Kirkwood expansion focuses on success

CEDAR RAPIDS - Kirkwood Community College, for much of its 43-year history, has been synonymous with access.

Community colleges have a mission to serve Iowans in their home communities with education and job training, and that's a good tradition, Kirkwood President Mick Starcevich said.

But Starcevich envisions a Kirkwood where success is just as important as access.

“I want to take it from accessibility to success - making student success a priority,” he said.

To that end, Kirkwood this year added several developmental math teachers and “early warning” advisers to help struggling students. A College 101 program gives advice on college life.

They are ways Kirkwood officials hope to boost academic performance, retention and graduation rates, said Starcevich, who marks his fifth anniversary as president in January.

Plans also are in the works for a new student union to be built on center campus to house admissions, advising and student activities and lounge areas. It would connect all campus buildings via underground walkways. That design is before a potential donor, Starcevich said, and it's a dream project officials hope to have done in a few years if private funding is procured.

“I would envision that as a final piece of the puzzle for us,” Starcevich, 62, said.

His tenure has seen a flurry of growth at Kirkwood, in enrollment, programs and facilities.

“The board couldn't be more pleased,” Lois Bartelme, a Coralville resident who chairs the Kirkwood board of trustees, said. “We're particularly pleased with his focus on student success and student achievement.”

A $25 million bond issue passed by voters in 2005 helped fuel much of the physical growth. Kirkwood in recent years built a Cedar Hall addition; renovated its library; and expanded digital access, allowing high-speed audio and video connection to all 12 sites in its seven-county region. It also has built a horticulture building and a continuing education conference center; expanded and renovated industrial tech programs in Jones Hall; and built the Jones County Regional Education Center.

Next year will mark the opening of The Hotel at Kirkwood Center, which will serve five academic programs: culinary, culinary assistant, bakery, hotel/motel management and restaurant management. Several of those are booming programs with waiting lists.

Kirkwood saw record enrollment this year, with 17,841 students. Officials attribute much of the 17.4 percent increase to the economy, as workers look to retrain. Enrollment of non-traditional students - those over age 25 - jumped nearly 33 percent, Starcevich said, though he expects enrollment to level off and perhaps even drop slightly once the economy rebounds.

Because Kirkwood's varied mission includes work force training and services for the unemployed, it's important for the college to constantly adapt with new degree and certificate offerings, Starcevich said. Kirkwood expanded its welding program after requests from area industry, and officials hope to start an energy auditor degree program, piggybacking on green energy and sustainability trends.

Recruitment and retention of a high-quality work force is the No. 1 concern of the business community, said Shannon Meyer, president of the Cedar Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce.

“Kirkwood plays such a pivotal, critical role,” she said.

Maintaining the level of services is especially key now, Starcevich said, as state budget cuts loom. Kirkwood received nearly $24 million in state aid this year, supplemented by $3.5 million in federal stimulus money, though 10 percent of the aid will be lost to budget cuts. The rest of the budget comes from tuition and property taxes, with a tax rate of 85 cents per $1,000 assessed value.