fix the problems with the four years do not result in detrimental actions toward community colleges.
 
Community colleges consistently work as one and do not needlessly duplicate each other. That cannot be said of some of the universities. We are currently seeing some regional universities in Missouri moving to offer associate degrees. This is a good example of mission creep.  As the year goes on, I will be in the middle of the state meetings concerning higher education due to my position as chair of the council. I will keep you informed of how the issues are being addressed as we go along. This year could be a year where the community colleges will be called on to advocate strongly to protect our mission and, in turn, to protect our community's investment in their community colleges.
 
In his first 18 months in office, Governor Nixon has shown himself to be a friend of the community colleges. We will continue to actively engage the Governor in the process of adopting the state FY 12 budget and the examination of the higher education delivery model.
 

Thank you for supporting OTC as your generosity is the key to providing the quality education and training that our community has come to expect.  With your support, we will continue to be the community's college.

 

As always, please feel free to call, email, write or come by when you have a chance.
 

Along with the donation of two tractors, Peterbilt of Springfield also created an endowed scholarship named the Larson Family Scholarship, which will assist students in need of financial assistance.  Currently, over 65% of OTC students are in need of financial assistance.  These generous gifts will impact many student lives at OTC.   

 

For more information on making fully tax-deductible contributions to the Center for Workforce Development or another area at OTC, contact the OTC Foundation at (417) 447-2651 or foundation@otc.edu.