one sixty million dollars in capital projects for its local campus a skilled trades partnership with Google's new data center, a new inclusive post-secondary pilot for people with intellectual disabilities and the designation as a Metallica Scholars College.

>> Yes, that Metallica there is a lot going on at Ivy Tech Community College.

>> Fort Wayne and Warsaw and we'll learn more on tonight's prime time.

And good evening.

I'm Bruce Haines with us today from Ivy Tech Community College, Fort Wayne and Warsaw our chancellor Dr. Kim Barnett Johnson, Heidi Fowler, the vice chancellor of academic affairs and Tracy Smith, vice chancellor of the Foundation.

And as we welcome them and widen out there they are.

We want to welcome you to the studios as well.

>> Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your evening, Kim Heidi Tracy and if you would like to join us, we need your first name too and you can call the number that you see right there on the screen.

Thank you for being with it.

>> Thank you for having us.

It seems indeed that the summer season has passed the act and of course we're learning all year long but all of a sudden now everyone's going back to school one of those school options has been forever it seems community college.

Yes.

Yes.

You can imagine my first question.

>> What do you say to folks when they say community college ?

>> Does that mean you know, I usually start off by saying that community college is the definition of is really truly in the title a community college.

>> We are a college for the entire community.

We are an open enrollment institution.

So any individual you know, regardless of when they graduated how how long ago they graduated, they are welcome to& come and enroll at Ivy Tech.

We offer several degrees and certificates that they can enroll in.

We just we are here for individuals to meet whatever need that they feel like they might have.

>> Ivy Tech is a statewide college, a statewide college system.

So if you go to other states they'll have numerous community colleges.

All are independent in Indiana, Ivy Tech is one community college and so we have nineteen campuses around the state and what makes that nice is that if a student were living in Fort Wayne and then decided well I want to move to Indianapolis, they've started at Ivy Tech, you know, they could just move to Indianapolis and pick up where they left off and that's what makes the the the statewide system such a nice system is that we try our best to make it easy for students and easy to in that Heidi, I understand on the academic side high school students are taking classes by doing this right or are able to connect that education as a way of a point of entry perhaps to two Ivy?

>> Yes.

This summer we had over 9000 students statewide taking classes for our through our free summer program.

>> About half of the students through the Ivy Tech Fort Wayne Morsell campus are high school students and we like to say that we're supporting them getting not just random acts of dual credit but really guiding them toward a degree and with what the chancellor said, Tracy, it does seem like as far as a community college is concerned, the whole state of Indiana is a community and that must also help with with with points of connection, points of entry, accessibility, crime.

>> What's your response to the same question when you hear folks say community college?

Well, when I hear community college I say why not?

We are shining a light on very lucrative if that's the word careers in technical trade in nursing and health sciences.

And so we have a lot to offer and we want to make sure that our community a again knows it's for the community and B that we're accessible and we welcome you.

>> We welcome you.

We're also trying to change the definition of college people here community college and I think to your degree we want to help the community understand that community college doesn't necessarily mean to your degree colleges any credential beyond high school.

>> So it could eight weeks it could be two years whatever it is they need, we're here to meet that need.

>> Absolutely.

And it also seems that this is a moment where community colleges writ large and Ivy Tech in particular have been working toward with the focus on vocational training, getting ready for next level jobs, get ready for training up in certain disciplines.-We have soe of of some of those programs that are offered.

And Heidi, I'll get you started as those those images past the structure of the school as such did I see something to the effect of 56 academic programs being offered if not more?

>> It's actually a little more right now we're almost at sixty we're at fifty nine to see this covers a very wide swath.

>> There's a huge amount of employment potential and so yes indeed as as we're seeing these going through the well being the job openings in a lot of these fields also seems to speak to the idea that go through a community college program, go through Ivy Tech and placement is shortly thereafter as it is.

>> Yes, well especially in fields like health sciences, our nursing students 90 percentile range they have jobs before they ever graduate.

So we're really making sure that our students are employed in the community.

Ninety three percent of our students never leave our eleven county area.

Ninety six percent of our students never leave the state of Indiana.

They're getting their education here and then they're staying here to live and work in our area.

>> And what makes us able to do that are those strong partnerships that we have.

We have some wonderful partnerships with business and industry and so they really come alongside our students at the very first semester, you know, providing opportunities for them to actually be in the workplace and to learn hands on skills.

>> And so we're really excited about that.

Remember a quote of yours saying that this is an opportunity for them not to just passively ingest information but they're experiencing it.

>> Absolutely.

Yes.

Yes.

