-
|
Germanna enrollment is up about 10 percent
Germanna talks of expansion to serve region
BY KAREN BOLIPATA
Date published: 9/26/2007
BY KAREN BOLIPATA
Despite a nearly 10 percent increase in enrollment this year, Germanna Community College has yet to serve a large portion of students from the region.
"We're growing in leaps and bounds, but we're still not serving the percentage of the population that we should," said John Donnelly, dean of instruction at the Locust Grove campus.
Of 23 community colleges in the state, Germanna ranked second to last in fall 2004 population participation rate, serving 1.26 percent of the region's population, according to a report released in 2005 by the Virginia Community College System.
The report lists "market penetration" numbers, which measure the percentage of a region's population that attends each community college.
In the report, Germanna preceded John Tyler Community College, which primarily serves residents of Colonial Heights, Hopewell and Petersburg.
Germanna's Center for Advanced Technology, or GCAT, in Culpeper County wasn't open when the report was released.
One of the reasons for the low population-participation rate is the college has to cope with space limitations, a phenomenon attributed to the population growth in the area, Donnelly said.
At GCAT, classes are held in the student lounge and executive conference room to accommodate students, said David Sam, president of Germanna.
"Our biggest challenge is growing with the area," he said.
Germanna served a population of 361,950 in 2004 and had an enrollment of fewer than 5,000. This fall, the college opened with 5,575 students, a 9.9 percent increase from last year's fall enrollment.
To establish a presence in growing areas, administrators are discussing creating centers in Stafford and Caroline counties, as well as expanding the Culpeper campus.
The distance between the college's campuses, located in Culpeper and the counties of Spotsylvania and Orange, shows a need for more facilities, Germanna college board members say.
The Fredericksburg campus, for example, is more than 35 miles from GCAT and about 18 miles from Locust Grove, which was chosen in 1970 because of the projected growth there. Instead, most of it occurred in Spotsylvania and Stafford, according to a Germanna spokesman.
Competition among the colleges also may affect Germanna's enrollment, Donnelly said. He named J. Sargeant Reynolds in Richmond and Northern Virginia community colleges as institutions that attract students from our region.
"Students are going there for a variety of reasons," he said. "I don't quite know what they are, and our goal is to get them back."
Jeff Kraus, spokesman for the Virginia Community College System, said programs unique to specific colleges attract students from various regions.
Virginia's community colleges are experiencing record enrollment, he added.
"There's no spirit of competition between our colleges," Kraus said. "If students are heading out of the nearest community college, it could be because of the unique programs offered somewhere else."
Karen Bolipata: 540/374-5418
Email: kbolipata@freelancestar.com
Date published: 9/26/2007
|
Star Directory
