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From Great Idea to Expensive Reality
While opposition to a consolidated Gateway downtown has dwindled, so, perhaps, have the dollars needed to make it happen
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Business New Haven
11/25/2002
By: Christine Thomas
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Now more than ever before, community colleges are looked at to both develop and train today's workforce, a role made crucial by employers' increasing requirements that incoming employees possess training beyond the high-school
level.
Around the state, community colleges take this mission seriously, offering state-of-the-art facilities, training and education. The president of Gateway Community College, Dorsey Kendrick, is fighting hard and speaking out for her college to be given the opportunity to offer a 21st-century education to New Haven. "Gateway Community College is at a crossroad in terms of needing room to expand," says Kendrick. The college is rapidly outgrowing its current Long Wharf location: Enrollment in Gateway's Corporate & Continuing Education Division, which provides non-credit certifications and enrichment courses, already numbers approximately 6,500, while 5,400 are enrolled in credit classes in the college division.
It has been a continuing Gateway struggle to secure the resources (read: money) necessary to either consolidate the school's Long Wharf and North Haven campuses - or build a new campus in downtown New Haven.
According to estimates by city officials and others, the cost of such a project could reach $100 million, regardless of its location.
Gov. John G. Rowland has already proposed that $60 million be allocated in the state budget to Gateway next year for consolidation, but with a state budget deficit approaching $500 million and the threat of a December 1 layoff of as many as 3,000 state workers, no financial commitment should be viewed as ironclad.
And Kendrick notes that although $60 million is indeed a significant sum, it may not be enough to develop the facility she envisions.
"We want to deliver quality, first-class, world-class education," she says, "and we need more money to do it."
In an effort to rally support from the business community, at a Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce meeting later this month Kendrick will offer to drive community leaders to other community colleges throughout the state "to expose them to what a 21st-century community college looks like."
In doing so Kendrick hopes to illustrate exactly what other community colleges have that Gateway doesn't, and perhaps put a dent in the "out-of-sight, out-of-mind" mentality she believes the community often has when addressing the future of her college.
Gateway would like the business community to become active stakeholders in the college, to help get Rowland and the state legislature firmly behind the project. Kendrick's offer to show them around is just one more avenue to accomplishing that goal. "This community deserves a better college," says Kendrick," and we need the business community to help facilitate this."
The American Association of Community Colleges reports that enrollments at community colleges nationwide are increasing annually at rates as high as 20 percent. The report cites in particular the role of the rocky economy that is forcing workers back to school to broaden their skills improve their abilities.
"It's a trend that's stronger than ever," explains Jean Wihbey, associate dean of learning for corporate and continuing education at Gateway. "Because of the rapidly increasing pace of the world we're in, particularly in IT [information technology] and health care, people need to continually upgrade their skills," she adds.
Gateway students can take courses with the aim of transferring to a four-year college or university, or in order to learn new skills and upgrade existing ones. The Corporate & Continuing Education Division offers short-term courses that focus on work development and personal enrichment, from corporate training for people entering the workforce, to leadership and management development for executives.
Certificate training is often rigorous, as is the case with EMT and paramedic training, or the CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Technician), with frequent exams that must be passed in order to move on to the next module.
Other programs offer specialization in fields like culinary arts and information technology. "A lot of people come here who want to try out school, maybe to learn how to use computers or to make pastries," says Wihbey. "Once they learn they have the capability and discipline to study, then they sign up at the college."
Wihbey is also working to transfer hours earned in non-credit continuing-education classes into credit that can be applied toward a degree.
Thirty percent of Gateway's students are residents of New Haven; many end up transferring to other colleges. At Southern Connecticut State University, six percent of the entering class comes from community colleges, while at the University of New Haven, out of a fall 2002 enrolling class of 740, 15 to 20 percent of new students transferred in from community colleges, say UNH officials.
As a key educator of New Haven's workforce, Gateway is not only integral to many students' lives, but also directly tied to the city's economic development.
The New Haven chamber recognizes this connection, and has already been working closely with Gateway on workforce-related projects, particularly in matching the business community's needs with the Gateway curriculum.
"[Gateway] will be in an even better position with an expanded facility," notes Mary Anne B. Cox, director of communications for Connecticut Community Colleges, "to serve the New Haven community and provide low-cost, quality education."
Efforts to consolidate and update other community colleges around the state have already paid major, tangible benefits. Hartford's Capital Community College underwent a major overhaul when its two campuses merged this summer into a downtown location (the former G. Fox building). CCC now prides itself on its firmer connection to the community and a more vigorous role in the economic development of greater Hartford.
Housatonic Community College went through a similar transformation when it relocated to downtown Bridgeport in 1996. HCC now boasts of soaring enrollments and a contribution of more than $60 million to the region's economy. The University of Connecticut Stamford campus is likewise in the process of moving its campus downtown.
Gateway wants the same opportunity to offer current courses that reflect today's careers. "We want to be the flagship community college in the state of Connecticut," says Wihbey. "We want to be world-class."
In addition to central locations, these two-year institutions also offer an enhanced quality, university-style environment, and most have cutting-edge technology and the capability to train a workforce that will directly enter and affect the community.
Manchester Community College dubs itself a "learner-centered institution" with a comprehensive student-centered business and technology program.
Nearby in western Massachusetts, Springfield Technical is one the of the largest community colleges in the Bay State and a leader in technology education, even boasting of its own technology park, which leases space to private technology companies.
Norwalk Community College is another institution in the process of creating a comprehensive technology center.
At the end of this month the trustees of Connecticut Community Colleges will review Gateway's master plan, which includes a proposal for relocation to downtown New Haven. The trustees have consistently favored efforts to consolidate Gateway's two campuses.
Funding for the plan will need to come from the state its Department of Higher Education, but the question remains whether Gateway can secure all of the funding needed to complete such a project at a time when budget cuts and layoffs have begun to impact the public sector as well as the private.
Among those taking an active role in supporting Gateway's expansion are city officials including the mayor and economic-development czar Henry Fernandez, as well as the chamber of Commerce.
"We're all speaking with one voice [now]," says chamber President Anthony P. Rescigno. "The business community feels strongly that Gateway moving to downtown is a terrific asset both for Gateway and downtown."
More pedestrian traffic in a city's downtown translates to more business at retail establishments such as restaurants and shops. For Gateway, the move promises a significant boost in enrollment, too.
Housatonic has reported a 70-percent increase in student population since it moved to downtown Bridgeport six years ago, while Capital's enrollment is already up 30 percent from last year, CCC officials say.
"Exactly where this relocation should take place needs to be worked out," Rescigno acknowledges. The most likely site seems to be the former Malley's and Macy's department-store blocks. "We don't feel strongly that one site or another is better than the next," adds Rescigno.
At Gateway, the focus is on quality education first and foremost. "The location is not as important to me as state-of-the-art labs, state-of-the-art classrooms, windows and an environment that encourages learning and a facility where students can walk in and be proud of their institution," Kendrick says.
But there is an asset beyond simple economics having in students and staff clustered in the epicenter of the city. New people bring new ideas, and are able to learn about, participate in, and strengthen the ideas and events already present in the community.
"I would love to be able to step out of the college and be in the center of all that activity," says Wihbey.
"Whether it's the restaurants, the activities put on by Yale or by the city, it's a great cultural center to be in."
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