Enrollment on the Uptick at Chemeketa

In addition to an increase in full-time enrollment, general enrollment increased by 2.6 percent during the summer term.

This is where most people enter Chemeketa for the first time, Building 2 has many amenities as well as offices for student enrollment and many other programs. Photo by: Tim King

(SALEM, Ore.) - Full-time enrollment at Chemeketa Community College rose by 3.5 percent for the 2007 summer term. Students taking 12 credits or more in a single term are considered full-time.

The Chemeketa Community College Board of Directors received the news during its meeting Wednesday, September 19th. The enrollment uptick coincided with the additional good news from the Oregon state legislature regarding funding.

Oregon’s community colleges this year enjoyed the “best (legislative) session in seven years,” said Andrea Henderson, executive director of the Oregon Community College Association.

The 2007 legislature increased the two-year budget for community college support to $500 million from $428 million in 2005-2007, Henderson said. The investment in community college’s “didn’t fix our problems,” Henderson said. “But it got us out of a hole.”

In addition to general fund support, the legislature approved $40 million for capital construction and a doubling of state financial aid to students, she said.

The legislature is scheduled to return in February 2008 for a one-month session, and Henderson said OCCA will try to secure more operating and capital funds.

Henderson said the association is working on how to react to Governor Ted Kulongoski’s proposal that, by 2025, 40 percent of Oregon adults have at least a baccalaureate degree, 40 percent have an associate degree, and 20 percent are high school graduates.

Henderson emphasized that the governor’s plan should not be seen as a push eventually toward more than 40 percent with bachelor’s degrees.

For many, she said, “there is too much emphasis on a four-year degree. Not every kid is going to get a four-year degree.”

She said the governor has indicated that community colleges are the “pivot point” for education, since many baccalaureate degree holders earn credits at community colleges, and many students who complete high school do so through community colleges.

In addition to an increase in full-time enrollment, general enrollment increased by 2.6 percent during the summer term. In other action, the board heard that the new Dallas Center building is near completion and will be open for fall term. The site of the Chemeketa Center for Business and Industry has been cleared of two buildings.