Read the first half of Ken Parker’s commentary from Jan. 29.
Last week, I left you with the distressing news that higher education opportunities for local students may be very limited at best because of where they live. This alarming remark has already brought responses that have kept my phone ringing and email account full. How can this be? How can geography so accurately predict higher education opportunity for our students? As you recall, it has everything to do with the proximity of available four-year college programs to area students.
And so, let’s begin with the question I closed with in last week’s editorial: Are local students who seek a four-year degree hampered by the mere fact that they live in Northern Santa Barbara County?
The good news is that the answer to the above question is, “not necessarily!”
Local employers and business/professional people who move to our area often want to know the quality of education available in our region. Increasingly, that question applies to college opportunity as well as grade K-12 programs. Santa Maria is not unlike communities all over the country where students who want a college degree need to live at or near home while attending college. So what are we to do?
Interestingly, almost two years ago, the board of trustees of Allan Hancock College hired Dr. Kevin Walthers as the new college president. When I first spoke to him about this issue, his exact words were, “Ken, you don’t have to convince me.” Since that first encounter, I have found Dr. Walthers to be “all in” when it comes to discussions about how college/university degree options can be increased for local students. He and Econ Alliance have met to discuss options, and the one that always seems to percolate to the top is a University Center at or near Hancock College.
If you wish to learn more about what such an option could look like, Google “College of the Canyons, University Center.” What you will see there will amaze you. Quite simply, College of the Canyons (a California community college, like Hancock) has partnered with six colleges and universities to bring four-year university degree options to College of the Canyons students. How does this work? Imagine going to College of the Canyons. Upon completion of your associate degree, you continue attending classes toward you bachelor’s degree right on the same campus. The degrees earned in this program are from the schools offering the courses. Presently, the University Center at College of the Canyons offers degrees from Brandman University, CSUB (Cal State University, Bakersfield), Cal State Northridge, National University, Project Teach, and the University of LaVerne.
Dr. Walthers and Econ Alliance agree that this could very well be what the future of higher education could look like in our region. The opportunity it could bring could revolutionize the educational opportunity for our citizens. Who knows, maybe Cal Poly and UCSB could find a way to partner in such a venture with us in the North County.
So where do we go from here? Well, Dr. Walthers and all those associated with him do not need to be convinced. The city of Santa Maria, local school districts, and business/professional leaders need to join hands with Dr. Walthers and the Econ Alliance to find a way forward. You may sense urgency in my voice. There is a reason for that. The open space within the city of Santa Maria and the community of Orcutt is nearly gone. If a University Center is to be, it will need a home, and its home should be very near Allan Hancock College. If we wait too long to begin this project, it will be too late. If we move now, we have a rare opportunity to change the future of educational opportunity for our citizens for decades to come.
In closing, the bringing of a university setting to a community changes it in many ways. The economy is impacted for the better. Culture, literacy, and the community all receive a shot in the arm. Let’s find a way forward. Let’s change our community forever for the better! Let’s bring higher education opportunity to town in a way few have ever envisioned! Let’s begin now!
As a University of Southern California alum, I have frequently walked through the Exposition Park Rose Garden across the street from the university. I always stop to read the quote below that is etched on a large stone pillar next to the entrance to the garden. Its words seem as true today as they did years ago: “The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.” —Diogenes Laertius.
Let us work together to build this foundation beginning today! Now!
Dr. Ken Parker is a former Orcutt Union School District associate superintendent and Econ Alliance of Northern Santa Barbara County University Attraction Team chair. He lives in Santa Maria. Send comments to the executive editor at rmiller@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Feb 5-12, 2015.
