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August 3, 2009

Terre Haute's Top 40: Ever growing, improving Ivy Tech makes the grade

By Sue Loughlin

TERRE HAUTE — Ivy Tech Community College’s Wabash Valley Region has undergone quite a transformation in the past 10 years.

During that time, its enrollment has more than doubled to 6,230 students this past spring, and the expansion of facilities has been equally dramatic.

The main Terre Haute campus has more of a college feel, from its outdoor clock tower to its trendy commons area complete with a coffee bar and restaurant. (In years past, students had their choice of vending machines).

More student activities are being added, and the Ivy Tech-Wabash Valley region recently captured its second Ivy Tech co-ed softball state title.

Formerly known as Indiana Vocational Technical College, the Wabash Valley Region was chartered in 1967 and its focus was work force training. In 1969, areas of study included auto mechanics and auto body repair, welding, accounting, electronics and secretarial science. It employed nine full-time faculty and had 150 full-time students.

Through 2005 legislation, the Terre Haute region officially became part of the state’s new community college system that offers work force training, two-year associates degrees and expanded transfer opportunities to four-year colleges.

Chancellor Jeff Pittman, whose tenure at the Terre Haute campus began in September 1999, has witnessed many changes and helped lead the transformation to a community college. “It’s been a fun ride,” he said.

Whether it’s because of the struggling economy or the skyrocketing cost of education, many students are turning to Ivy Tech to pursue postsecondary education. Its open access mission and affordability (just under $100 per credit hour) make it an attractive college option, he said.

Among the changes in the past 10 years:

n Wabash Valley enrollment has more than doubled, to 6,230 in spring 2009 from 2,923 students in fall 1998. The region serves Vigo, Clay, Sullivan, Parke, Vermillion and Putnam counties as well as part of Greene County.

n A major expansion of facilities has added 198,000 square feet of space, including the Center for Information Technology on the main Terre Haute campus; the Center for Workforce Development in the Vigo County Industrial Park; the new Greencastle campus; and learning centers in Rockville and Sullivan. The expansions have been necessary to accommodate enrollment growth.

“We take the access part of our mission very seriously,” Pittman said.

n It has added 13 new programs that address Wabash Valley work force needs, and many are transferable. They include agriculture, elementary education, biotechnology, liberal arts, general studies and nursing (associate degree).

n It has extensive transfer agreements with Indiana State University and St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, as well program transfer agreements with other four-year colleges.

Expanding the transfer opportunities to four-year colleges “has been a huge shift for Ivy Tech in the last decade,” Pittman said.

It required upgrading of course content and faculty credentials. ISU worked closely with Ivy Tech to develop several seamless transfer opportunities between the two.

Perhaps the most visible change involves facilities, particularly at the main campus off U.S. 41 South.

The $13.5 million Center for Information Technology opened in 2005. The 73,000-square-foot facility included state-of-the art classrooms, computer labs, an auditorium, writing lab, distance education suite and a commons area.

The building was designed for community college students and included several quiet study areas and informal student gathering places. The Terre Haute campus “has really changed for the better into a much nicer learning environment,” Pittman said.

There have been other changes, too. “I feel we’re much more involved with the community than we were before,” he said. For example, Ivy Tech is a founding member of the Rural Health Innovative Collaborative (RHIC), an effort to increase health-care education and economic development opportunities in west-central Indiana.

Despite the rapid pace of change, faculty and staff have embraced it, Pittman said. The Wabash Valley Region has approximately 250 full-time faculty and staff and about 300 part-time faculty and staff. “We hire a lot of people,” Pittman said.

The makeup of the Ivy Tech student body is changing, as well, and includes an increasing number of recent high school graduates.

“We’re seeing people in the top 5 percent of their class applying to come to Ivy Tech for the first two years. I’ve never seen that before,” Pittman said.

Now that it’s become a community college with more full-time students, Ivy Tech has placed a major emphasis on expanding student services and activities. Three years ago, it hired a director of student life. New clubs, activities and events have been added, including co-ed softball and basketball as well as back-to-school events and programs on diversity.

“The goal is to engage students and have on-campus activities to keep them here longer and to develop the whole student,” Pittman said.

Among those who decided to attend Ivy Tech right after high school was Katie Patton, 21, of Tangiers, a 2006 graduate of Turkey Run High School.

She started coursework at the Parke County Learning Center, continued classes at the Terre Haute campus and graduated this past spring with an associate’s degree in biotechnology. She’s transferring to ISU this fall and eventually plans to pursue pharmacy at Purdue University.

Patton said she chose Ivy Tech for several reasons: She could start taking classes close to home; tuition was more affordable; and Ivy Tech provided a lot of hands-on field experience.

She believes she’s well-prepared to further her education at ISU and Purdue.

She also liked being part of the region’s state champion co-ed softball team. “I played a lot of sports in high school,” she said.

Nontraditional student Danny Stultz, 53, pursued a human resources degree at Ivy Tech after a serious arm injury left him out of work and on disability for many years.

He graduated this past May and has been employed for the past year at Hamilton Center. Staff at Ivy Tech “instilled in me the belief that if you want to do something with your life, you can do it. You just have to apply yourself,” Stultz said.

Among the long-time faculty to witness the changes is Don Arney, who started teaching at Ivy Tech in 1982. He is now dean of the School of Technology.

When he started his career there, his classroom was a small house that dated back to World War II when the southern Vigo County property had been a federal munitions depot. Now, he’s in the Center for Information Technology.

For Arney, one of the significant changes has been “the recognition of the quality of the education we deliver … I think we’ve made great progress in working with our four-year cohorts and demonstrating we’re doing a pretty good job.”

John Adkins, the region’s executive director of administration, also has seen many changes during his 30 years at Ivy Tech.

“One of the things I’m really proud of is the facilities. I think we have a campus now rather than just a few buildings on a field,” he said. “I think it’s something the community is proud of and takes advantage of and uses.”

Looking to the future, state budget constraints likely will slow down the dramatic enrollment growth of the past decade. “I think it’s going to be really hard for us to continue to grow at the rate we have been,” Pittman said.

He does anticipate growth at the new Greencastle campus, which opens this fall. Pittman anticipates it will serve not only the Greencastle market, but also the west side of Indianapolis.



Sue Loughlin can be reached at (812) 231-4235 or sue.loughlin@tribstar.com.

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