| Will MCC
start offering bachelor’s degrees?
Proposed bill could make it a possibility
Adam Eickerman
Mesa Legend
Students looking
to obtain baccalaureate degrees may have the opportunity to do so
at community colleges if a proposed bill passes through the Arizona
State Legislature.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, would allow
community colleges to begin offering 300 and 400 level classes toward
four year degrees within the next few years.
“This is about students and tax payers to pay the bill and
those are the two focuses on this bill. Affordability, accessibility,
are critical as we meet the demands for higher education going to
the tax payer and the student and I think this bill does that,”
said Pearce
“We are following those measures very closely, and as part
of the Arizona Association of Community Colleges (AACC) we are doing
a cost analysis, but right now we don’t know what the impact
of either measure will be,” said Rufus Glasper, chancellor
of Maricopa Community Colleges.
The bill proposes that students be awarded baccalaureate degrees
at the end of the 2008 spring semester.
It is not clear yet which specific degrees will be available at
first and which ones will be available at all.
“Maybe the time has come to do this,” said Chris Chesrown,
the District Communications and Media Manager.
MCC President Larry Christiansen believes that the state needs to
give students more access to bachelor’s degrees, but he admits
that offering those degrees at a community college is not a light
proposition.
“Those who think it is an easy add-on are fooling themselves,”
said Christiansen.
Christiansen also said that offering a bachelor’s degree is
not simply “adding two years to an associate’s degree.”
According to Christiansen, MCC would have to re-think its whole
mission, which would include changing the school’s accreditation
and making sure that it has enough resources to support a bachelor’s
degree program.
Christiansen still supports the bill, despite the challenges that
would be presented.
The earliest that students could see the effects of the bill taking
place, if it is passed, will be at the beginning of the 2007 fall
semester, when the district board would be required to make 300
level academic classes available to students.
Courses at the 400 level would be implemented at the beginning of
the 2008 fall semester.
Any way that the district can find to help students is what the
district’s goal is, explained Chesrown.
“If we could offer baccalaureate degrees and do it affordably
and responsibly, then it would be open for discussion.”
Chesrown also said, “I certainly think this is a doable proposal.”
Many of the professors who teach at Maricopa Community Colleges
are highly qualified and a lot of them already teach at state universities.
The Maricopa Community College District already has excellent relationships
with the state universities and if four year degrees turn into a
reality, it is not known how this could affect the relationship.
The offering of the degrees could potentially open the door for
more opportunities for the district, added Chesrown.
Currently, the MCCD has about 278,000 students enrolled at all of
its campuses and the number will only go up, stated Chesrown.
“Our enrollment continues to climb as the population of our
region grows. As we currently stand, we anticipate enrollment will
top 400,000 students by the year 2010,” said Chesrown.
State universities such as ASU are suggesting enrollment caps for
some of their own schools because enrollment is booming.
Community colleges could see an explosive growth, especially if
the offering of four-year degrees goes as planned.
“Do we have the space available to do this,” questioned
Donald Gawronski of the Social Science Department at Mesa Community
College.
Gawronski stressed his concerns on where 300 and 400 level classes
would be held on campus and how they would fit in with the existing
structure of the school.
Teaching at a community college is more about teaching, and at the
universities, it seems to be more about the research and students
may rarely ever see their professor at a university, Gawronski said.
Many students will very likely end up staying at a community college
if four-year degrees are offered because of the very emphasis on
teaching and may receive a better education because of it, Gawronski
explained.
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