YOUR College, YOUR Community ... join us?

In a demonstration of support for Midland College and to show the importance of the repercussions of the 82nd Legislative Session’s impact on higher education, MC faculty, staff and students will rally on the steps of the Murray Fasken Learning Resource Center (FLRC) at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 4. The current Texas House and Senate bills will result in a reduction for MC between $5.4 million and $7 million for the 2011-2013 biennium.

Dr. Damon Kennedy, Associate Professor of History and MC Faculty Senate President, states, “The rally is not intended to be a negative ‘bashing’ of our State Legislature, rather it is intended to give MC administration, faculty, staff and students, as well as the Midland community, a chance to voice their support of MC and to remind people of the importance MC plays in the Midland community.”

Midland College set a new enrollment record for the 2011 spring semester, but its capacity to serve more students at an affordable cost will be severely tested over the next two years, and probably beyond. Enrollment has grown from 688 students in 1969 to 7,429 in 2011; however, state support has declined from 65 percent to 25 percent during that same time. Local taxpayers are shouldering 35 percent of the operating budget. The other major revenue stream for Midland College is student tuition and fees, which have grown steadily over the years in response to declining state support.

MC plays a key role in positively impacting Midland’s economy.

• An economic impact study was previously done by a local economist who found that every dollar which came to and through Midland College turned over at least 4 times in our local economy. This means that with an average 40 million dollar MC annual budget, at least 160 million dollars is circulated through the local economy each year.

• MC is training individuals through certificate and associate degrees to directly enter the workforce. With 31 individual career and technical programs, MC has been meeting local workforce needs for over 35 years. Advisory committees representing area businesses support each of our career and technical programs and provide feedback and continuous improvement.

• The Bachelor of Applied Technology Degree was developed to enhance the skill level of area employees.

• The MC Petroleum Professional Development Center located in downtown Midland provides specific oil and gas related training.

• The MC Business and Economic Development Center, in partnership with the City of Midland, is located in a minority neighborhood and provides small business counseling, home purchasing assistance, improvement of personal credit rating, help with small business/higher education IDEA savings accounts, and small business/minority owned businesses networking breakfasts and informational sessions.

• Midland College has a partnership with Chevron USA to provide highly customized technology training for new processes and technologies in the petroleum industry. The expected result is standardized education for employees, lower attrition among newly-hired employees, higher retention among incumbent workers, reduced turnover and improved work quality. Target job titles are field specialists, mechanics instrumentation specialists and plant specialists.

• The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) provided funding to Midland College to establish and expand medical health informatics education programs. This six-month on-line training is provided to enhance professionals with skills and competencies. As the state moves forward with the Health Information Exchange project (HIE), graduates will find positions in hospitals, physician practices, regional extension centers and state/city public health agencies.

• MC’s nursing program has received various grants to expand MC’s training capacity due to the great need in the Permian Basin for registered nurses. So far, this money has allowed 20 additional nursing students to complete degrees.

Since 1972, more than 200,000 people have taken classes at Midland College. The college offers more than fifty associate degree and certificate options, and is a Level II (four-year) institution, accredited to offer a Bachelor of Applied Technology (BAT) degree.

The college also invests in the quality of life in Midland. The Phyllis & Bob Cowan Performing Arts Series and the Davidson Distinguished Lecture Series recruit renowned performers and speakers to the campus for free community concerts and lectures. The campus is home to the McCormick Art Gallery and co-produces theatre presentations with Midland Community Theatre. MC’s newly renovated Al G. Langford Chaparral Center is the largest public facility in town and hosts concerts, trade shows, and sporting events.

By popular demand ...

From Tim Jebsen, MC Theatre Instructor, and MCT Executive Director ... "We have added a performance to the run of the MC/MCT musical HAIRSPRAY at the Yucca Theatre - Saturday, May 14, 2011 at 8 p.m. This will be the final performance of the run of the show, so do not hesitate to go get your tickets and see these incredible students and volunteers at work on this great musical." CLICK HERE for more info

Students should be heard when it comes to higher education funding

Susanna Karth, President

Midland College Student Government Association

While students are in college, they are basically insignificant to the rest of the world. It is only after students graduate that the world begins to pay attention to them.

