VOTE411 Voter Guide

The Community College plays a crucial role in the education of young, middle age, and older adults. The Community College offers a more affordable way for young adults to experience college while it also offers courses designed for individuals looking to recertify or expand their current credentials or even try something brand new. The older generation also benefits from programs offered for lifelong learning, including hobbies, foreign language classes, music courses, and many other offerings. In general, the Community College bridges the entire education system today in their vision & scope of offerings to enrich the lives of young through older people alike.

Southeast Community College offers an excellent array of dual credit courses already and houses The Career Academy offered through the Lincoln Public Schools located on site at the Southeast Community College Main Campus. However, I would base any decision to expand community college course availability in high schools to the needs and wants of the taxpayers of Nebraska, the benefit/cost to the State of Nebraska, and the needs of the students. It is my position to utilize the hard earned taxpayer money provided to the Community College wisely and responsibly. As a local taxpayer myself, I want to see opportunities provided to our children, but also do not want to see any amount of money being spent frivolously.

I believe one of the most significant challenges to community colleges is affordability for the students. There are many individuals that simply do not qualify for grants & scholarships, yet have an intrinsic desire to learn, achieve, and contribute to their community. Many students accept the student loans, but suffer high interest loans for years upon years. And many community colleges are striving to keep pace with large universities in price & amenities. Community colleges should not be a profiteering institution, but should benefit the whole community in affordable & accessible education. Another challenge is ensuring the community college has integrity-based leaders. Transparency, ethical, and honest leaders are a must.

Community colleges play an essential role in higher education, now more than ever. As the price of four-year universities continues to climb, community colleges provide access to higher education for students from many different backgrounds. Beyond the price differentiator, community colleges are able to adapt to business and industry demands more easily to ensure students are graduating ready to fill workforce needs. Because of community colleges, our communities gain the resource of a skilled workforce for in-demand fields like welding, healthcare, and automotive. Community college graduates can enter high-paying careers to support their families. Strong community colleges like SCC make their communities healthier and more resilient.

Access to higher education is valuable for students, including those still in high school. This resource is provided at SCC through Dual Credit and Southeast Nebraska Career Academy Partnership (SENCAP) programs. Students graduate high school already on their way to earning certificates, diplomas, or degrees or are able to complete the programs while in high school. Access to community college courses in high school expands opportunities for learning and can spark motivation to strive for exciting careers. These programs currently provide many areas of study across a wide range of interests. However, the SCC Board doesn't make decisions regarding program offerings for Dual Credit and SENCAP.

Work demands change quickly in today's economy, and community colleges need to ensure they are preparing students appropriately for current jobs. They need state-of-the-art facilities to do that. Under my leadership, SCC is overcoming the challenge of outdated facilities through the creation of new technology centers on all campuses, each tailored to real world demands of the programs taught there. We are also creating new programs in emerging fields to ensure we are meeting current workforce needs, partnering with business leaders to guide decisions. I am committed to continuing to meet the challenges in preparing students to fill our region's workforce demands.

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