Community college debate cools

In higher education, the dollar still reigns supreme.\nThere is no place where this is more prevalent than here in Indiana, as a month-long clash between two education titans over just that - money - seems to be losing some steam.\nIU President Myles Brand and Indiana Higher Education Commissioner Stan Jones are at opposing ends of the spectrum in a battle over funding for IU's regional campuses and the state's new community college program. \nFour pilot community colleges opened for the fall semester in Gary, Lafayette, Indianapolis and Evansville, through a partnership between Ivy Tech State College and Vincennes University. During the next six years, 23 community colleges will be opened across the state.\nTwo of those cities already house IU regional campuses - IU-Northwest in Gary and IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis.\nWhile both men are standing behind their respective institutions in the struggle for money and students, it appears progress is being made between the two factions.\n"The most important point is that the conversations with the commission are headed in that direction, and we are making genuine progress," Brand said. "The community college system is evolving, and as it evolves, we will work together with the commission in a complementary way."\nIU and the commission are in talks to resolve issues. Brand and Jones said the discussions have been productive, although neither would venture a guess as to when anything official would be announced.\nBut relations have not always been so productive between the two leaders. \nAt a University Faculty Council meeting in March, Brand called Jones "delusional" and publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with the commissioner and the community college plan.\n"(Jones) sees the community college as becoming the most important institution of higher learning in the state with the lion\'s share of the resources and students," Brand said. "He sees a large community college base, and a much smaller set of residential research campuses than we have now by numbers of students, certainly no academic development on these campuses."\nHe continued, "I think that the Bloomington campus and Indiana University as a whole has not been very well-funded. On a per-student basis, Bloomington is 10th out of 10 in the Big Ten. Next year, the community college effort will take $6 million from the base budget, out of the Bloomington campus."\nThirty or 40 years ago, Indiana lawmakers agreed not to start the state community college system so IU could branch out with regional campuses, Jones said. \nThe legislature allocated $6 million to the community colleges for their first year of existence. Another financial implication is the 8.5 percent increase in higher education spending over the next 10 years with a state budget surplus. The legislature also temporarily froze tuition. \n"Forty-four of the states have strong community college systems," Jones said. "And it hasn't harmed the funding or student influx of their state schools."\nRepresentatives of both schools in Gary admit they were hesitant at first, but now said they are more optimistic.\nJose Valtierra, director of student services at Ivy Tech's Gary campus, said his school is trying to make education available for everyone in the area.\n"We'd like to see here in northwest Indiana for any individual to come to Ivy Tech, to Purdue, to IU-Northwest and to be able to take the classes they want to take, to have that seamless flow of education," Valtierra said. There is also a Purdue University regional campus in Gary.\nAnd Bill May, executive vice chancellor for academic affairs at IU-Northwest, said, "The initial reaction here is: 'Do we need another school in Indiana?' But after we got through that initial reaction, we think it can be done in this area."\nWhile the regional campus and community college struggle seems to be settling down, at least for now, so are the hostile comments between Jones and Brand. \n"Our relationship currently is one of professional colleagues working toward common goals," Brand said. "There are areas in which we differ, but nonetheless we have a strong working relationship."\nJones' description was to the point.\n"I'd say that we have a relationship that's professional and cordial," he said.\nAfter the struggle between two of Indiana's most influential education leaders dies down, though, there is still the question of what will happen to both systems. \n"I think it will be a cooperative relationship where the community colleges will develop as a feeder system for the regional campuses," Jones said. \nIn a perfect world, Brand said, "The best possible situation would be that the two institutions would be entirely complementary in their offerings and together would serve the full population of the region."\nBut, he added, "The state does not have enough resources to duplicate effort"