I learned in government class that students hardly ever vote, and so their views are not as important to the legislature as the views of the people who do vote. Is this one of the reasons the Texas legislature seems so willing to cut higher education funding?

The Midland College Student Government Association (SGA) was scheduled to go to Austin this past February. I was looking forward to spending time with my friends and attending the state SGA conference. I was also looking forward to visiting the Capitol and meeting our representatives. I was extremely disappointed when we weren't able to go in February due to inclement weather. 

So, when the trip was rescheduled for early April, I felt like we needed to make up for lost time. We had gathered signatures for our petition asking the legislature not to cut education funding. We had studied information about the budget shortfall and college enrollment statistics. We were ready to talk, but I don't think our representatives were willing to listen.

I suppose they were frustrated. I probably would be too if I were them. But I got the distinct feeling that they really didn't care about what we had to say. What was going to happen would happen no matter what we tried to do about it. Representative Craddick was very polite, but he changed the subject. He began by saying how he was in favor of community colleges, and then he asked us if we had toured the capitol yet. We didn't have much of a chance to talk. I'm shy, so I know I could have been a little more forceful if I had tried, but I think he would have still changed the subject as fast as possible.

Our visit with Senator Seliger was a little more productive, although he spent more time discussing the allowance of concealed handguns on campus than education. He seemed more willing to talk with us than did Mr. Craddick, but I still got the impression that what we had to say wouldn't affect his decisions in the slightest.

After the visits, I started thinking. Do they not realize that the students of today are the professionals of tomorrow? If funding is cut, tuition will rise. When tuition rises, fewer students are going to be able to afford to go to college. The only reason I can afford to go to school is because of the multiple scholarships I have managed to earn. What about the students who have even less money than I?  Do they not realize how a funding cut now will affect the workforce ten years from now? Or do they know and just not care?

Students should matter to legislators. Statistically, people who are more educated vote more. Students may not vote while they're in college, but they typically do after they graduate. I'm a registered voter, and yes, I did vote during the last election, but I'm just one voter and I fall into the insignificant student demographic. It is very frustrating to want to make a difference but to have no ability to do so.


Midland College Student Government Association, students and advisors, on the steps of the Texas Capitol Building

   

An Extravagant Science Extravaganza!

Math, science, and FUN! What could be better than that? With hands-on exhibits provided by the McDonald Observatory, Sibley Nature Center, Texas Tech TAME (Texas Alliance for Minorities in Engineering), the MISD Early College High School students, and many more there was definitely something for each of the 2,000 fifth and sixth graders that took over Midland College Friday April 8th. Watching as the elementary students played tons of number games in the math exhibits within the Abell-Hanger Science Faculty Building, learned to match DNA sequences and seeing firsthand the anatomy of cats in the Fox Science Building the events of Science Extravaganza 2011 never failed to bring enjoyment and entertainment to all those involved, including me!

One of the more popular exhibits presented by the Midland Police Department that caused a lot of attention was that of the "impaired vision stimulation." The students were given goggles to wear that had the same affect of being drunk and given simple tasks to perform, like standing on one foot or high-fiving each other, in order to see how hard it is to function while drinking. It was then that the students were allowed to drive, or attempt to drive, a golf cart in one of the MC courtyards while wearing the goggles to show just how dangerous drinking and driving really is. With cones set up in a course for the students to navigate through, there was of course not one cone still standing at the end of the presentation.

In addition to all the craziness of the "impaired" drivers, students were also shown an example of water pressure with a bottle rocket presentation by the MC Engineering Club. Getting the signal of the countdown to begin pumping water, the various elementary students stood in amazement as the handmade rocket shot into the air, leaving a stream of water trailing behind before landing several yards away. Screams of excitement began after each "take off" only to begin again once it landed. After two solid hours of learning and entertainment from all over the MC campus, it was time for the main event. Explosions of about 50 liters of soda fountained in the air after being combined with Mentos mints concluded the day's activities. It certainly made for an extravagant finale to such an extravagant day!