Coralville council hears details on Kirkwood Regional Center

Kirkwood Community College, University of Iowa and Coralville officials are hopeful that the Kirkwood Regional Center at the University of Iowa, slated to open in August 2015, will help improve workforce and economic development throughout the state.

During a presentation to the Coralville City Council Tuesday night, Kirkwood Community College President Mick Starcevich briefed city officials on the regional facility that's slated to come to the UI's Oakdale campus in Coralville. 

The center on the UI's campus - which is said to be unique to education on a national scale due to its collaboration of teaching efforts from the University of Iowa, community college and kindergarten through 12-grade levels - will offer college-level courses and career academies to local high school students. It is expected to serve students in at least six districts, with hopes of fostering more interest in STEM programs focusing on science, technology, engineering and math.

Depending on when students start the programs, and which classes they take, Starcevich said it's possible that many students could earn an associates degree or career certificate at the same time they graduate high school, making them prepared to enter the workforce before they even start college. 

"As we think about the career path for kids, one of the things we hope is that we stimulate some of these kids who think they were going to be a welder to think about a 4-year physics degree or graduate school," said Jordan Cohen, vice president of research and academic development at the UI. "So we are creating that pipeline."

Though there are still a lot of details to work out regarding how the program will run, Cohen said he thinks the center is already helping to foster an even better relationship between the university and Kirkwood, closing a gap in perception of community colleges and universities.

Though the center won't open for at least two more years, Starcevich said the center has a loose commitment of about 500 students from the Iowa City area that would be attending school at the center every day.

Councilor Bill Hoeft said he thinks the program will provide a good opportunity for students to get a better idea of what they might want to do before spending a lot of money on a bachelor's degree.

"I think this would be able to provide a more meaningful undergraduate experience," Hoeft said. "If you think about the amount of people that don't work in their undergraduate field of study, this would really give them at least a direction of where they want to go, or where they don't want to go."

Planning for the facility, which will be a joint building between Kirkwood Community College and the University of Iowa, began to move forward after voters approved a $46.5 million bond issue in September 2011 that would allow Kirkwood Community College to construct three new regional education centers as early as August 2013.

UI Provost Barry Butler said the university's role in the center will be extremely important moving forward, adding the program is well respected at the state level.

"We are really blessed to have an incredible community college system in our district here, so to have a partnership like this means a lot," Butler said. "I know a lot of universities that probably wouldn't pick up the phone when these things come along, but we are pleased to be working with (Kirkwood) because of their strength and what it brings to the region."

Starcevich said construction of the UI center is slated to begin sometime this fall, perhaps in September or October.