Report: Valley needs a community college

Also proposed are consolidated printing
services, collaboration in the performing arts and flexible student transfers.

STAFF/WIRE REPORT

CLEVELAND — The results of the Northeast Ohio Universities Collaboration and Innovation Study are in, and they call for a community college in the Mahoning Valley.

The report, released Friday, came after a year of research by officials from Youngstown State University, the University of Akron, Cleveland and Kent State universities and the Northeast Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy.

The result was 18 recommendations aimed at increasing college enrollment and reducing tuition costs.

YSU already has taken the lead, without state sanction, in developing plans for a local community college, after a directive from its board of trustees to come up with a plan.

The university has been working on a collaborative approach that would involve area career and technical centers and perhaps other colleges in creating a community college that wouldn’t have a central campus — but would offer classes in a variety of settings, essentially taking the educational process to those who would enroll.

The Valley is the only area in the Northeast Ohio region without a community college.

Other suggestions included the elimination of unpopular programs to develop diversified specialties and adding Cleveland State University students to NEOUCOM’s physician training program.

YSU spokesman George McCloud, special assistant to the president for university advancement, said he expects the study to result in a less-competitive atmosphere among NEO universities.

“Increasing the college-going rate will require teamwork,” McCloud said. “We’re seeing ourselves as all in this together.”

The report also recommended CSU lead the way on developing a regional department for computer science majors, and the University of Akron should use its research foundation as a vehicle for spurring technology innovations that have commercial applications, the report said.

The commission’s report, however, does not say how new projects among the five schools would be funded.

It also does not address the possible merger of Cleveland State and Akron, something Fingerhut favors. Fingerhut expects to release his plan for Ohio’s public universities in March.

Other recommendations in the commission’s report include centralizing printing services among the five universities and combining health insurance coverage for employees.

The report also recommended greater collaboration among fine and performing arts programs, with student and faculty productions traveling from one school to another.