By President Stefani Gray Hicswa (As Printed in the Miles City Star Milestones Progress Edition 10/24/2008)

 A few years ago I researched the role of community colleges in rural community development. I found that our role is to increase capacity and create hope. Leading efforts to create hope in rural communities is a meaningful and essential challenge. By responding to community development needs and building social capital, community colleges serve an important role in the community. As the president of Miles Community College, I am privileged to work with community members who increase the capacity of southeastern Montana residents and find ways to instill hope.

The stated mission of Miles Community College is "to promote student success and lifelong learning through accessible quality programs and community partnerships." Through the strength of our community partnerships, we have recently implemented several new programs. Our certificate program in Heavy Equipment Operations, taught by Jerry Forman, is just one example. We worked with area contractors to develop a program to meet their workforce training needs. The success of this program and our partnership with the Miles City Area Economic Development Council resulted in the development of our Commercial Drivers License training course.

Likewise, support from our local ag. producers contributes to the success of our certificates in Agriculture and Equine Studies, as well as transfer programs in Agribusiness and Equine through the leadership of instructors Josh Stroh and Josh Bilbrey. Under the direction of Kristin Buck we have also developed a transfer program in Biofuels, and will seek approval from the Montana Board of Regents to offer an associate of applied science in Biofuels this spring.

In response to requests from community businesses, we are continually developing coursework to train workers to meet market demands. For example, last year we implemented the following certificate programs: Marketing and Sales, Fundamentals of Business, Customer Relations, Accounting, and Entrepreneurship. Our new Information Technology curriculum includes added options in Graphic and Web Design and Networking/PC Maintenance. We also offer internship opportunities in all of our professional-technical programs. In partnership with the College of Technology at Montana Tech and The University of Montana, we also offer degrees in Radiologic Technology and Energy Technology.

Thanks to our congressional delegation, Senator Max Baucus, Senator Jon Tester, and Representative Denny Rehberg, we were awarded a federal appropriation of $331,000 to expand our offerings in allied health. Over the next two years, we will be developing programming to address workforce needs in health professions.

Since the U.S. Department of Labor predicts that 75% of the current workforce will need significant retraining in the next decade, we are not limiting our workforce training to the health professions. To keep pace with the training needs of our community, we created a new position to focus specifically on customized workforce training. Kassie Taylor, our Workforce Development Coordinator, works with employers to tailor delivery options to meet specific training needs in the timeframe they desire.

Developing educational programming also leads the way to enhanced educational facilities that benefit our community. Due to the continued success of our Equine Studies program, the need for an indoor training complex is essential. This facility will not only provide necessary space for our Equine, Agriculture, and Rodeo programs, but also it will provide our community space for hippotherapy, 4-H and FFA events, clinics, team roping, and cutting horse competitions. We have begun our capital campaign for the Agri-Eqine Complex and have secured contributions to complete phase one of the project (the outdoor arena and stalls). As well, we have sufficient seed money to move forward with our fundraising efforts for phase two (the indoor arena).

At Miles Community College, we provide access to education, match employers with necessary resources, and collaborate with community leaders to meet community needs. Enrichment and enhancement of our community is nurtured through hope. By responding to community needs in a timely manner and by providing quality educational opportunities at an affordable price, we nurture hope for future generations.