Staff Writer
The Maine Community College System (MCCS) announced last Wednesday investments totaling $6.2 million in programs and services it provides to rural Maine. A $3.5 million gift from the Bernard Osher Foundation will enable the MCCS to 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 requested to implement the initiative.
The investments are in response to a statewide tour of rural Maine 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 wanted 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.
