WCCC enrollment drops by 15% with retraining decline

Enrollment in Maine's community colleges grew by 4.4% this fall, but enrollment at Washington County Community College (WCCC) declined by 15 percent, to 333 students. The decline was partly caused by a decrease in the number of dislocated workers seeking retraining. Five of Maine's seven community colleges saw increases in enrollment, with only Northern Maine Community College, with a 1.5% decline, and WCCC experiencing losses.

WCCC President William Cassidy says that enrollment had gone up during the past two years when about 80 dislocated workers, who were eligible for retraining under the federal Trade Adjustment Act, took courses at WCCC. The workers were from the Domtar Industries mill, the salmon farming companies and the Louisiana-Pacific (L-P) mill that closed. Altogether about 150 people had been laid off. An enrollment report last June for the fall semester at WCCC indicated that some non-liberal studies programs showed substantial decreases in applications from June 2005 to June 2006, such as construction technology -- 120 to 67; culinary and baking -- 30 to 11; education -- 32 to 18; and mechanical technology -- 101 to 68. Cassidy notes that workers at plants such as L-P tended to take the construction and mechanical technology courses.

The WCCC president says that part of the drop is also caused by a suspension of nine program areas, including three subsets in information technology, dietary management and office information technology. Those programs had low enrollment, and Cassidy notes that the programs might have saturated the job market in some fields.

The decline in enrollment has caused the school's dormitories not to be filled this year. The dorms, which have a capacity of about 140 students, presently house about 110.

The community college is considering offering programs for a limited time for which there is a demand at that point. Cassidy notes that the nursing program, offered through Northern Maine Community College by using distance learning technology, is an example. "We need to be nimble," he says of the community college's offerings.

Despite the enrollment decrease, Cassidy says WCCC has a higher geographic draw per capita and serves a greater percentage of the county's high school graduates than the other community colleges in the state. He notes that all of the county's high schools graduated only about 300 students last year.

Boat School's options considered
For the boatbuilding program at WCCC's Marine Technology Center in Eastport, all nine seniors returned for this semester, although one has dropped out. Nine freshmen also were enrolled, although two have dropped out. There had been 24 applicants for the freshman class.

Under legislation approved this spring, the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) is facilitating a study of possible partnerships to secure the future of the Boat School in Eastport. Among the educational institutions and groups represented at the first meeting facilitated by DECD, held September 29 in Bangor, were Husson College, Maine Maritime Academy, the University of Maine at Machias, the Maine Marine Trade Association, Washington County Community College, the Friends of the Boat School and the City of Eastport. Also represented was the North Star Alliance, which is administering the recent $15 million federal Workforce Innovation Regional Economic Development (WIRED) grant that is aimed at boosting educational and training programs, marketing and research and development within Maine's boatbuilding, composites and marine industries.

T.J. Tavares, a policy specialist with DECD, says the meeting went well and that participants recognized the need for a business model for the school in the future. At the next meeting, later in October, they will discuss recommendations for options, and a third meeting will be held in November to comment on a draft report. The report should be ready soon after that and then will be presented to the legislature.

Cassidy says the community college will move forward with whatever plan the collaborative group develops. He notes that the Marine Technology Center's facility in Eastport is under-utilized, and its opportunities need to be maximized to benefit the region.

Concerning a report that WCCC's boatbuilding program is onboard with assisting the proposed Many Flags/One Campus idea in the midcoast area, Cassidy says that there is no agreement between WCCC and the Many Flags group. He says that early in the discussions about the midcoast consolidation proposal, when WCCC's boatbuilding program was suspended, he had indicated that the community college would assist them if it could, but that was the extent of the discussion.