Twenty employees of Hydraulics Inc. in Litchfield are learning machinists' skills through a customized training program offered by Springfield's Lincoln Land Community College. The workers are learning lathe and drill press operations during their shifts at the plant from a trainer hired by the college. Hydraulics Inc. manufactures brake parts and, with 650 workers, is Montgomery County's largest employer.

Susan Griffin, an account executive employed by Lincoln Land, helps start customized training. She approaches businesses to identify training needs, and when she identifies a need, she works with the business to establish the program and find an instructor. The college bills the business for its costs and an administrative fee. Griffin says the program is providing better trained workers to the firms and new skills to the workers. Compared to when she started six years ago, Griffin says that she sees more demand for technical training but less for administrative courses. "Even in a tight economy, businesses are willing to improve their productivity."

The relationship between Lincoln Land and Hydraulics Inc. is four years old, and the machinists' class is the fifth or sixth customized effort, says Jake Jacobson, Hydraulic's training manager. The class provides background that supplements the on-the-job training that workers get on individual machines, says Tim Goeke, Hydraulics' employee relations manger. The college has resources the company lacks and does leg work that the firm does not have time to do, he adds. "The hot button lately has been the notion of partnerships, and we like to look at this as a partnership," Goeke says.

The Hydraulics Inc. program is but one example of job training undertaken by Illinois community colleges; Gov. Jim Edgar wants to see more of such efforts. "We must equip Illinois with the world class workforce needed for the economic challenges of the 21st century," Edgar said in April when he proposed his "Workforce Preparation Initiative" and put community colleges at center stage. The governor proposes to build on community college experience in training and educating both youth and adults. He also wants to expand on community college ties to business across the state.

Photo by Richard Foertsch/Photoprose Triton College in River Grove, one of Illinois' 50 community colleges

Community colleges are the largest single element of the state's system of higher education. Last fall 352,898 students enrolled at Illinois' public community colleges. Those students fall into three roughly equal groups: students planning to complete two years at a community college and transfer to a four-year university; students enrolled in occupational programs, both one-year and two-year, who will go to work upon completion; and students enrolled in a class or two to upgrade their skills or to study what interests them.

There are 50 community colleges in 40 community college districts in Illinois. City Colleges of Chicago has eight colleges within the city, and Illinois Eastern Community Colleges has colleges in Fairfield, Mount Carmel, Olney and Robinson. With the opening of Heartland Community College in Bloomington-Normal in 1991, a community college serves every square mile of the state.

In financial structure, community colleges fall somewhere between the public schools and public universities. Public schools depend on state aid and local property taxes. Universities depend on state aid and tuition and fees. Community colleges impose property taxes like school districts, charge tuition like public universities and receive state aid like both.

Like public schools, most community colleges are run by

14/June 1992/Illinois Issues

locally elected boards of trustees. There are two exceptions. City Colleges of Chicago is run by a board appointed by the mayor; State Community College in East St. Louis has its board appointed by the governor. State Community College is the only community college with no property tax support, being funded entirely by the state and tuition and fees. That will soon change. In 1994 district residents must decide whether to tax themselves for their own district or to append to the Belleville Area Community College District.

The new responsibilities for job training that Edgar proposes for community colleges come at a time of growth. Between 1988 and 1991 fall enrollment at community colleges grew by 28,735 students, outstripping the 1,424-student growth in public universities and 11,087 in private institutions. Community college enrollments grew 8.9 percent over the period, compared to 0.7 percent growth for public universities and 6.5 percent growth for private institutions. Over the last decade community college enrollments peaked at 388,369 in 1982 and declined until 1988. In 1983 community colleges enrolled 52.1 percent of all students in Illinois higher education; in 1991 community colleges enrolled 48.1 percent of all students in higher education. (See table on page 16.)

