Q & A With Howard Community College President Kate Hetherington

By George Berkheimer, STAFF WRITER



Nearly a year has passed since Kate Hetherington assumed her new role as president of Howard Community College (HCC). Her service with HCC includes two years as the college's executive vice president and six years as its vice president for student services. She recently discussed some of the observations and challenges of preparing HCC for the future.



This past year, community colleges experienced the most growth of any higher education sector in the state. How did Howard Community College fare with respect to other community colleges?

College enrollment increased significantly during the 2007 fall semester. Our headcount increased by more than 5% and our full-time enrollments increased by 4.5%. Maryland community colleges overall experienced a growth rate of 2.6%. We expect this trend to continue. Looking 10 years out, we anticipate that credit enrollments will increase by 31%, with a 21% increase in non-credit enrollments.



How is Howard Community College preparing to deal with this growth?

We are including a number of projects in our Master Plan and have mapped out what our building needs will be in the next 10 to 20 years ... including a number of new buildings to accommodate growth in Health Sciences, Science Engineering and Continuing Education. We will look for continued support from the county and state for our operating budget, but we need to stay accessible. We will continue to do fundraising and go after grants and scholarships from our supporters.



Gov. Martin O'Malley's proposed funding increase for community colleges was cut from 12% to 8%. His 2009 budget also proposed an historic $81 million to improve academic facilities on 13 community colleges statewide. How far will that funding go, realistically?

[A reduced funding increase] will force us to do some belt tightening, but it's still an increase and an indication of how important community colleges are in their ability to address workforce needs. We still don't know what the county will provide.

One of our biggest needs is new faculty to accommodate growth. We appreciate that the governor has added us to the Capital Budget; the only project we had [in the proposal] was a top priority - renovations to the Clark Library to address the need for instructional space. What's not in the budget is design money for a new Health Sciences building. We'll have to address that down the road at the final budget assessment.

The County Executive's budget ... contains money for work the college needs for Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, safety issues and maintenance, but it didn't provide for a new parking garage that is needed for growth. We had not projected a tuition increase for students this year, but that could change depending on how we fare at the state and local level.

Holding higher education tuition flat definitely has an impact on us, as students may stay with us longer to get more credits before transferring. Students are looking at our college as an affordable option; our reputation as having quality-producing programs and services has improved over the years. We maintain a beautiful campus, but it is filled to the brim.



Growth and funding aside, what's your next biggest challenge?

One of the things we have to be mindful of is the emphasis on learning outcomes and assessing what we do, which is what this college has been about since its inception. We have won awards [for performance excellence], but it's not about the awards, it's about the process and what you do - is what happens in the classroom and in services tied in to our mission to provide quality? It's a challenge to do this, but it becomes part of our culture to emphasize that.



What are some of the ways in which Howard Community College's entrepreneurial spirit and muscle are coming into play to address immediate challenges?

We have a workshop coming up just for veterans who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan that offers them help with coming back to school. We've also had to change some of our processes in the way of veterans using their benefits for tuition because we believe we have an obligation to address veterans' needs.

We are exploring a joint Health Sciences facility in Mt. Airy in Carroll County where we share space and equipment [with their community college], and we're looking for other ways to address needs for workers in the health sciences area. We are offering a new associate's degree program for the Police Academy and are expecting our first group in July this year, and we have a new program that addresses the needs of the construction industry.



Since taking on the role of president, what is the most unexpected lesson you have learned?

I've worked at Howard Community College for nine years and thought I knew of the community's commitment. But now I have experienced that commitment to an even greater depth. There is an overwhelming willingness to share ideas with us and to collaborate with the college. We're very fortunate to have that level of cooperation with the community.