Michelle Woody overcame the odds to graduate from the Heartland Community College Business Essentials certification program this spring. Above: Pam Westerdahl, left, head of the Business Essentials Program, presents Woody with a special award for her dedication. Right: Michelle stands with her family at her graduation. She is the first to graduate from a higher education program.

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The key word in community colleges is community. They are governed by, supported by, and were created to serve the needs of their community. Illinois, home of the first community college in the nation, now contains 48 colleges, making it the third largest community college system in the United States. One in 12, or more than 1 million Illinoisans, enroll in community colleges each year.

And many of those students don't fit the traditional mold of college students. No longer are the majority of students young, just out of high school, living on campus, single, unemployed and supported by their parents. Today's community college students are an average age of 31, settled in the community, raising families, holding down full-time jobs, and enrolled in both credit and non-credit courses.

Community colleges are embracing the changing student population by offering more night classes, off-site classrooms, regional centers and online classes.

For example, Southeastern Illinois College in Harrisburg serves a predominately rural district and offers many online courses to its students. Brad McCormick, Dean of Business Affairs at the college says, "We have a female student who uses a wheelchair, lives in a rural area, works full-time, is raising a toddler and completed her bachelor's degree online."

But why are so many adults returning to school? Eileen Tepatti, Ed.D., Associate Vice President of Instruction at Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield, says, "For many adults, they've put their kids through college and now it's their turn. For others, they see that if they can just get a little more knowledge, they can move into another position. But then you also have displaced workers, which we've seen more of in recent years, who are retraining for new careers."

Computer classes are just some of the courses popular with adult students at Heartland Community College. - Photo courtesy of Todd Phillips/Heanland Community College -

A college education is becoming more and more valuable in today's workplace. The U.S. Department of Education says 85 percent of American jobs that are capable of supporting a middle-class lifestyle require some form of post-secondary education.

"I remember back in the 1950s and 1960s when an individual could graduate from high school and be employable the rest of his or her life, earning enough money to enjoy a middle class lifestyle. But things have changed," says Joseph Cipfl, President/CEO of the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB). "Now you need some college experience."

More than 2.6 million Illinoisans, 20-25 percent of the state's population, are unqualified for today's job market. "We've got to get these people through adult education programs, workforce programs or college classes to give them the skills they need to make them employable.

"When you start talking about quality of life and job opportunity in the local community, as well as the state of Illinois, the real tool for the future is the role of the community college," says Cipfl.

And that role is continuing to change. Community colleges now offer transferable degrees, giving students the option of continuing their education at a university and certificate programs that enable students to move directly into the workforce. They also offer adult basic education classes to help individuals obtain the skills they need to survive in the workforce, English as a second language to address the state's growing immigrant population, youth summer college programs to give kids a head start on learning, and many other non-degree classes of interest to adults and seniors in the community.

As companies increasingly realize the need for continued education, many have begun partnering with community colleges to perform contract training. For example, the Association of Illinois Electric Cooperatives has partnered with Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield to provide a lineman certification program. The State of Illinois also has a variety of classes at Lincoln Land to keep its employees updated on new technologies.

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Caron Thomas is congratulated by the life skills teacher Kathy Johnson (left) her son Ty-e, and Mayor of Bloomington, Markowitz (right) at her graduation from the Business Essentials program at Heartland Community College.

"We're here for the community. We take that middle name very, very seriously. What the community needs, we deliver, or certainly try our best to," says Dana Grove, Vice President of Academic Services at Lincoln Land.

Three factors draw individuals to community colleges: cost, quality and convenience.

"A community college represents the best educational bargain; it has the lowest tuition you can find," says Grove. The average cost of a credit hour is $52, meaning a student can enroll for one year of classes and pay less than $2,000 for tuition, fees and books.

Students also have better access to instructors and receive more one-on-one learning at community colleges. "Students aren't sitting in a lecture hall with several hundred individuals; they are sitting in classrooms of 25 students with an instructor they can call their own. It's not a grad assistant, it's an instructor," says Cipfl.

"We're teaching institutions," says Tepatti. "We concentrate on our teaching; our teachers don't have a research agenda overpowering them like some university professors."

And besides high-quality teachers and low costs, many community colleges are striving to become even more convenient by branching into regional centers. Lincoln Land has three such centers in Litchfield, Jacksonville and Taylorville. The centers help the college bring its educational opportunities closer to its widespread district's population.

Residents in Taylorville have access to the Eastern Regional Educational Center of Lincoln Land. From registration, application and financial aid services to core classes and specialty certification programs, the center offers everything a student needs. "We have about 500 students here now, between the ages of 16 and 75," says Marty Swan, Construction Occupation Coordinator at the center. "I believe that students who would have never gone to the main college are now getting degrees and transferring to higher institutions."

