Education intiative expands

Gov. Frank O'Bannon visited Community College of Indiana campuses in Gary and Lafayette Wednesday to kick-off the fall semester. The visit marks the second year of O'Bannon's initiative that partnered Ivy Tech State College and Vincennes University. \nThe governor highlighted the statewide agreement that allows students who complete two-year programs at the Community College to transfer as juniors to a four-year university. \n"I'm extremely pleased with the progress made over the last year to make it easier for Hoosiers to pursue college education," O'Bannon said in a press release. "Education and training are critical to a healthy economy, and ensuring those opportunities are available to all our citizens is a top priority. \n"[It] has shown that Hoosiers are embracing the affordable and accessible education brought about by this partnership." \nPurdue University President Martin Jischke joined the governor in celebrating the partnership in Lafayette.\n"This agreement will make our state's higher education system more accessible and user-friendly," he said. "We believe it will encourage a larger number of people to work beyond the associate degree to a more advanced level. This will have significant economic and social benefits for Indiana." \nThe partnership matches Ivy Tech's technical training programs with Vincennes' broad range of liberal arts to form the state's first comprehensive community college system. O'Bannon visited the first four community college campuses in Gary, Evansville, Indianapolis and Lafayette last year to inaugurate the initiative. His return follows three semesters of fast-paced enrollment growth in the community college system. \n"We have seen record-breaking enrollment growth at all our campuses since the emergence of (Community College of Indiana)," said Gerald Lamkin, president of Ivy Tech State College. "We have every indication that the enrollment success will continue this semester." \nVincennes University has similar sentiments.\n"We are excited about VU's role in this partnership," Vincennes President Bryan Blanchard said. "(The community college system) has been the catalyst for much progress in the area of transfer of credit and in turn for strengthening Indiana's higher-education system as a whole." \nO'Bannon made expansion of the system a priority during this spring's legislative session. Despite financials woes, he managed to secure funding.\nCampuses are under construction in East Chicago, Michigan City, Valparaiso, Marion, Muncie and Anderson. Under current plans, the partnership will expand to all 23 Ivy Tech locations during the next three years.