Strong campuses of UCCS and Pikes Peak Community College benefit students in El Paso County as well as the community at large, leaders of the county’s two higher education institutions told a group of community leaders Wednesday during a luncheon at the Antler’s Hotel.
Chancellor Pam Shockley-Zalabak and Lance Bolton, president, Pikes Peak Community College presented “Partnerships=Prosperity” as part of the Fifth Annual State of Higher Education Forum. The event was sponsored by the UCCS-based Center for the Study of Government and Individual.
Shockley-Zalabak and Bolton shared details of their respective institutions including percentages of veteran students, graduation rates and challenges facing the schools as ahead.
“It is a pleasure to work with Pikes Peak Community College and Lance Bolton,” Shockley-Zalabak said. “The fact of the matter is that students from Pikes Peak graduate from UCCS at the same rate as students who come in as first-time freshman. The quality of what happens at Pikes Peak Community College is excellent and strong and why we want to continue to build partnerships with them.”
Last year, 798 students from PPCC transferred to four-year universities. Of those, 513 came to UCCS, according to PPCC officials.
“We have two wonderful public institutions that remain challenged by the fact that our public nature in terms of funding does continue to decline,” Shockley-Zalabak said. “The more we can work together with our community and together with our institutions, the stronger we’re going to be for all of El Paso County and our surrounding counties.”
The combined effort to raise the education levels of El Paso County residents makes Colorado Springs more attractive to businesses and bodes well for the region’s future, Bolton said. Shockley-Zalabak agreed, citing statistics that show lower participation in post-secondary education throughout southern Colorado and connecting lower education rates to lower per capita incomes.
“What good for Colorado Springs …what’s good for our region?” Bolton asked. “If you look nationally at data about communities that are most prosperous, have the highest wages, are most successful in attracting high-tech industry, they have one thing in common. They have higher percentage of their population with bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees or PhDs.”
In addition to joint marketing efforts between the two schools and efforts to streamline transfer processes, Shockley-Zalabak and Bolton cited College of Engineering efforts to allow PPCC pre-engineering students to take classes at UCCS, transitioning registered nursing students at PPCC to bachelor of nursing and master of nursing students at UCCS, and a “Reacting to the Past” grant to revamp the teaching of history at both schools. They also cited cooperative efforts to prepare future cyber-security experts, a quickly emerging demand in the region because of military installations and civilian military contractors.
“We are not just saying we are working together,” Shockley-Zalabak said. “We are working together.”
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