Clinton Community College was facing an existential crisis three years ago. With slumping enrollment and serious financial woes, the college in New York’s North Country region needed to get creative to survive.
College officials and leaders at the State University of New York system decided to move the campus five miles, from the outskirts of Plattsburgh to the city’s core, creating a novel co-location with SUNY Plattsburgh. The collaboration has been a success, with benefits for the local economy as well as for both institutions.
“One of the advantages of this model is that it strengthens connections between education and regional workforce needs,” says John King, SUNY’s chancellor.
Students and faculty members officially arrived at their new location on SUNY Plattsburgh’s main campus last fall. They’re getting better facilities and services while maintaining the community college’s identity and mission. Meanwhile, the money the college is saving on facilities and supplies has taken the campus out of its deficit. And enrollment is up 23% over two years.
“This is a big undertaking,” says Mark Henry, the Republican chair of the Clinton County Legislature. But he says co-location was the best idea, and certainly better than allowing the college to continue “limping along” or to shut down.
Clinton Community College students who are enrolled in healthcare programs can work at the local hospital, which now is located right across the street from their campus. They also now can access teaching spaces at the hospital. Henry says those benefits have boosted enrollment in the nursing program, which has nearly doubled in size.
With a location in a hospital setting, King says the healthcare programs are more closely aligned with the needs of local providers. The community college’s Institute for Advanced Manufacturing continues to offer training that’s tied directly to regional employers.
“Being co-located with SUNY Plattsburgh makes it easier to build clear pathways, from credentials to associate and bachelor’s degrees, so students can move efficiently from education into good-paying jobs in the region,” says King, who was the U.S. secretary of education during the tail end of the Obama administration.
The university also is benefiting from its new campus partner. It gets new operational and student service income, as well as a strengthened pipeline of transfer students. Meanwhile, students can cross-register for classes at both institutions. Alexander Enyedi, SUNY Plattsburgh’s president, said in a statement that the co-location has “reinforced our shared commitment to regional vitality.”
Moving a community college to a university campus seems like it would be controversial. But the transition has been smooth.
King says the key was clarity of purpose and a strong sense of partnership. To put the community college on more sustainable footing “meant moving quickly, working closely with local leaders, campus leadership, and the accreditor,” while staying focused on students throughout the transition.
SUNY achieved those goals, says Henry, who praises King and other officials across the system. “We have positioned this college to be successful,” he says. “The students like where they are.”