Budget to boost community colleges

SOUTH PORTLAND – If the Legislature adopts Gov. John Baldacci’s $178 million supplemental budget for 2007, the Maine Community College System could expand the nursing, boat-building and early college programs, MCCS President John Fitzsimmons said Wednesday.

Baldacci’s proposed budget, which targets $375,000 to expand the community college system’s registered nursing programs, would allow 70 new associate degree nursing students to be enrolled at the five campuses that offer nursing to about 400 participants, Fitzsimmons told trustees during a meeting at Southern Maine Community College in South Portland.

The new funds also would be used to launch a new nursing program at York County Community College in Wells.

If approved, the budget also would provide $75,000 for Washington County Community College in Calais to support customized training and apprenticeship training for boat-building companies in other regions of Maine.

In addition, the community college system would receive $500,000 to nearly double the number of high schools participating in Early College for ME, a college transition program for students who may not have considered higher education.

The program, which provides early college courses, scholarships, early testing and help with the admissions and financial aid processes, has been targeted by Baldacci who wants to make it available in all of Maine’s public high schools by 2008.

The proposed budget also contains $205,000 to assist with high heating costs.

“These targeted investments would help our colleges help Maine – by opening the door to college for more Maine students and providing a boost to key industries in Maine that depend on our graduates,” Fitzsimmons said Wednesday.

Expanding the nursing program would ease a serious bottleneck that forces the community colleges to turn away or delay the studies of hundreds of nursing applicants.

Maine health providers currently show at least 1,000 nursing vacancies statewide each year. The vacancies are projected to grow to more than 5,000 by 2020.

“Our goal is to maximize the impact of these dollars and benefit as many regions of the state as possible,” said Fitzsimmons.

In other action, trustees approved a $750,000 contract with Pizzagalli Construction Company for the design phase of the system’s residence hall project which will add about 600 new beds at Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor, Central Maine Community College in Auburn and Southern Maine Community College.

If all goes as planned, the residence facilities at EMCC and CMCC will be ready in fall 2007 and at SMCC in January 2008.