MEMPHIS,
Tenn., March 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ --
The following is written by Dr. Tracy D.
Hall, President of Southwest Tennessee
Community College:
The Chronicle of Higher Education released in July 2023 a publication entitled "College as a
Public Good: Making the case through community engagement." In it
were sections devoted to topics such as colleges as stewards of the
public trust, educational partners, financial drivers and community
partners.
Community colleges serve all of these purposes and more. We take
the community in our middle name seriously. Since our beginning in
the 1900s, junior colleges (now community colleges) have partnered
with local businesses and industries, K-12, civic, social, and
government partners to meet the needs of our communities.
Take Southwest Tennessee Community
College, for example, where I have served as president for
nearly nine years. Located in Memphis,
Tenn., home of the blues and barbeque, this predominantly
Black institution has a front-row seat to the abject poverty that
has plagued the city for generations. In 2021, poverty in this
majority Black city stood at 22%, higher than the state of
Tennessee (13.6%) and the United States (12.8%).
The ravages of poverty were especially evident during the global
pandemic. Southwest's enrollment dipped 30%, Tennessee's largest decline in community
college enrollment. We faced a budget deficit of $10.6 million.
Before the pandemic, our students were already struggling to
make ends meet. Fifty percent qualified for federal Pell Grant
funding. Our fall enrollees' average family contribution (EFC) was
$670. The EFC represents the maximum
financial support a student's household can likely devote to
tuition, fees, and books in a year.
There were few, if any, safety nets for our students. In fact,
most walked a tightrope trying to balance school, family,
transportation challenges, lack of childcare, and even
homelessness. Unfortunately for many, life too often got in the way
of their dreams.
And then came a pandemic — the epitome of adding insult to
injury.
Covid-19 wreaked havoc on the social and economic welfare of
communities across our nation. But, for those individuals and
communities already in peril, the results were even more
devastating. Data indicate that a post-secondary credential
significantly increases lifetime earning potential. Again, our
enrollment declined 30%. If these students did not return to their
studies, their job prospects would likely continue to recede,
resulting in less earning potential and fewer opportunities than
their credentialed counterparts. These factors are why, despite our
post-pandemic dip in enrollment and resulting budget shortfall,
Southwest made the big, audacious move to, once again, redesign,
reset and reinvent the college to answer the call of the
community.
Southwest Workforce Solutions Center
The students were
not the only Covid victims. Local business leaders needed help
finding employees. Concerns grew about the local economy's future,
and talks ensued about ways to help Memphis quickly recover from the pandemic.
Business leaders expressed a need to deliver shorter-term,
career-focused programs at an accelerated speed.
For more than two decades, Southwest has met the needs of the
local community, whether it was developing the state's first
community college aviation program to address the impending
shortage of pilots or partnering with the police department and the
City of Memphis to develop a
police services technician program to address the shortage of
police officers, Southwest has answered the call.
A pandemic, then, would not deter us from our mission to move
with all deliberate speed to respond to the needs of our business
community.
Thanks to an $800,000 grant from
the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, we began rebranding
our entire college into Southwest: The Workforce Solutions Center
(SWSC). We increased our customized training to address unique
industry needs, including soft skills and leadership skills
training and training in automotive, business, engineering, IT,
logistics, transportation management, robotics, and health care
programs.
We focused on a holistic analysis of students, using data-driven
training plans to enhance student success and completion. We
offered pre-career training and an industry preview for potential
students to ensure they pursued careers that best met their
interests and skill set.
Perhaps most importantly, we accelerated our programs by
incorporating industry-identified training programs leading
to credentialing that is scalable to evolving business needs
(certifications, licensure, and/or degrees).
Buoyed by a $5500,000 Reimagining the Community College
Experience grant from the Tennessee Board of Regents, our workforce and
academic units collaborated to create seamless,
non-credit-to-credit stackable credentials. Students can now earn a
career and technical certificate in their first year at the
college.
We also incorporated auto-credentialing to capture students
who had completed coursework but had yet to take the steps to apply
for graduation. Southwest is just one of many examples of community
colleges nationwide that are doing the heavy lifting to respond to
the needs of our communities.
ROI
Engagement extends beyond the classroom for the
more than 1,000 community colleges nationwide. Our very essence
promotes a culture of collaboration and inclusivity that enriches
the college experience for our students and contributes to the
overall social fabric of the communities we serve.
For most community colleges, our graduates remain in the local
community. According to our most recent economic impact study at
Southwest, 96% of our alums remain in the Memphis metropolitan area. Operations spending
from the college and our students and alums generated over
$126 million in income to the
Mid-South economy, equivalent to 2,457 jobs.
We not only help to develop the workforce, but community
colleges are also employers. At Southwest, our economic study
showed that we spent over $41 million
on payroll and benefits for 1,126 full-time and part-time employees
and nearly $40 million on goods and
services to carry out our day-to-day operations.
The results of this study show that Southwest creates a positive
net impact on the regional economy and generates a positive return
on investment for students, taxpayers, and society.
Community colleges contribute significantly to our local,
regional, and state economies. We keep our fingers on the pulse and
ears to the ground to ensure that we are meeting the needs of our
communities. By being visible and active participants in social
endeavors, community colleges strengthen ties with the community
and play a vital role in nurturing a collective ethos of progress,
compassion, and shared success.
By heeding the call from our communities, community colleges
create positive environments that reinforce the notion that
education is not isolated from the real world but an integral part
of the larger society. Community colleges embrace our roles as
stewards of the public trust, educational partners, financial
drivers, and community partners.
We are, indeed, a public good.
About Southwest
Southwest
Tennessee Community College is a comprehensive,
multicultural, public, open-access college with seven locations in
West Tennessee. Southwest awards
associate degrees and certificates in more than 120 programs of
study. Southwest, a Tennessee
Board of Regents institution, is accredited by the Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges
(SACSCOC).
About AACC
Uniquely American, community colleges serve
more than 10 million students annually, providing critical access
to higher education in academic and workforce development. As the
voice of the nation's community colleges, the American Association
of Community Colleges (AACC), delivers educational and economic
opportunity for more than 10 million diverse students in search of
the American Dream. Uniquely dedicated to access and success for
all students, AACC's member colleges provide an on-ramp to degree
attainment, skilled careers, and family-supporting wages. Located
in Washington, D.C., AACC
advocates for these not-for-profit, public-serving institutions to
ensure they have the resources and support to increase economic
mobility for all. https://www.aacc.nche.edu/
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SOURCE American Association of Community Colleges