11 Jan 2011

CommUniversity celebrates 31st year

By Alan Campbell

As cabin fever begins to reach its height, area residents have a unique tool in their arsenal to ward off those mid-winter blahs.

For a mere $25, people can break out of their homes and spend Sunday afternoons in February learning about Celtic Spirituality, A History of Angels, The Modern Civil Rights Movement, Increasing Your Intuition, Conversational Italian, Spanish and French, Tai Chi, Georgia O'Keefe, Egyptology, Psychology of Film or one of  31 other topics at this year's CommUniversity.

CommUniversity is a non-profit project, presented by a volunteer committee of representatives from various local educational and community groups. The public event has been held every February for 31 years with more than 600 people attending last year. Classes last four weeks, held from 2 - 4 p.m. every Sunday in February.

Classes are held at St. Ambrose University and will be kicked off February 6 with a keynote presentation at 1 p.m. in the university's Galvin Fine Arts Center.

This year's keynote speaker is Stephen Bloom, professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Iowa and author of Postville: A Clash of Cultures in Heartland America and The Oxford Project which won the prestigious 2009 Alex Award from the American Library Association.

Bloom's presentation will be on storytelling and why it is still important to us today, even though the platforms used to bring news to people may be changing.

Following the keynote, students will move to their chosen classes.

Classes are informal, taught by experts in their field and, best of all, there are no tests. Other classes this year include : Exploring the Book of Genesis, Irish Poetry, Beginning Photography, Yoga, Tennessee Williams and Songwriting.

Participants can sign up as an individual and use the opportunity to meet others who share an interest or, in many cases, groups of friends or entire families enroll together. Either way, anyone wanting to fight off the winter chill has 42 different classes from which to choose.

People are invited to attend Bloom's keynote address free of charge. Class registration is accepted at the door on February 6, however everyone is encouraged to register in advance. This helps to insure that there is room in the class for them, as well as makes sure the class isn't cancelled due to low enrollment.

A full listing of all the available classes and registration information is available online at www.communiversity.org

CommUniversity is made possible in part through grants from Humanities Iowa, (state-based affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities) and the Scott County Regional Authority.

14 Dec 2010

EICCD in Top 20 Nationally

By Alan Campbell

Eastern Iowa Community College District (EICCD) has been recognized by Community College Week as one of the top 20 fastest growing community colleges in the nation.

EICCD was listed as the 14th fastest growing community college among those with enrollment between 5,000 and 9,999. The college posted a 22 percent enrollment increase between 2008 and 2009 (8,480 students in 2008 compared to 6,975 the prior year).

"I'm very excited that we made this list and received this recognition," said EICCD Chancellor Dr. Pat Keir. "We knew, of course, how much we have grown these past two years but we didn't realize how well that compared with other colleges across the country."

EICCD includes Clinton, Muscatine and Scott Community Colleges.

Dr. Keir pointed out that the ranking only tells part of the story. On top of the 22 percent increase in 2009, enrollment increased by another 10.4 percent in 2010. Fall enrollment at the three colleges this year was 9,365 students.

The college's students attend classes at the three main campuses and satellite sites in Maquoketa, Wilton, downtown Davenport and the Blong Technology Center just off Interstate 80 in Davenport. Partnerships with high schools throughout the EICCD region also allow for current high school students to take college classes right in their school buildings.

"There's no doubt that economic factors have contributed to that growth," Dr. Keir said. "But we need to also recognize the tremendous amount of work being done by our staff and faculty in providing educational opportunities to students. Without all of the work that our people are doing, without all of the partnerships they are building with high schools and the community, none of this would have been possible."

"It's also very important for me to mention and thank the public for its support," she added. "Without that support, especially their approval of our bond referendum three years ago, we would have not been able to accommodate the growing number of students."

Voters in the eastern Iowa district approved a 2007 bond referendum for $33 million. That funding has allowed the college to build new science centers at all three colleges, a new university center in Muscatine, CCC's Maquoketa Center, expansion of the career technologies wing and construction of the new Hospitality and Culinary Arts Center at SCC, and support of a new Wilton Library and Community Center with classrooms dedicated for MCC. Additional renovations are still underway and future plans call for construction of a new west Davenport center, located next to the city's Fairmount Street Library, scheduled to open next fall.