Swan focuses on a unique program at the college, an applied science degree construction program that offers nine courses of instruction. Students are required to come two evenings a week, to participate in one of the seven courses held simultaneously. Students in carpentry, blueprinting, plumbing, electrical and other classes work together on one project. This serves to help keep the classes full. Swan says, "If I offered just wiring, I'd only have four students. This way the classes are full and the students get to interact.

"In addition, the non-traditional format eases the apprehension a little bit for many students, especially those who haven't been to school for a number of years. I recognize their uneasiness; I waited 10 years myself before going back to school." Swan continued his education in a construction/drafting program at a community college. "I began tutoring and thought, 'This is what I want to do when I grow up,' and I was 30 then."

Many adults have defined their career paths at the center, which first opened just after the Peabody Coal Mine shut down. Many of the miners attended the construction classes and other courses. "Right now I have a lot of displaced Firestone workers in my classes," says Swan.

The City of Taylorville has partnered with the college to enhance the city's recreational lake area. "We have a cooperative agreement with the city. They bought the materials,

Despite a busy schedule, Ann Coats took an Electronic Technology class at Lincoln Land Community College to learn new skills.
- Photo courtesy of Public Information Office, LLCC -

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and our students are making small cabins for Lake Taylorville." Swan's classes are building the modular cabins from scratch, utilizing blueprinting, surveying, carpentry, plumbing and electrical class skills.

The partnership between the city of Taylorville and the college demonstrates how community colleges strive to remain an integral part of their communities. Heartland Community College in Normal has come up with a new way to reach out to its community. Local community groups came to the college asking for a program targeted to the city's underprivileged population.

"The college really responded. That's what we are, a community college, and if there's a problem in the community, then we need to look at it," says Pam Westerdahl, Director of Workforce Services at Heartland. The college partnered with the Bloomington Housing Authority and the University of Illinois Extension office to offer a Business Essentials certification program.

Westerdahl, head of the program, says, "We looked at why students in a certain population were not successful in education. What we came back with time and again was that there wasn't adequate childcare, they didn't have transportation, they couldn't afford to buy books, and they certainly didn't have access to a computer for homework. The program is designed to take care of all the things that can get in a student's way."

But that's not to say the program is easy. "It is a college course and we don't lower the bar. In fact, our average full-time student at the college takes 12 credit-hours and this program is 16 credit-hours. It's very intense," says Westerdahl.

The program can accept only a few students each semester, but the college is working towards more grants and programs that will help them expand. More than 36 students applied last semester alone for the nine available spots.

The program's third class was just completed. One of the graduating students, Michelle Woody, has five children, helps care for her handicapped father, works a part-time job and never fell behind during the program. Her fellow students honored her with a plaque for her determination.

"At age 29, I am just now realizing who I am as a woman, not as a mother or a wife. I married and became a mother at a very young age. After high school I fell right into the mom and wife role. Now my youngest is ready for kindergarten and I realized I had no job skills."

Woody had some inner turmoil regarding the toll the program had taken on her role as a mother. "My kids have had to deal with a lot for me to do this. They realize this is big and have had to make a lot of sacrifices."

At the Business Essentials program graduation, student speaker Caron Thomas addressed Michelle's concerns personally, "Don't ever confuse negligence and selfishness with determination. You did this for your kids, so don't feel bad for being unable to tuck them in at night. Everything we've done here, we've done for our kids."

Westerdahl comments, "Out of these nine graduating students, we have touched 33 children.

These students want to change their lives and they really want to do it for their children. They don't want their children to grow up as they did."

Once the selected students complete the Business Essentials program, they don't just disappear. About 90 percent choose to continue their education. "They see this program as a great stepping stone for their ultimate goal, and we work with all the students to develop resumes, complete cover letters, and we keep working with them until they find a job. I tell them they'll never be rid of me," says Westerdahl. "We can't make their lives perfect in 16 weeks, but we are making a dent.

"They can break your heart, they'll reduce you to tears, and yet the courage they show on a daily basis, with what they have to deal with and go through is just unbelievable. And now these students have something that no one will ever be able to take from them, and in their lives they have all had things taken from them. They are very proud of themselves, and they should be." To find out more about the program, contact Pam Westerdahl at (309) 268-8047.

With today's changing economy, more and more Illinoisans are feeling their employment threatened, have become unemployed, are severely lacking in job skills, or have realized they need an extra edge to stay valuable in today's job market. With these changes, more and more people are turning to their community colleges for help.

Contact the community college in your area to see how it can help you and your family reach your goals. Visit www.communitycolleges.org/links to find the community college nearest you or call the Illinois Community College Board at (217) 785-0020. Financial aid information is available at www.isacl.org and for returning students at financialaidsupersite.com/retuming-college-student.htm.

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