Adenuga Atewologun

Riverland President

The approaching 2013 legislative session has much at stake for Riverland Community College and the other 30 Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) institutions.

This legislative session comes at a time when our region is facing a vexing challenge: Many employers in industries such as manufacturing, biotech, and health care, are facing a dire need for workers with both strong technical skills and strong foundational skills. There are job openings, but many of the 174,000 unemployed Minnesotans do not have the education needed for the new economy. Projections also tell us 70 percent of the jobs in Minnesota will require a post-secondary credential by 2018. If left unaddressed, this “skills gap” will take a tremendous toll on individuals, families, employers, and the economy of our region.

Riverland strives to close this skills gap; however, we face significant financial obstacles in meeting this challenge. During the past 12 years, we have seen steady and deep cuts in the state’s investment in higher education. Minnesota’s cuts (48 percent) have been twice as deep as the national average (23 percent). Riverland has struggled to maintain or update necessary equipment and technology. In addition, our faculty have not received pay increases for four years.

These cuts have put significant pressure on other funding sources. For students and their families, of course, the most visible is tuition. While we have seen increases over the last several years, we have worked hard to keep our tuition and fees at a fraction of the price of the private, for-profit education providers. In fact, a key part of the MnSCU budget proposal going before the legislature is a modest tuition increase of $145 for a full-time student taking 30 credits.

The MnSCU budget proposal also includes a commitment to raise $20 million in private funds for scholarships to assist 16,000 students across the system and a proposal to expand financial aid availability through the state grant program for an additional 8,200 students.

Another key feature of the budget proposal, one that is central to advancing the prosperity of the state, is aligning academic programs with the needs of employers to ensure we turn out the right number of graduates, in the right professions, with the right skills. The proposal includes provisions to help campuses develop new programs that directly respond to employer needs. For example, Riverland is exploring more programming in agriculture, renewable energy and allied health careers.

Access to state-of-the-art equipment is also vital to the success of our programs, and the budget proposal calls for matching state and private funds for equipment, technology and research. Additional matching funds are proposed for internships and apprenticeships that provide students with tremendous opportunities to acquire hands-on learning that ensure they have skills that match the needs of employers.

Finally, the budget request focuses on accelerating completion and increasing student success. By expanding PSEO and concurrent enrollment programs, we will help students get a running start on their college experience, saving them money, keeping student debt down  and gaining efficiencies for the state.

In short, this legislative session is nothing less than a tremendous opportunity for Riverland’s region to grow our economy, and I encourage you to express your support to your representatives.