Israel of community college board Carey A. Israel, executive director of the Illinois Community College Board since January 2, 1991, welcomes Gov. Jim Edgar's "Workforce Preparation Initiative." Israel says that community colleges already do much to prepare the work force and that they are the natural location for consolidating the myriad of existing programs. Israel also sees Edgar's initiative as a means to push the community college focus beyond regional interests to statewide interests. "It legitimizes that community colleges need to be a part of the fabric of what this state needs to do," Israel says. He believes the colleges will welcome the statewide role. Community colleges have demonstrated commitment to training the work force via a new educational guarantee that Israel says is the first in the nation. The guarantee by the community college is for workers they train in agreed-upon skills; if workers are found lacking by employers, community colleges will take back the workers for free training. Implementation is on a pilot basis. The major issue confronting community colleges is underfunding, according to Israel. He says that Florida, facing a similar shortage of funds, has capped community college enrollments. Illinois is not at that point yet but could face similar choices, Israel says. Israel came to Illinois from Colorado, where he was president of Front Range Community College in Westminster. Before that he was at Des Moines Area Community College, where he was vice president of economic development, dean of arts and sciences and chair of the legal assistant program. Israel won two "Keep America Working" awards from the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges for training programs for IBM and Greyhound Corp. workers. Israel holds a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University and a juris doctorate from the University of Detroit Law School. Michael D. Klemens

As with other parts of education, state support for community colleges has declined over the last decade, leaving them to turn increasingly to tuition and local taxes. Community college operating revenues grew 63.6 percent between 1982 and 1991: The state contribution increased 41.2 percent, compared to an 81.7 percent increase in tuition and fee income and a 71.5 percent increase in local property taxes. (See table on page 16.)

But community colleges are still a bargain. Not only can students save money by living at home, but tuition and fees are lower than at public and private universities and have grown less rapidly than at four-year institutions. Annual tuition and fees at community colleges averaged $954 in 1991, compared to $2,410 at public universities and $9,110 at private institutions. Between 1982 and 1991 tuition and fees had increased 77 percent at community colleges, compared to 115 percent for private institutions and 137 percent at public universities.

Coordination among these 50 institutions is provided by the Illinois Community College Board. The board oversees planning and budgeting and coordinates capital projects for the individual institutions. The board has 11 members appointed by the governor and one student representative. The board is chaired by Harry L. Crisp II, of Marion, who was named by Gov. Edgar.

Community colleges have long played a role in preparing students for work. The colleges offer courses in 240 occupational specialties, designed in cooperation with local business advisory councils. Some programs lead to a two-year degree; others provide a certificate after a shorter period, generally one year. Such specialties range from horticulture to brickmasonry, from dietetic aide to registered nursing, from avionics to interior design and computer-aided design.

Community colleges also have been in the business of helping local business. In fiscal year 1990 community colleges assisted 10,665 businesses and helped create or retain 37,955 jobs. The 1990 Illinois Community College Board economic development report put the cost per job created or retained at $92. Other business assistance identified in 1990 included: customized job training offered to more than 35,000 employees at 828 companies; assistance to 160 firms that successfully sought $48 million in governmental contracts; involvement by nine community colleges with small business incubators that helped start nine new companies while retaining six other firms.

Gov. Edgar's Workforce Preparation Initiative will give community colleges a higher profile in training workers. Edgar wants to strengthen local cooperation between business and government agencies now involved in training workers. And he wants to streamline existing training programs to save money and make it easier for business and individuals to gain access to them via the community colleges. Edgar's plan includes: (1) establishing a Workforce Preparation Network; (2) revamping education with emphasis on technical skills needed by workers; and (3) establishing a Workforce Development Program.

