Colleges of Worcester Consortium invest in area

(Reprinted with permission of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette - August 5, 2007)

By Mark P. Bilotta

With more than 30,000 students returning to the area’s college campuses over the next few weeks, the Colleges of Worcester Consortium and its 13 college and university members have been busy developing ways to enhance both the academic and social experiences of our students, with an eye toward retaining more of our graduates to ensure a qualified workforce for the region.

For almost 40 years, the Consortium has been and will remain a leader in academic cooperation by offering opportunities for cross-registration, academic resource sharing, and faculty and staff development, as well as support for student development. These opportunities have expanded over the years to include Consortium-sponsored certificate programs in gerontology studies and college teaching.

We’ve also employed an economy of scales through resource sharing, resulting in cost savings and efficiencies for our members, such as our popular joint purchasing program which includes not only the college members but some 30, local non-profit organizations. With an emphasis on buying local whenever possible, this program directly benefits the Worcester economy by keeping a significant amount of the college spending here in the region.

The Consortium has provided long-standing support for higher education access services for first generation, low-income students and adults in the region. Most residents are unaware, for example, that the Consortium and its college members fund nine full-time Consortium employees to serve as education advisors in the Worcester Public Schools through our Educational Talent Search and GEAR UP programs. These two programs work with some 2,000 students a year in Worcester’s public high schools and Worcester East Middle School. We also serve more than 1,500 adults through our Educational Opportunity Center, one of the U.S. Dept. of Education’s original 13 EOCs first funded in 1973, and currently the second largest in the country. EOC advisors act as education brokers providing information and placement assistance on pre-college programs such as GED, ESL, or Adult Basic Education, certificate programs, or two or four-year colleges or universities. This year, the Consortium will budget about $830,000 for all these access services.

Perhaps the most visible area of focus has been a long-standing commitment to our communities through community engagement and economic development. Last year, for example, more than 8,300 students provided over 580,000 hours of service to some 450 organizations in the community--the equivalent of almost 280 full time positions with an estimated value of $11 million. In addition, many of our member colleges and universities have had strong partnerships with the Worcester Public Schools where more than 90,000 hours of service were committed by 640 college students. Consortium members also provide more than $8 million in generous scholarship programs for Worcester students, dual enrollment opportunities, as well as tuition waivers and faculty development opportunities for WPS teachers.

While a number of our colleges and universities continue to invest in large-scale projects with sustained economic impact, all are committed to helping ensure that local and regional employers have the qualified workforce they will need for the future. In The Research Bureau’s 2006 Talent Retention Report, which surveyed more than 5,000 members of the colleges’ Class of 2005, a key finding indicated that students who were involved in the community were more apt to remain here after graduation. With that knowledge, and additional input from a number of focus groups, the Career Services Committee of the Consortium launched an online database for internships that serves as a clearinghouse for local and regional employers and our students. Employers at area businesses and non-profit organizations are encouraged to consider sponsoring an intern by visiting our Web site at www.cowc.org and registering their organization. The efforts we make now to engage our students will help ensure tomorrow’s workforce for the entire region.

So where is the Consortium heading from here? Our vision is to enhance and promote Worcester and the region as a premier college destination. We have adopted this vision statement to assist the city of Worcester with its own ongoing efforts to attract more visitors and in an effort to help ensure steady college enrollments in the challenging years ahead. Right now, there are two major issues that could impact student enrollment in the Worcester area. First, the projected demographics in our primary markets suggest a decrease in the number of graduating high school seniors. Second, unlike Boston, which many families choose as a college destination and then shop for a specific school, the Worcester region primarily works just the opposite: Families and students identify a college, and that college just happens to be in Worcester, Paxton, Dudley, North Grafton or South Lancaster. Thus, it is imperative that we make the Worcester region a destination of choice.

To address these issues, the Consortium will be targeting intercollegiate social programming in addition to expanding internship and community service opportunities. In other words, coordinating and offering more events off-campus for our students and/or promoting existing events organized by other groups.

For example, on September 1, in collaboration with The Shrewsbury Street Area Merchants Association, the Consortium will co-sponsor the first ever Taste of Shrewsbury Street College Shuffle. On September 29, in collaboration with Pagio, Inc, the Consortium will support a joint concert at the DCU Center as part of Pulsefest.

This month, in partnership with the Worcester Cultural Coalition, the Consortium will disseminate 10,000 “Woo Cards,” designed to promote the City’s charged cultural scene to college students. Use of the card will allow discounts for Worcester’s vibrant offerings of theater, edgy galleries, music and dance concerts, unique museums, festivals, outdoor adventures and more.

The Consortium is also launching Friday and Saturday evening shuttle buses for a number of our colleges as a means of transporting students to off-campus destinations, including Shrewsbury Street, Union Station/Canal District, DCU Center, Mechanics Hall, and eventually the Hanover Theatre.

All of these initiatives are intended to supplement students’ academic experiences and more fully engage students in the greater Worcester community. Our hope is that whether students remain here after graduation (and we hope they do) or return back to their home communities, they become ambassadors for the Worcester region and encourage other families and students to include us in future college searches. We’re confident our investments today will pay off for Worcester and the region in the years to come.

Mark P. Bilotta is CEO of the Colleges of Worcester Consortium