Staff Writer
AUGUSTA – The Maine Community College System (MCCS) announced last Wednesday investments totaling $6.2 million in programs and services it provides to rural Maine.
Contributed photo
LAST WEDNESDAY, the Maine Community College System (MCCS) announced investments totaling $6.2 million in programs and services it provides to rural Maine. Among the investments include a $200,000 gift from the TD Banknorth Charitable Foundation, which will help launch Bring College to ME, a program designed to deliver targeted community college degree programs on an intermittent basis to rural parts of the state. Attending the Dec. 19 announcement were, from left: Speaker of the House Glenn Cummings (D-Portland), Maine Community College System President John Fitzsimmons, Dennis King, chair of the Maine Community College System board of trustees; President of TD Banknorth in Maine Larry Wold, Gov. John E. Baldacci, and Kris Doody, chief executive officer of Cary Medical Center in Caribou.
A $3.5 million gift from the Bernard Osher Foundation will enable the MCCS to dramatically increase the number of community college scholarships available to rural Maine residents. In addition, gifts from the TD Banknorth Charitable Foundation ($200,000) and the Betterment Fund ($150,000) will help launch Bring College to ME, a program designed to deliver targeted community college degree programs on an intermittent basis to rural parts of the state.
Other investments will enable the community colleges to expand distance learning opportunities, increase rural high school students’ access to the community colleges, assist students with the costs of child care, and provide more workforce training assistance to small rural businesses. No additional state funds are being requested to implement the initiative.
The investments are in response to a statewide listening tour of rural Maine that was conducted by MCCS President John Fitzsimmons between July and November of this year. Motivated by concerns about the growing gaps in educational attainment and income between urban and rural Maine, Fitzsimmons set out to determine how Maine’s community colleges could better serve the workforce and economic development needs of the state’s rural areas.
“Rural Maine is facing a significant workforce development challenge,” he said in making the announcement. “We are making a commitment to be rural Maine’s partner in building an educated and skilled workforce.”
Fitzsimmons provided details about the MCCS rural initiative at a press conference in Augusta Dec. 19. He was joined by Gov. John E. Baldacci, Dennis King, chair of the MCCS board of trustees; Larry Wold, president of TD Banknorth in Maine; and Kris Doody, chief executive officer of Cary Medical Center in Caribou.
“I applaud the community colleges for focusing attention and resources on the specific needs of rural Maine,” said Baldacci. “Education is key to strengthening Maine’s rural economy, and the community colleges are uniquely positioned to deliver programs and services that lead to a more highly skilled workforce and an improved quality of life.
“The community colleges have listened closely to the needs of rural Maine, and they have responded in a comprehensive way,” he said. “I commend them for taking these steps and for working closely with the people of rural Maine to build a stronger future.”
NMCC President Timothy Crowley was also in Augusta for the announcement. He said rural initiatives will “mean greater access to programs for the people in Aroostook County.”
“That’s really what it’s all about … particularly in the allied health areas,” he said. “… Help build access to programs when we know that we have local people and local jobs. We hope [the initiative] will help fill some of these health care jobs that are very good jobs, but vacant.”
Nearly 400 individuals attended one of the 16 rural meetings convened by the MCCS during the summer and fall of 2007. Their input and recommendations – along with details about the MCCS response – are contained in a report released last week by the community college system. The report is available online at http://www.mccs.me.edu/about/ruralinitiative.html.
Among the key recommendations contained in the report include:
• Provide more financial assistance to address income challenges.
• Bring programs out to rural areas.
• Increase distance learning opportunities.
• Increase high school students’ access to the community colleges.
• Expand workforce training services for small rural businesses.
In direct response to these recommendations, the MCCS will:
• Establish a $5 million endowed scholarship fund to assist Maine people living in rural communities. Created by a $3.5 million grant from the Bernard Osher Foundation, the fund will be used to award up to 300 scholarships each year to rural students studying at a Maine community college. The Osher gift will be matched by $1.5 million in other funds, bringing the total of the endowed fund to $5 million.
• Expand an existing scholarship to include assistance with childcare expenses ($150,000).
• Establish Bring College to ME to deliver two-year degree programs on an intermittent basis to rural parts of the state. Major gifts from the TD Banknorth Charitable Foundation ($200,000) and the Betterment Fund ($150,000), combined with a $400,000 allocation from the MCCS will enable the System to launch Bring College to ME in the fall of 2008. Because of the critical demand for skilled health care workers in all parts of the state, the first five Bring College to ME degree programs will be health care related. By the fall of 2010, the MCCS expects to offer additional degree programs in other sectors, based on industry need and student demand.
“The support from TD Banknorth is outstanding,” said Crowley. “They have made a contribution to help support this initiative. At a time when the governor is cutting budgets and reducing dollars, our System is coming forward with a partnership with business in health care and saying, ‘We can continue to grow.’”
• Expand distance learning opportunities. The MCCS will expand the services it provides to rural Maine through a $245,000 expansion of its ITV system. The expansion will be funded through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, funds from the 2007 bond for higher education, and the colleges’ own resources.
• Increase high school students’ access to the community colleges. The MCCS will make an additional 250 college courses available to Maine high school juniors and seniors living in rural Maine, at a cost of about $60,000.
• Expand Maine Quality Centers workforce training to more small rural businesses.
Crowley said he agrees with the report’s recommendations.
“I’m pleased to see the System and the board acknowledging that there is a tremendous need for education in rural Maine,” he said. “Everyone has their own definition of northern Maine, but I think people in Aroostook County have probably a clearer vision of what rural is, and we know at our college that this is going to help the people in our area, and help us create access to programs that we don’t have right now. It’s going to be a very good thing.”
