Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce

Four college presidents this week explained how the institutions they lead meet contemporary challenges.

          The high profile panel spoke on Monday (Nov. 14) to more than 100 Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce members and guests at the Holiday Inn-Tinley Park Convention Center.

          Dr. Vernon Crawley of Moraine Valley Community College; Dr. Elaine Maimon, Governors State University; Dr. Eric Radtke, Prairie State College; and Christine Wiseman, J.D., of Saint Xavier University comprised the higher education panel.         

          Although Radtke did not speak first, he addressed the presence and overall relevance of community colleges in Illinois and throughout the country.

          “Community Colleges have some of the highest demands for training the workforce, and we have always maintained a connection to business communities,” Radtke said.

          “There are 1,200 community colleges across the country and 48 in Illinois.

          “You cannot grow an industry if you don’t have a trained workforce.”

          Students in two-year programs ranging from automotive and machine experts to two-year degrees in nursing and dental hygiene can go straight into jobs.

          The colleges also offer non-degree adult education programs including GED (high school equivalency programs) and ESL (English as a second language) and many others.

          Crawley, who led off the panel discussion, focused on much of what Radtke would address.

          “There is a real difference in today’s community college student body,” said Crawley, who has led MVCC for 21 years.

          “Higher education is much more expensive and today 70 percent of our enrollment plan to transfer (after completing two years),” he said. Students cannot afford to pay rapidly accelerating tuition, book and boarding costs at universities and leave after four years with skills that will not get them jobs.

          In addition, the college offers two-year programs for specific careers including nursing and dental hygienist.

          “We want students to be successful when they leave here.

          “We also have programs to assist businesses with resources and access” to professional assistance through SCORE, the Service Corps of Retired Executives.

          “We are doing quite a bit to provide the services our business community needs,” he said.

          Maimon said GSU “promotes and requires completion of the associate’s degree as we want students in full and coherent programs starting at the community college level.”

          That is, GSU wants students who already are on a career path.

          “The university and community colleges need to work together to provide this quality education” to meet the demands of the 21^st century, she said.

          Wiseman, the only president on the panel who does not lead a public college, noted that SXU has a student body of 5,000 and at 165 years, is the oldest Catholic university in Illinois. However, the student body represents a cross section of the country, she said.

          “Forty-one percent of our students are minority and 65 percent are first generation.”

          “We are not a public university,” she said. “The only publicly funded money we get is for grants” and the university spends millions of grant dollars “to make sure students who enter our doors leave with a degree.”

          “We want the SXU years to be transformational,” she said.