State of the Maine Community College System

President Edmonds, Speaker Richardson, honorable members of the 122nd Maine Legislature, Chancellor Westphal, colleagues, and friends of higher education, I am honored to come before you this morning to speak to you on behalf of the students, employees, and Trustees of the Maine Community College System.

For the past fifteen years I have had the great privilege of serving as president of this system. I work with a dedicated Board of Trustees and a talented group of colleagues who keep our students' best interest at the heart of every decision they make. They never forget how much our students have sacrificed in order to achieve their dream of a college degree.

I could not be prouder to say that I work with such a dedicated and accomplished group of people. They are professionals who have a passion for their jobs and compassion for the students we serve. But my pride has never been greater than it is today, as I report for the first time on the progress of Maine's new Community College System.

Two years ago, the 121st Maine Legislature passed the landmark legislation establishing a Community College System in Maine. The bill was led by Governor Baldacci and sponsored by 117 members of this body. Sixty of those original sponsors are in this chamber today. I thank you for your leadership in making access to higher education—for all our citizens—a top priority for Maine.

We came together on this initiative because we knew Maine needed ....

~ a new option for high school graduates who were capable of going to college but were not going on;

~ to give more adults a flexible, affordable option for college, to upgrade their skills and find their place in the new economy;

~ and to give citizens who are not ready to step right into a university, a bridge to a baccalaureate degree.

We knew that bringing an affordable, accessible community college system to Maine was essential to turning around our state's chronic low college participation rate, and preparing our citizens for a changing economy.

The early progress, I believe, proves that your bold public policy decision was right. By creating a community college system in Maine, we have truly opened the doors of higher education wider.

~ In just two years, we have added 2,700 more college students—a 36 percent jump—to surpass for the first time in our history 10,000 degree students. When combined with those taking credit and non credit courses, we are now serving over 20,000 Mainers.

~ We are making inroads in attracting the next tier of high school students who traditionally have not gone on to college. The number of students entering our colleges directly from high school has jumped 41 percent in two years. We have employed a number of strategies to engage this group of students. One of the most successful is our early college pilot program, which targets students who don't have plans for college, and provides them with scholarships and support through the college admissions process. I am pleased to report that the first group of 200 students has entered college and done very well academically. One in four Early College students—students who did not see themselves going to college—made the Dean's List this past semester. As Governor Baldacci announced last month, thanks to a $1 million gift from the Bernard Osher Foundation, we will be working with Maine's Department of Education to take the Early College for ME program statewide.

~We are also making real progress increasing the number of students transferring on to our universities. Our graduates enrolling in one of Maine's seven universities has increased 21 percent in just two years. I would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge Chancellor Westphal and the seven university presidents for their support in developing new articulation agreements—making the path between our two systems virtually seamless.

~When we proposed the Community College change, some were concerned that we might abandon our career programs. Well, I am pleased to report that enrollment in our career programs is up 18 percent in two years. We have added or expanded programs in education, automotive, machine tool, and adventure tourism. And thanks to creative partnerships with health care providers, we have brought a new nursing program to Dover Foxcroft, a surgical technology program to Bangor, and a radiologic technology program to Presque Isle.

~ We are adding more entrepreneurial courses and services, to give our students who aspire to own their own businesses the tools and knowledge to succeed. All over Maine are businesses started by our graduates, ranging in size from 5 to 150 workers. Businesses like Technology Services of Maine in Auburn, JSI Store Fixtures in Milo, Federal Spice Restaurant in Portland, Mid-State Machine in Winslow, and Professional Home Nursing in Caribou. With our niche of offering programs tied directly to the Maine economy, we are in a unique position to prepare more people to successfully launch their own businesses and create more new jobs in Maine.

~One of the major concerns we have in Maine is the cost of college—as a barrier to enrolling, and because of the debt burden when students graduate. The mission of a community college is to be accessible, and to be accessible it must be affordable. It is for that reason that we have frozen our tuition for the past six years. While the decision has been a difficult one, the result is: more students enrolling in college, and students graduating with less debt. Equally important, our tuition and fees are now within $350 of the national average for community colleges.

~And finally, our most important indicator of how well we are doing our jobs: We have maintained our placement rate of 95 percent of graduates in jobs or continuing their education—with 96 percent of employed graduates finding jobs in Maine.

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As you know, these results didn't just happen. Our new system was launched during a recession with limited financial support. With just a two percent increase in state funding over the past two years, our colleges pulled off a 36 percent jump in enrollment, and embraced a new, broader mission. This could not have been accomplished if not for the exceptional people who work in our system. I want to thank our faculty, staff and administrators for delivering a phenomenal start to our new Community College System.

While the early progress is impressive, I am concerned that it may lead people to believe that the job is done. In fact, this system is still in its infancy. We must still invest in the personnel and infrastructure necessary to achieve the full potential of what a strong community college system can offer our great state. These are the formative years of our new system, and what you do now will shape how well it delivers—for students and for Maine—for years to come.

We have pushed this new system hard, and we need your support if we are to continue our positive momentum. We need the State to invest in our core operations, our staffing, and our infrastructure.

We recognize how difficult it is to find new money in this budget environment, which is why we deeply appreciate Governor Baldacci increasing our base budget by 2.5 percent each year of the biennium. He has taken us from a crisis to a challenge. However, we are still facing a shortfall of $1.4 million next year, and $2.9 million in FY'07. Without additional relief, we will have to raise tuition, and we will have to make some reductions in staffing—which will limit our enrollment growth over the next two years.

Our hope is that during the course of this session you will be able to find additional resources to maintain our current programs and services, and continue our progress.

We also need a significant investment in our infrastructure. In four years, we have added over 4,400 more college students to our campuses. If that was one college, it would be the third largest in Maine. That's 4,400 more people using parking lots, classrooms, science and computer labs, program equipment, libraries, dining halls, and residence halls. Each year we submit a list to the Bureau of General Services with our capital needs. Based on that assessment, our Community Colleges have $51 million in mandatory and essential capital repair needs. In addition, our colleges are pressed for more classroom space, labs and program equipment.

The Community Colleges are poised to address some of the most challenging issues facing our people, and our economy, but we cannot do it without your support.

If you are concerned that only 55 percent of Maine's high school graduates are going on to college—with 6,000 graduates stepping into the world of work each year with limited options for their future—then you need a strong community college system.

If you are concerned that too many Maine adults are shut out of the better-paying jobs in our changing economy because they lack the qualifications—while 90,000 working adults express a strong desire to pursue a college degree—then you need a strong community college system.

If you are concerned about the future of our health care system .... a system already being taxed by a serious shortage of qualified workers—while one of the state's top producers of health care graduates, our community colleges, had nearly 1,800 more applicants to our health programs than we were able to enroll last year—then you need a strong community college system.

If you are concerned about attracting new businesses and growing good Maine jobs—while our own State Chamber reports that nearly 50 percent of its members are having a difficult time finding skilled workers—then you need a strong community college system.

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I know you share my belief in the innate talent of Maine people and their willingness to work hard. Whether a person is born in Calais or Caribou, Belfast or Rumford, Lewiston or Sanford, we want them to know that we are doing everything in our power to give them an opportunity to be a full participant in everything this great country has to offer. It doesn't matter if your parents are bankers or millwrights or teachers or brick layers, you live in a state that says—by its words and its deeds—we believe in you. Confidence follows competence. Let us give all Maine people the skills and competencies they need, so that they will have the confidence to follow their dreams. As the temporary guardians of the public trust, that is our responsibility and gift for the future.

Thank you.