By Anthony Varriano
Ranger-Review Staff Writer
An open meeting to hear public recommendations for Dawson Community College was held at Yellowstone River Inn on Thursday, with current and former Dawson Community College administrators, board members and staff and concerned citizens present.
DCC president Scott Mickelsen began the “listening session” by introducing a questionnaire to determine what the college is doing well, what it can improve upon, what new trends DCC should be aware, and in what direction DCC should be taking its transfer and technical programs.
DCC library director Jerusha Shipstead immediately recommended the listening session questionnaire be made available online in order to receive more feedback, and Mickelsen said that would be a great idea.
Shipstead later said she “would like to see non-student-athletes get more love, like a bus to take them shopping once a week to get them off campus.”
There was plenty more constructive criticism. Glendive Chamber of Commerce director Christine Whitlach said she had to “beg you to take my money” so her 16-year-old son could start welding courses at the college, and Jerry Geiger would like to see more details regarding DCC’s spending, adding that the voucher lists available at board meetings are not detailed enough.
President Mickelsen also responded to falling enrollment figures, saying some programs have been much more successful than others in recruiting students.
“In biology, 50 to 60 percent of students interested were enrolled, but in other academic options we had 600 interested students but one enrolled,” Mickelsen said. “The people that really sell the program to the students are the instructors.”
The 2016 census of full-time equivalent (FTE) numbers came in well under last year’s — 216.27 to 224.07. The biggest loss came from Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) students. The full-time equivalent for WUE students was 40.93 last year and 31.73 in 2016.
Mickelsen later added that in an effort to increase enrollment, DCC reduced out-of-state tuition for the first time in a long time, and Board of Trustees chairman Chad Knudson added that students from North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming all pay in-state tuition now. The tuition decreases seemed to have lifted non-resident enrollment.
Resident FTE was down from 152.8 to 143.27, but non-resident FTE was up from 30.33 to 41.27. So DCC is attracting students from farther away and losing students that are closer to home.
There was also a call for an update on dual-enrollment with Dawson County High School, with Mickelsen responding that DCC now has a list of what classes DCHS instructors can teach for the school right now. He’s hoping to have that figured out by the spring.
A concerned citizen also thought more internship programs could help persuade potential students to stay if there’s a job waiting for them.
“From the technical side of the college, we don’t have a lot of internships…but that’s something we need to increase,” Mickelsen said.
“I think every student that graduates from DCC should have some professional experience,” DCC board chairman Chad Knudson added.
Job Service manager Amy Dienes thought that it would be beneficial for some apprentices to come to the college to use high-speed Internet and complete training and homework because not all of them live in an area with access to an Internet connection.
As far as things the college is doing well, Whitlach said the sports teams are really involved in the community, and “the fact that we get to see them in those settings makes you want to come watch a game.”
Dawson County Economic Development Council director Kathy Kirkpatrick said “having the DCEDC office at the college has been beneficial to both the college and DCEDC,” offering students a direct link to the local economy.
Dienes also added the adult education programs have been a big help to the Job Service, saying later that they have 11 clients going to the college for training.
Mickelsen said he’d be attending a conference investigating what the future of the community college in rural America looks like in order to help determine the best curriculum going forward.