ILWACO On July 5, summer school classes began at the Columbia Education Center (CEC) in Ilwaco, beginning its fifth year of serving the communitys learning needs. Despite declines in enrollment, Grays Harbor Colleges (GHC) presence in the area has been a boon to local education for over 30 years.

Dedicated in August 2008 at a cost of $2 million, the CEC has provided nearly 11,000 credit hours of college instruction. But after hitting a high-water mark in enrollment in its first full year of operation, the number of full-time equivalent students at the facility was down more than 47 percent during the school year that ended this spring.

Despite this, college officials remain upbeat.

Every year we have students who earn their associates degrees and graduate, and we provide training for about 100 students each year so they can earn a General Equivalency Diploma, Teri Dodson, CEC manager for 14 years, said. We have a full-time custodian and 10 part-time instructors at the Center in Ilwaco. We have traditional classes and many online classes available so that people can even earn credits towards a masters degree.

 

More online offerings

The online classes are far more than courses where one gets information and then presses a few keys to answer questions. Most classes require interaction with other students and with an instructor, Dodson said. Some classes are taught and broadcast from here and others are brought in through teleconferencing.

Students may be hundreds of miles from the teacher, but they see and hear the lessons by video and the instructors can interact with all of their students the same way. Students are often required to post ideas on blogs, can ask questions while they watch the lectures, and can email or send messages to other students. In some classes the students written work is critiqued by other members of the class, as well as by the teacher.

Even though the student may not be face to face with the instructor, the amount of support may be even greater than a traditional classroom setting, Dodson explained. This is a great opportunity for people living in a rural setting to receive a quality education. With gas prices approaching $4 per gallon, it is also an economical and efficient way to receive the instruction one needs.

Our most popular classes are accounting, business, and office courses where our learners can become employable in a short time and all of our classes are transferrable for associates degrees and also transfer to meet four-year college requirements, Dodson said.

Another advantage of the satellite campus in Ilwaco and in Raymond is the articulation program with the five high schools in Pacific County Ilwaco, Naselle, Raymond, South Bend and Menlo Valley. A student earning a B grade or better in several high school courses will get college credit once they have earned 15 credits through Grays Harbor and those credits are granted without cost. As many as 25 students earn GEDs as well through the program at CEC annually and many more pass key sections of the exam.

 

The long-term view

Sally Swanson began her work at GHC in 1971 when community education was in its infancy in the county. John Thompson (Ocean Beach Superintendent) called and said Sally Sue how would you like to have a job? Since only my closest friends called me Sally Sue I knew I was in trouble, Swanson laughed. I used to tell people I lived in Ilwaco and slept in Naselle. At the start of each quarter it was hectic trying to organize classes for everyone.

Someone would say they wanted to learn about something or an instructor would tell me they wanted to teach a subject so I would work to get a class started. I shared an office with the school nurse at Ilwaco High School and later we took over the building that was and is now again the liquor store across from the museum in Ilwaco, Swanson explained. 

In the early years we were flying by the seat of our pants here and in Raymond and community education was a new concept. I also spent time in Vancouver. I would help set up the classes and then take in the tuition and pay the instructors. We arranged for people to go to Astoria for swimming lessons, people learned about butterflies or you name it, and we always had GED classes for those who needed them, Swanson said. We even had classes for people who wanted to play basketball, but there were a lot of people who wanted to play and only a few gyms.

A popular class was woodworking at Naselle under the tutelage of Frank Pedula, and business classes were always in demand. When I retired in 1994 an article in the Chinook Observer said my husband Ted needed to give me lots of compliments because people always appreciated the classes that were offered through Grays Harbor, Swanson smiled. The new building in Ilwaco is fantastic. 

 

Costs up, enrollment down

At Grays Harbor College, including CEC in Ilwaco, cost per credit is $86.53. However, for a student taking 15 credits or more, tuition currently is $1,039.25, or $69.28 per credit. The state Board for Community and Technical Colleges decided to raise tuition costs 12 percent at the end of June, the maximum increase allowed by the state legislature and that increase will begin fall quarter. Credits for part-time students will then be $96.91 per credit and a full-time student (FTE) taking 15 credits per quarter that would put them on track to earn an associates degree in two years now costs $3,117.75 per year and will go up to $3,491.88, an increase of $374.13. Tuition for a year at WSU or UW will cost $9,711 next year and $11,265 in 2013.

Enrollment at CEC in 2007-08 was 196 FTE, in 2008-09 was 239 FTE, in 2009-10 171 FTE, and 2010-11 dropped to 113 FTE. A total of 719 full-time equivalent students have earned 10,785 college credits since CEC opened, which equates to almost 120 associate degrees.

Summer hours at CEC in Ilwaco will be Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to noon and closed on Friday. For spring quarter, hours there have been 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the week. Grays Harbor College will also be closed on Fridays for summer.

For more information call 642-9433, visit CEC at 208 Advent Avenue S.E. by the Port of Ilwaco or go online to www.ghc.edu/registration/summer/columbia. 

Grays Harbor Colleges mission is to provide meaningful education and cultural enrichment through academic transfer, workforce preparation, basic skills, and service to community. GHC goals are that program offerings and services are relevant, flexible, high-quality, and responsive to the changing needs of the community. Enrollment reflects district demographics with special emphasis on underserved populations.

All students achieve their educational goals. Students smoothly transition from K-12 and to colleges and universities. Collaboration, innovation and technology are integral to achieving and sustaining the mission of the college. The community has a positive image of the college and understands its relevance to them.