Kirkwood faculty, friends say goodbye to Iowa City campus

IOWA CITY — In a corridor leading to the commons in Kirkwood Community College’s main Iowa City campus on Friday, a Sudanese man shared with a mentor that his family — caught in the nation facing escalating civil conflict and violence — isn’t doing well.

In a nearby bathroom in the 32-year-old Iowa City campus, a young student talked with a friend about her job opportunities — and sought advice on her prospects.

“It’s hard for me,” Nuha Ballal, 47, of Iowa City, said about the campus’ fast-approaching closure. “It’s hard for everyone.”

The 97,000-square-foot Kirkwood campus during its tenure became more than a community college branch, one senior faculty member told The Gazette on Friday during a gathering to celebrate the site and its impact just days before its final class.

He characterized it as a “community center,” and Ballal — a Kirkwood student since 2018 — agreed, framing the closure as especially hard for her tight-knit community.

“My Sudanese people ... we have a lot,” she said of the number who call Kirkwood their academic home.

Many live near the 1816 Lower Muscatine Rd. campus, Ballal said, and they feel both uncomfortable and concerned about the prospect of commuting farther to either the Kirkwood Regional Center at the University of Iowa in Coralville or to Cedar Rapids, where Kirkwood is based.

“This is close,” said Ballal, who started her Kirkwood journey taking English as a Second Language before pausing during COVID and is now starting down a nursing path. “It’s very close.”

Enrollment, use down

Outgoing Kirkwood President Lori Sundberg in January announced plans to retire the Iowa City location and move its operations to the regional center in Coralville after an analysis found credit enrollment at the site had dropped 75 percent over five years.

She found the site’s average space utilization ranged from 21 percent to 37 percent; deferred maintenance costs were mounting; and student interest was shifting toward more technical and health-related degrees and certificates, like those offered in Cedar Rapids.

“I was surprised in a way, but then in a way not, because we had talked for years already about enrollment numbers dropping,” said former Kirkwood Iowa City operations coordinator Betty Adams, who retired in 2021 after 27 years on the campus.

“The number of students of the right age to enter college is getting lower and lower.”

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Backdropped by live music and smells of wings and barbecue, Adams also noted the liberal arts-leaning of the Iowa City site.

“Most of our students were getting a two-year degree and then they would transfer,” Adams said. “But the trends these days seem to be more technology and health care and more vocational trades. I think maybe the demand for the liberal arts is less than it was.”

Although Kirkwood officials haven’t shared specifics of its Iowa City closing plans — and some faculty Friday said they haven’t received many move-out details — administrators have confirmed all Iowa City operations are relocating to the Coralville regional center.

Also, “Kirkwood plans to maintain a presence in Iowa City through an expanded partnership with Iowa City Public Schools at the district’s new acquired facility on the ACT campus,” according to administrators.

A month after announcing the Iowa City closure, Kirkwood laid off 28 employees and eliminated some of its costlier programs. The layoffs are expected to save $1.5 million a year. By selling the Iowa City campus, administrators expect to save the college nearly $400,000 annually in operation expenses.

‘Huge transition’

Iowa City Mayor Bruce Teague made an appearance at the Kirkwood gathering Friday, acknowledging the site’s future is unknown and the campus closure means a “huge transition for the residents of Iowa City.”

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Teague praised its impact on his community and his life.

“I myself went here, I'm an alumni, I know what it means to have a local community college right here,” Teague said. “So for a lot of individuals in our community, it's going to be kind of a disappointment. But there is opportunity in our neighboring city in Coralville.”

Teague said he’s especially thankful for the Kirkwood faculty and staff who’ve made higher education accessible to so many — like Ellen Moser, 20, of Iowa City, who’s graduating with her associate degree from Kirkwood this spring with plans to transfer to the UI in the fall.

Moser said she had planned to attend a four-year university out of high school until COVID shut everything down, changed the curriculum-delivery mode and shook her confidence.

“I kind of felt overwhelmed with the idea of pursuing higher education in such a big, impersonal place,” she said. “I really wanted a more intimate setting.”

She took a chance on Kirkwood — making her the first person in her family to attend the community college, despite its proximity in her hometown.

“I’ve loved it, I would recommend it to anyone,” Moser said, sharing experiences about connecting with employees, professors, and peers. “I think that it'll continue to be a very high-quality institution because the instructors are what has made it such a supportive and wonderful environment.

“But it’s certainly sad to see the end of such a piece of local history.”

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com