As published in the February 1, 2009 Toledo Business Journal
Christa Adams, Ph.D.
Owens Community College
Owens program provides free college education to area students
Toledo Business Journal recently interviewed Christa Adams, Ph.D., president of Owens Community College. She shared the following thoughts.
Toledo Business Journal: Can you explain Owens Community College's Success Program? What students will receive these benefits?
Christa Adams: The Owens Success Program was developed in 2007. We piloted the program with Woodward High School and Findlay High School in the Fall 2008. We selected Woodward because we felt that this was a high-need high school where many students weren't going on to college. We wanted to provide that opportunity. We selected Findlay because it is the largest feeder school to our Findlay-area Campus.
We have now expanded the program to all high schools in the Toledo Public School District (TPS) [for the 2009/2010 school year]. Any student who graduates from high school in the Class of 2009 is eligible for the program. There is no GPA requirement. To enter the program, you have to graduate from high school and you have to apply for financial aid by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Students must be eligible for some federal Pell Grant aid. For any student who is eligible, the Owens Community College Foundation will provide the difference between the aid the student is eligible for and the full cost at Owens. The students must attend classes full-time.
We are looking at students who really have need. Many times, students do not realize that they can receive a full Pell Grant and attend college for free, while other students do not know how much aid they can receive. So now, the word is getting out that they can get a free college education for three years.
We also provide a Summer Bridge Program for the Woodward High School students to help prepare them for college. We brought the students together as a group, provided classes to get them ready for college, and provided mentors for them so that they have someone to go to if they need advice or if they need encouragement.
TBJ: Can you discuss the history of the program and the number of students who have participated?
CA: When Ann (Savage) became the president of our Foundation and the executive director of fund development at Owens more than two years ago, she went to the Foundation board and to me and asked, "What would you like for the major goals for the Foundation in the next few years to be?"
I responded that I just want students to have the chance to go to school. I would like for every student in the College's service district to know that he/she can go to Owens without having to worry about the cost of going to college. That's the goal of the Success Program.
Our goal is also to expand this program to our entire service district. We have already gone beyond our Woodward High and Findlay High School pilots, which were very successful. We had 57 students from Woodward and 30 students from Findlay enroll through the program. Emilio Ramirez, the principal of Woodward High School, tells us that the number of students going to college from the school has almost tripled.
We expanded the program for the 2009/2010 school year to all Toledo Public Schools. So this was a step toward our goal, but we didn't know that we were going to be able to do it that quickly. We were able to do that because of all the wonderful support we got in donations to the Foundation to fund the programs.
We want to make sure we keep all the promises we make, so we are being cautious and moving slowly on our expansion, because this is all funded through private donations.
We discovered that the students from Woodward who completed the Summer Bridge Program really received great scholastic benefit from [the] pilot program. Next summer we hope to expand the Summer Bridge Program to include the Success students on the Toledo-area and Findlay-area campuses.
TBJ: What impact has this program had on the public high schools with which you are working?
CA: Woodward Principal Emilio Ramirez is our most enthusiastic cheerleader, because he has seen his students – who had no idea they could do this – attend college. He has also seen them go through the Summer Bridge Program, and realize, "I can do this." He is so proud of the fact that, at Woodward, he can report a higher percentage of students than average that are going to college.
We have many other cheerleaders as well, including Dean Wittwer, superintendent of the Findlay City Schools.
TBJ: From where does the money for the program come?
CA: The Owens Community College Foundation funds the program and the board of directors has worked hard to obtain the funding. First of all, we received a nice grant from the McMaster Foundation. Ron McMaster is one of our trustees, so he was very helpful there.
We received $50,000 from Owens-Illinois Inc. for the Success Program and the Summer Bridge Program. Our Alumni Association contributed $10,000 for the Success Program.
Larry Dillin and Jack Sculfort of Dillin Corporation and Bob Voelker, Gateway Hospitality Group president, from the new Hilton Garden Inn in Perrysburg selected Owens as the college to be the recipient of proceeds raised from their grand opening gala. Those proceeds, about $36,000, benefitted the Success Program.
One of the things that we've learned is that the program can be run pretty economically, because most of the students that we're targeting receive enough federal grant aid to cover the affordable tuition and fees at Owens Community College. So we're very economical. We're going to be able to do this for all Toledo Public Schools and expand the program, because the students didn't know they were eligible for aid. It's really an amazing program.
TBJ: What is the anticipated budget for this program during the coming year?
CA: For Findlay and Woodward, we're anticipating that it will cost under $10,000 for the first year. The reason for that is because we're attracting a lot of these students who receive full Pell Grants. We found it very interesting that they had no idea they would receive full Pell Grants. It is one reason we've decided that we can expand this program.
When we include all of TPS, we anticipate that it will cost between $35,000 and $50,000 a year. That is really an estimate, and it's just a start. One of the reasons is because every year varies on what students will qualify for; and we don't know what's going to happen with the economy.
TBJ: What plans do you have for this program in the future?
CA: We want to expand it to our entire three-county service district. We want to be able to say that if you live in the Owens Community College service district, graduate from high school, and show financial need, you can go to Owens free.
TBJ: Are there any other issues you would like to discuss?
CA: I would also like to discuss the support services for the students. Within the last couple of years, Owens received a $1.7 million Title III federal grant for the purpose of creating a First Year Experience (FYE) program for our students at Owens. An FYE program ties in with the Success Program that the Foundation is offering. So we have merged some of those programs to be sure that the Success Program students have an opportunity to be a part of FYE.
Right now, in addition to the Summer Bridge Program that we have created just for the Success students, we are applying for other grants at the federal level to fund even more student support services. We have a lot of these services now, but we have learned that some of the Success students need mentoring, friendship, and additional academic assistance. And we want to make sure they get everything they need, because the goal is for them to graduate with a college degree.
The Success Program has energized our Foundation. This is a program where students without the financial means to go to college will be able to attend here. It's an avenue to the University of Toledo, Bowling Green State University, Lourdes College, or wherever they want to go next.
There are just so many options, and we are expecting that community colleges will continue to be the answer for students who really need to find an avenue for higher education.