The eight associate degrees and four certificate programs allowed the school to quickly start up the new branch campus, said Monica Posey, Cincinnati State’s academic vice president.
“We want this to be holistic and we want it to be really connected,” she said.
Leaders at Cincinnati State Technical & Community College looked at their most popular community college programs — social work, criminal justice and pre-business — and then looked at which technical programs would fit the needs of the city and region, which is why she said the legal assistant, medical administrative assistant and hospitality management programs were chosen.
“We looked at the most popular, the largest pre-majors on this campus and then we tried get a feel of things that might be of need or interest in that community,” Posey said.
The school will also incorporate its workforce development, which is housed in Evendale, at its campus on North Main Street and Central Avenue to provide additional training opportunities for Middletown businesses. Earlier this year, Cincinnati State developed workforce programming for AK Steel employees, and that programming is expected to move into the downtown school once it opens.
Until classes start on Aug. 29, it’s uncertain how many students will be enrolled at Cincinnati State Middletown and how many will be in each program. As of June 13, there are 142 applicants for the downtown campus. If all the applicants turn out to be students this fall that would be 71 percent of the school’s stated goal of 200 students for the inaugural school year.
Ohio Association of Community Colleges President Ronald Abrams said Middletown is fortunate to have Cincinnati State.
“The value of the community college is one of the primary focuses, engagement and the support of the community that they are in,” he said. “Over time you’ll see the economic viability of Middletown will improve.”
And the programs being offered are important to that direction, Abrams said. When it comes to deciding which programs to offer at a new branch of a community college, community involvement and knowledge is important.
“It’s really based on interacting with the community and the businesses leaders,” he said.
Posey said Cincinnati State will eventually add to the region’s identity as a medical and health hub. She said the school would like to include its allied health programming, but it wasn’t feasible in the first year because of the long approval process for its nursing program and a complex investment with equipment.
While the school is developing its relationship with the Middletown community, it already has a relationship with Miami University Regional Campuses, and that has — and will continue to be — expanded.
An articulation agreement was signed in 2008 between Cincinnati State and Miami University Regionals, which makes it easier for Cincinnati State students to transfer to one of Miami’s three regional schools. The goal is to improve services to students and support Ohio’s goal of an increasing number of those who finish certificate program and earn associate’s and bachelor’s degrees, said Jan Toennisson, Miami University Middletown spokeswoman.
“It’s cost savings (for the students),” she said. “There’s no reason people should be duplicating efforts. We need to be playing to our own strengths and I think that’s what this is.”
An articulation agreement has been negotiated for Cincinnati State’s Hospital Management program and the organizational leadership pathway in Miami University’s Bachelors of Integrated Studies program.
“It’s a very good fit, and that’s going forward very quickly,” Toennisson said.
The two schools have had an existing partnership at the Greentree Health Sciences Academy in Warren County. Miami University rents space to Cincinnati State for its EMT/Paramedic course.
And other partnerships, and articulation agreements with other programs, are bound to happen.
“Now that they’re in Middletown, it’s a good reason to make it happen,” Toennisson said. “It’s a good reason to move forward on those.”
Eventually, Posey said the school will be offering “a wide range of programming” to hopefully thousands of students.
“We are increasing what we offer through online education, so we also see ourselves growing any student anywhere an associate’s degree,” she said. “I see us actually expanding not in just students and academic programs, but in services to students and potential students.”
Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or michael.pitman@coxinc.com. Follow at
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