The purpose of this paper is to describe the attributes of a community college from a personal perspective gained through searching the college’s website, a campus tour, and personal experience enrolling and attending classes.
History and Mission
Cowley County Community College and Area Vocational-Technical School (CCCC) was established in 1922 as the Arkansas City Junior College (ACJC). Originally housed on the top floor of Arkansas City High School in Arkansas City (Ark City) Kansas, ACJC moved to the basement of the school in 1924. Known as the “Basement University” by faculty and students, ACJC was a junior college governed by the Arkansas City Board of Education: Unified School District 470 in Kansas. In 1967 a six-member board of trustees was elected by the voters in Cowley County. Some members are voted to two or four-year terms and a select few have been elected to unexpired terms. The board sets policies and is coordinated by the Kansas Board of Regents (Cowley County Community College and Area Vocational-Technical School, 2010).
CCCC is one of 53 colleges and universities accredited by the Higher Learning Commission as a member of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), which is one of six regional accreditors in the United States (Higher Learning Commission, 2010). According to Cowley County Community College and Area Vocational-Technical School (2010), “The college is an AQIP participant. In addition, individual programs are accredited by associated professional organizations. Cosmetology is accredited by the Kansas State Board of Cosmetology, and EMS education is accredited by the Committee on Accreditation of Educational Programs for EMS Professions. The College is a member in good standing of the Kansas Association of Community Colleges, the Council of North Central Junior Colleges and the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges” (Legal Notices, para. 1).
Cowley County Community College and Area Vocational-Technical School (2010) “is committed to learning excellence and personal enrichment in an open access environment” (Mission statement, para. 1) and dedicated to exceeding the expectations of its customers through academia, service to students and community, fiscal responsibility, and ethics (Statement of institutional purpose).
Campuses and Enrollment
Today (in 2010) CCCC has one main campus in Arkansas City, Kansas, and satellite facilities in Winfield, Mulvane, and Wichita, Kansas (Cowley County Community College and Area Vocational-Technical School, 2010). The main campus has several buildings including dormitories and a dining hall in a two-square-block area two blocks west of downtown. Signs along the highway into Ark City boast of two consecutive National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) World Series baseball championships in 1997 and 1998by the Cowley Tigers. A sports complex center is roughly a half mile south of downtown along the highway. The sports complex was easy to locate, but there is no sign to indicate where to turn off the highway to arrive at the main campus. I had to ask for directions. On campus the buildings are close together and easy to distinguish.
I have not visited the Winfield campus except for a virtual tour, but I attended the Wichita campus in 2006 and interviewed the Mulvane facility director on two occasions for my graduate degree in education. My children have attended the Mulvane campus on several occasions in the past two years. As a Mulvane High School student my son attended CCCC at the Mulvane campus to receive dual high school and college credit. In addition to community businesses in Ark City and all the satellite locations, particularly several businesses in Wichita (the largest city in Kansas), the college also has relationships with nine Kansas high schools for dual credit (Cowley County Community College and Area Vocational-Technical School, 2010). My son’s credits transferred to Wichita State University; my daughter’s and my credits transferred to Friends University in Wichita. It is my understanding that any school in the HLC will accept transfer credits for general education courses. Classrooms are easy to find in both buildings. Several schools share the facility in Wichita. The Mulvane building is the old Bloomenshine grade school building on Main Street that accommodates the college and roughly 50 alternative high school students.
I could not find the student demographics, but I observed a large number of traditional 17-20-year-olds at the main campus with some older evening students. At the Wichita campus it appears to be an equal blend of young to older students. At the Mulvane campus the classes appear to be roughly 2/3 young students and 1/3 older students. All the campuses have a number of international students. The college offers student services at all campuses for academics, career counseling, international student services, and a wellness center on the main campus. My experience with academic counseling was positive. I also had a tutor for calculus who was superb.
Enrolling for classes is simple. After submitting an application for admission, the student receives a student identification (ID) from the college. Using the student ID, the student logs onto a secure server and completes the enrollment process for classes. The status of classes is in real-time online and confirmation is immediate. If for some reason a class is terminated,the student receives an e-mail notice within 24 hours. If financial aid or scholarships are received,the student may wait to pay until all outside sources have been applied. Payment can be mailed,made in-person, or online. The online process is easy and expedient. Transcript request forms can be downloaded but must be mailed to the main office for processing because a personal signature of the student requesting the transcripts must be on file.
Courses, Degrees, Certificates
Cowley County offers face-to-face, hybrid, and online courses with 68 majors in six academic departments: Allied Health; Business, Computers, and Information Technology; Humanities; Career and Technical Education; Natural Sciences and Mathematics; and Social Sciences. Two-year programs include associate of arts, associate of science, associate of applied science, associate of general studies, and various vocational certificates (Cowley County Community College and Area Vocational-Technical School, 2010).
Conclusion
Cowley County Community College and Area Vocational-Technical School is one of several community colleges in the state of Kansas. It is local with satellite locations in my hometown of Mulvane, and 12 miles away in southern Wichita. Because of the convenient locations my children and I have attended classes that we transferred to four-year universities. We have each had some good instructors and some average instructors.
I recently visited the main campus in Arkansas City. I was surprised how small the campus is, covering two-square-city-blocks, and that the sports complex is approximately ½ mile from the main campus. I am impressed at the relevancy of the website, including a virtual tour of the campuses, and easy access to enroll in classes and pay course fees. Several businesses in southern Kansas and nine high schools have a working relationship with the college, showing that the mission and purpose of the college reaches to multiple communities.
References
Cowley County Community College and Area Vocational-Technical School. (2010). Cowley
college. Retrieved from http://www.cowley.edu/
Higher Learning Commission. (2010). The higher learning commission: A commission of the
north central association of colleges and schools. Retrieved September 20, 2010 from
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