The first point heavily involves community colleges. Noting that community colleges already provide a majority of adult training-related services in a system that, Edgar said, is somewhat fractionalized, the governor wants to shift all adult education to

June 1992/Illinois Issues/15

Illinois public community college operating revenues, fiscal years 1982-1992 (dollars in millions)
	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991
Local taxes	$165	$169	$189	$190	$199	$200	$220	$255	$271	$283
State funds	148	146	150	160	173	187	175	186	205	209
Tuition and fees	93	108	123	122	120	124	130	152	158	169
Other	24	20	27	28	26	25	27	34	38	43
Total	$430	$443	$489	$500	$518	$536	$561	$627	$672	$704
Source: Office of the Comptroller.

community colleges. Currently the Illinois Community College Board and the State Board of Education share responsibility for adult education, and some federal job training funds are routed to individual community colleges around the Illinois Community College Board. Edgar would turn over governance of adult education programs to the Illinois Community College Board, but the switch is administrative and should mean no changes in how programs are run, according to Terri Hall, spokesperson for the Illinois Community College Board. She says the operation and availability of adult education services is not expected to change.

Representatives of community colleges would serve on a new entity called the Illinois Workforce Preparation Council to provide job training oversight now done by six existing entities. Eliminated would be the Illinois Job Training Coordinating Council, the Governor's Task Force on Human Resource Development, the Prairie State 2000 Authority, the Illinois Occupational Information Coordinating Committee, the Illinois Council on Vocational Education and the Public Aid Job Opportunities Council. Besides community college representation, the new council would represent business, labor, education and community interests.

Under Edgar's plan, each community college district would have a Workforce Preparation Center. The centers would consolidate community college economic development programs, adult education programs and the Department of Public Aid's welfare-to-work programs. Edgar says, however, that the new centers would not be "uniquely community college." Each center would employ the existing Private Industry Council as a policy advisory board. The councils, required under the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), include local business representatives who assess employment needs. Under the Edgar plan, community college board members would be members of the private industry councils to provide better integration of training services at the new centers.

Finally, Edgar's proposed Workforce Preparation Network would include training for persons on welfare through the new centers at community colleges. Project Chance, the current welfare-to-work state program for clients who receive Aid to Families with Dependent Children and for some persons receiving food stamps, would be renamed Opportunities. Edgar's plan is to expand existing but informal linkages between JTPA programs and Project Chance, folding them into the new program operated via the community college centers.

Public community college fall enrollment, fiscal years 1982-1991 (headcount)
Fiscal year	Fall enrollment	Percentage of total higher ed enrollment*
1982	388,369	52.0%
1983	387,822	52.1
1984	356,643	50.1
1985	361,187	50.5
1986	339,782	48.6
1987	334,884	48.0
1988	324,163	46.9
1989	328,276	47.3
1990	341,733	47.8
1991	352,898	48.1
*Total includes headcount for both public and private universities and institutions in Illinois. Source: Office of the Comptroller.

Community colleges already play a role in education for employment, the second component of Edgar's initiative. The governor says that more attention must be paid to the two-thirds of high school students who will not earn a four-year college degree. "The mainstream jobs of the future will require rigorous basic skills and technical preparation, but not necessarily baccalaureate level degrees," according to the governor's official plan outlining his initiative.

Business supports the increased emphasis on nonbaccalaureate, post-secondary education. Thomas L. Reid, who tracks education issues for the Illinois Manufacturers' Association, says that not everyone should go to college: "Trying to prepare every child for college is ludicrous. Some students are more adapted to alternative types of education and job fields."

Edgar wants to emphasize training for technological and craft jobs. He wants business, labor and education interests to develop the programs, and he wants them to be locally fostered initiatives. The new Workforce Preparation Council will be charged with developing pilot programs.

The final phase of Edgar's Workforce Preparation Initiative does not directly involve community colleges. He wants to consolidate training programs for existing workers offered now by the Prairie State 2000 Authority into others administered by the Industrial Training Program within the Department of Commerce and Community Affairs.

But all other phases of Gov. Edgar's plan to simplify the state's complex system of job training and adult education directly involve the community colleges. Gov. Edgar has chosen community colleges for a strong role in preparing workers for the future. For Illinois community colleges, from Rock Valley Community College to Shawnee Community College, from John Wood Community College to Danville Area Community College, Edgar's effort means a higher profile for their job training services.

16/June 1992/Illinois Issues