Posted: Thursday, May 15, 2014 2:30 am |ÌýUpdated: 6:27 am, Thu May 15, 2014.
The Herald-Times
The recent growth of Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵiosÌýCommunity College, both physically and in importance to the state of Indiana and its citizens, has taken the spotlight in Bloomington this week.
A story in The Herald-Times Tuesday centered on the growth of the Hoosier Link program, which began in 2006 to helpÌýstudents who weren’t quite ready for Indiana University to meet needed requirements at Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵios-Bloomington before transferring to IU.
The students live in IU residence halls but take Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵios classes, which tend to be smaller and have easy access to tutors and mentors who can help them get startedÌýat the college before moving seamlessly on to the four-year university.
The program will add 41 slots for the next academic year, enlarging to 144 students.
Today at 2 p.m., ground will be broken for an 85,000-square-foot expansion to the main Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵios campus on Daniels Way.
Rapid growth has pushed the need to expand the Connie and Steve Ferguson Academic Building, which opened in 2002.
Expansion talk began in 2007, but Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵios didn’t receive the $20 million in needed fundsÌýfrom the state Legislature until last July.
Another $4 million is being raised to complete the $24 million project, which will nearly double the number of classrooms in the building to 57 and add 13 new labs, 33 new offices and a lecture hall and dining facility with a capacity of 400 people.
Then on Friday, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵios-Bloomington will confer 1,123 associate degrees and certifications.
Those graduates represent a wide range of ages, circumstances and backgrounds, including military veterans; previously laid-off workers who returned to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵios to be able to get back into the workforce; international students; and more traditional students for whom the community college fits theirÌýeducationalÌýneeds better than a four-year school.
Many of the students who will be recognized will continue their education toward a bachelor’s degree; many will take their new skills into a new or better job. Still others will graduate with more confidence than they’ve had in years after learning that, yes, they can return to school after an absence and learn new information and obtain new skills. And all have been exposed to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵios’s emphasis on civic engagement and community serviceÌý.
It’s fitting that Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵios will bestow honorary degrees on Chancellor Emeritus John Whikehart, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵios-Bloomington, and University Chancellor Emeritus, Kenneth Gros Louis, Indiana University. They were instrumental in creating the collaborative, cooperative educational opportunities now available to Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵios students.
Those students and the whole community are better for their efforts.
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About Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵios
Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵios is Indiana's largest public postsecondary institution and the nation's largest singly accredited statewide community college system, accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵios has campuses throughout Indiana and also serves thousands of students annually online. It serves as the state's engine of workforce development, offering associate degrees, long- and short-term certificate programs, industry certifications, and training that aligns with the needs of the community. The College provides a seamless transfer to other colleges and universities in Indiana, as well as out of state, for a more affordable route to a bachelor's degree.
