ECC board candidates discuss college's future

Candidates running for the Elgin Community College board say the future of community colleges is in increasing online learning and building partnerships with communities to ensure more people have access to education.

Incumbents Bob Getz of Elgin and Donna Redmer of Dundee, and challenger Jeffrey Meyer of Elgin are vying for two 6-year terms April 7.

Redmer, a retired educator who is completing her first term on the board, said the future is challenging because of President Barack Obama's call for providing free college tuition for two years.

"I am interested in how it would be funded and what would be covered," Redmer said. "What about books, transportation, child care?"

Redmer said colleges should focus on making sure freshmen students are college ready.

"If they start at early childhood and get students educated early, we stand a much greater success of getting college-ready students by the time they are in high school," she said.

Getz, 72, a retired administrator from Harper College in Palatine who has served 12 years on the ECC board, said community colleges are at a high point.

"We are able to be a little bit more aggressive. We are able to change. We are able to react to society, and what society and our communities need," he said.

Getz said there are many challenges ahead, with the possibility of community colleges being able to offer four-year degrees in nursing and other technical areas.

"I've been fighting for that for the 12 years I've been at the college," he said.

ECC also is poised for an increase in enrollment with its new Burlington campus beginning to train first responders in spring 2016. If four-year degrees and free college tuition become reality, that would further increase enrollment, Getz said.

ECC needs to build on initiatives like the Education and Work Center, a collaborative partnership between Elgin Community College, Harper College, Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, Hanover Park, and the state, he added. The center offers free education and employment services to a diverse population within Hanover Park facing challenges, including a high unemployment rate, limited transportation, and division into multiple counties, townships, school districts, and community college districts.

"We need to take a look at all the communities, start to talk a little bit more with the mayors ... create a college ring around Elgin," Getz said.

Meyer, 33, an attorney who previously served as Elgin Township precinct committeeman and Elgin Township Republican Central Committee chairman, said with four-year colleges facing funding cuts and raising tuition, community colleges play an important role for students looking for cheaper alternatives.

Meyer believes the future of higher education instruction is in online and remote learning.

"All higher education institutions, Elgin Community College included, must move away from brick-and-mortar classroom facilities and focus on further integration of technology into delivering instruction to students," he said. "I think the board should be pushing for and requiring the administration to expand the online presence."

Colleges can increase class size without losing value by increasing online offerings, he added.