There is a rule of thumb in retailing that goes something like this: One should consider three things when choosing a site-location, location and location.
Colleges in the northwest suburbs are finding that rule increasingly important as students try to fit higher education into their busy lives. The location of a college can be an important factor for students who are trying to decide where to pursue their higher education.
The importance of location becomes especially apparent this week when Northern Illinois University opens its Hoffman Estates branch to try to capture some of the market of students wanting to earn four-year degrees close to home.
”NIU has been looking for several years for a location to consolidate in the northwest suburbs,” said Kathy Gilmer, who will direct the new satellite campus.
Gilmer said the new campus means that working students won`t have to travel to DeKalb, thus appealing to those who in the past dismissed NIU because of distance.
The building, located in Sears Merchandise Group`s new Prairie Stone development, also marks an end to NIU`s scattered site arrangement. Before consolidating in Hoffman Estates, class space was rented in several suburbs. Such a scattered site setup also never allowed for permanent faculty offices or other academic support services, such as counselors. The center will cater primarily to working people pursuing graduate-level training.
Yet long before NIU came on the scene, institutions here recognized that the demographics of students who were seeking higher education in the northwest suburbs were changing. And that, in turn, was changing the college`s role.
No longer is advanced education-associate, bachelor and graduate degrees- a natural progression only for the fresh-out-of-high-school student. Today, advanced education is essential for some to keep their jobs.
”Jobs are changing. Technology is changing. Expectation levels of employers are going up and they expect more of a creative work force, a work force that can think and make decisions right there on the job,” said Paul Thompson, president of William Rainey Harper College in Palatine. ”People`s jobs are probably on the line if they`re not that type of productive employee.”
Which means that many who return to school, he said, aren`t working on a degree but come back for a few courses to update skills.
That need to continue to improve and advance one`s talents has put tremendous demand on community colleges. In turn, the schools have responded by adapting curriculums to fit work schedules and tight budgets.
The need is also prompting both white- and blue-collar workers to venture into community colleges-territory they might never have considered before.
In Illinois, for instance, 65 percent of higher education students attending public schools go to community colleges, according to Ellen Roberts, president of the Elgin Community College Board of Trustees.
Still, Roberts said many people seeking education beyond high school don`t even consider two-year institutions among the possibilities.
”There`s a lot of jokes about community colleges. They say, `God, I don`t want to go there,` ” she said. ”When you think of good higher education, you think of Harvard, you think of Yale. But those are the top of the mountain.
”The average person has no idea about the comprehensive programs the community colleges offer their communities,” added Roberts, ”and how many lives they touch in many different ways.”
According to Roberts, Elgin Community College (ECC) has seen a 42 percent enrollment increase over the last five years. The school has also made an effort to serve the growing minority populations in its district, with one out of every four students at the college a minority. Courses to earn general equivalency diplomas and English as a Second Language classes have proven very popular.
The same growth that has affected ECC has touched McHenry County, where student counts at McHenry County College (MCC) have gone up for the past five years from 10,838 in 1986 to 14,635 in 1991.
”About 60 percent of our credit students are preparing to transfer to senior institutions, and our students do extremely well in our followup after they leave us,” said MCC President Robert Bartlett. ”They do as well or better than the students who start at those (four-year) universities.”
The main reason, Bartlett said, is because of the individual attention community colleges provide through smaller class sizes.
Still, Bartlett said community colleges should be doing more to meet the needs of constituents and, in fact, MCC has begun adding more courses on weekends so working people can complete programs entirely on weekend time.
Similarly, Oakton Community College in Des Plaines along with Harper is striving to make obtaining four-year degrees as easy as possible.
Through a partnership, believed to be the first of its kind in the country, students at Oakton and Harper can complete the bulk of course work for four-year degrees in social science areas from DePaul University, Northeastern Illinois University, and Barat College without setting foot on those three campuses. Instead, instructors at those four-year universities travel to community colleges to teach social science courses.
Roosevelt University`s Albert A. Robin campus in Arlington Heights is also decentralizing the university`s focal point. Roosevelt`s Vice Provost Frank Cassell said the Robin campus is evolving into a more autonomous campus from its downtown hub. In fact, starting this fall, a handful of faculty will be permanently located in Arlington Heights so students have easy access to the teachers.
”This is a measure of our interest in this area,” said Cassell, ”and just a lot of people talking to us about what they perceive we need.”
The fastest growing segment of Robin`s population is the day-time, junior or senior transfer student. Since they expect more of a campus life than night students, Cassell said new academic clubs were recently formed.
These local institutions, whether they offer two-year associate degrees, four-year bachelor degrees or graduate degrees, are beginning to address some of the weaknesses found by the Illinois Board of Higher Education in the region.
A 1991 study by the board found ”significant unmet educational needs”
in the north and west suburbs, including needs for doctoral and research programs, a public university, and increased use of telecommunications to deliver instruction.
While some colleges have tried to reach beyond their confines with on-site classes at large companies that are tailored for each employer`s needs, for most of the schools the student rush has translated into building expansions.
Harper, which expects enrollment to reach 25,776 by 1995, has embarked on the first phase of an $18.3 million addition to its Palatine campus. It includes a new classroom building, print shop, bookstore, and remodeling of an existing facility into more library space. A performing arts center, art gallery and a planetarium may happen later.
ECC plans to open a business and industrial instructional center, a visual and performing arts center, as well as an addition to its gym by 1993. Contingent on funding, the college also plans another classroom building, and more space for science and business programs.
Last year, MCC finished $11.6 million worth of additions and remodeling of building space and purchased 44 more acres of land. And Roosevelt continues to look for a permanent home, instead of renting as it now does from Township School District 214.
”I anticipate continued growth out here,” Cassell said. ”What we`re offering people out here is a variety of degree programs taught by excellent faculty at very carefully planned times. We strive for convenience.”