In addition to the students in the traditional classrooms, the college's online enrollment is also increasing. The number of students in online programs increased to 2,837 in 2010, compared to 1,957 in 2009. Approximately half of these students are enrolled exclusively in online classes while the other half are in both online as well as traditional classroom-based classes.

EICCD partners with six other Iowa community colleges in the online program, making it possible for students to earn their Associate in Arts Degree entirely online. The local college also has unique online programs available in Health Information Technology, Cancer Information Management, and Health, Safety and Environmental Technology.

For more information about the colleges' programs call 1-888-336-3907 or e-mail eiccinfo@eicc.edu

28 Jan 2010

Eastern Iowa CC sets record for spring enrollment

By Alan Campbell

With 19 percent growth from just one year ago, Eastern Iowa Community College District (EICCD) has set a new enrollment record for its spring session of 8,336 students.

EICCD includes Clinton, Muscatine and Scott Community Colleges. The current enrollment easily eclipses the previous record of 7,145 set in 2005 and is more than 1,300 students higher than the 7,005 attending in the spring, 2009. The spring numbers follow a similar record set by the three colleges this past fall.

"There is a great sense of excitement at our colleges as we welcome so many new students," said EICCD Chancellor Dr. Pat Keir. "Other than possibly in the early years immediately after the colleges were founded, we have never seen such a dramatic growth in a single year.  It is a very satisfying feeling to know that students put such great trust in us and our educational offerings."

All three colleges registered enrollment gains for the spring semester with Clinton Community College reporting 1,855 students, Muscatine Community College, 1,534, and Scott Community College, 4,945.

The Clinton Community College (CCC) number is notable because it is the highest the college has ever registered in any semester, fall or spring. The total tops CCC's previous record of 1,596 set this past fall.

"We have many people to thank for making this happen; first and foremost are the more than 8,000 students who have chosen to continue their education with us," Dr. Keir said. "In addition to that are all the faculty and staff who have worked so hard to accommodate our students. Even with this sudden growth, their work is making it possible for us to provide the same quality education to students as we always have."

College officials mention current economic factors as one of the reasons for the record enrollment. Many of the new students are individuals who have been recently laid off and are entering one of the colleges' more than 50 career programs for re-training in a new job field. Approximately 2000 of the colleges' students are 30 years of age or older.

The colleges are also seeing an increase in the number of traditional age students just graduating from high school. Those students and their parents are turning to the community colleges as an affordable option for the first two years of a four-year degree program or for their career training.

EICCD maintains formal transfer agreements with area private colleges and the state universities, making it easy for students to transfer their credits once they graduate from the community colleges.

Tuition at the three colleges is $112 per credit hour, roughly $3,500 per year for a full-time student taking 16 credit hours per semester.

"While we did raise tuition this past academic year to react to cuts in our state funding, we made every effort to keep it as minimal as possible," Dr. Keir said. "We are committed to keeping our tuition among the lowest in the state so that a college or technical education is available to everyone."

Government grants are available for those in need of financial assistance. In addition, all three colleges have foundations that provide scholarship opportunities for students. Some of those scholarships are based on need but many others are based on academic ability, the student's program of study and a number of other factors. Everyone is encouraged to apply for scholarships, even if they think they won't qualify. The deadline for filing for the fall 2010 session is April 1.

Other growth areas for EICCD have been its online programs and high school delivery.

Through a cooperative effort with other Iowa community colleges, students can earn their Associate in Arts degree entirely via the internet. In addition, the colleges offer career training in such areas as Health Information Technology and Health, Safety and Environmental Technology. More than 1,000 students are enrolled in the college's online classes.

The district also works closely with many high schools in its service area to offer college-level classes to current high school students.

Many of those classes are held in the high schools, making it convenient for students to attend as part of their regular class schedule.

To make room for the increased student enrollment, Clinton, Muscatine and Scott Community Colleges will soon be opening new science additions at each college. Clinton Community College opened its new Maquoketa Center last summer and Scott Community College will be opening a new Culinary Arts and Hospitality Management Center in July.  All of these additions were made possible thanks to a bond referendum passed by voters in 2007.

For more information about EICCD or any of its colleges go online to www.eicc.edu or call 1-888-336-3907.

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