You were able to see some of the images on the screen of them getting that hands on education and experience things through models and simulations and things in our classrooms before they go attempt to do those careers out in the real world and to see this area's community connection through Ivy Tech and that program for Fort Wayne and Warsaw for it to be the the second largest campus it is in the state.

>> It is.

It is we're second to Indianapolis and you know, we hold our own you we serve eleven counties and so we do have the largest footprint in the state as well as far as counties are concerned.

>> Well, right.

And it is one that actually could be getting a little more wide as more our hearing of a new partnership to start the new academic year.

This is an inclusive post-secondary pilot for people with intellectual disabilities.

Tell me a little bit more about the success through resiling and valuable education a.k.a.

the Strive Strive program.

So you've already hit the hit you hit the nail on the head.

It is a program for students with intellectual disabilities .

>> We are wondering are we we're wantin to provide skills training for these individuals and we also want to put them in an academic atmosphere and build their their self-esteem and let them know you can do this right.

It helps us as we help them address issues of poverty, unemployment, all of those different things.

And so we're really excited about this pilot program.

>> We're really looking forward to seeing these students successfully through through the curriculum that had to be very happy phone call it was it was a really good phone call and again just fits into our partners our community partners in that hands on learning getting them to skilled training jobs.

And so we want to make sure again it goes back to that community college we're all inclusive and so we have the steps and the people in the capacity in place to again educate on all levels, all modalities.

And so there's some adaptive learning that also occurs on our campus and academically Heidi.

>> People with disabilities noted as an untapped market of employees for LNKD Workforce right now something along the lines of seven percent unemployment rate for those with disability compared to four percent or so without disabilities.

So this is a real great way of opening doors further literally and figuratively it is verson we really want to see that gap closed because that seven percent those are people that want to work.

They want to hold jobs and don't want to be unemployed.

So we're seeking a way to help them get into the workforce.

>> What kinds of preparations did the school have to go through to get ready for it for this or is this the flight, you know, building the plane while you wait while you fly it?

>> That is first year.

You know, one of the good things is is it taught us a lot.

Yeah.

So a lot of the things the structues and I was telling you the modalities that we have in place are were birthed out of covid and now we are just learning to use them in different ways.

So currently outside of maybe some minor tweaks we don't have to do much to support these students.

>> Absolutely.

We have a director that is top notch when it comes to working with individuals with any type of disability.

Her name her name is Megan Rondeau.

I got to give her a shout out but she really was the brainchild of this particular program and so she's going to do some wonderful things with well it certainly comes at the absolute right time and so to the bringing together of it all is is something that I'm sure is going to take planning now that has lived on a whiteboard and together the shovel ready going into the close of twenty three I think it was Christmas came early.

>> Yes she did.

Tell me about what's on tap here 6:00 a.m. belongs to fuel capital projects around the area where we go.

>> Well actually it's sixty six million but we have been wanting a new facility on our campus needing a new facility at our campus for several years and just this year the state board approved a sixty six sixty million bond.

We still need to raise six million and Tracy, we'll talk about that.

But they approved the sixty million dollar bond so that we can not only build a new facility but then also do some renovations and other buildings on our campus as well.

So what you're seeing on the screen are just images of what our facility might look like.

We still have to do a lot of the the renderings and the drawings in the actual the actual architectural design design.

>> Right.

But we we're really excited about the opportunity.

>> Tracy and Heidi both I'm sure comments here because this is not about the building but it's about what the building can do.

>> Yes.

And yet it is also about the building.

Right.

We're very excited about the possibilities here.

The the new building, the construction that we're working on is to highlight some health sciences in nursing areas, some some new forward looking labs upgrading some technology areas.

We have an incredible hospitality program.

>> The School of Hospitality Arts is being launched next year so we'll be upgrading those areas.

It's really a campus wide initiative to upgrade facilities for our students.

>> And don't let's not forget also the student services.

One of the big challenges that we've had for years is that we've had our student student services in random buildings and we found that our students would get frustrated because they would have to go from one building to another and sometimes get in the car and drive to north campus or the Coliseum campus.

So we're renovating our student life center so that all of our services can be in one building and so it's touching so many different aspects of what we have to offer.

And I've taken we really feel like it's not only going to help with enrollment but it's going to help with retention and it's also going to help with completion.

>> Wow.

What's the prognosis for the campaign?

>> What's the time frame?

So we're a three year project from construction to renovation to removal and so we're it's a three phase constructing the new building, renovating the entire coliseum space and our north campus space and then removig some of those old buildings that were part of the old state hospital.

So it's a three year project as as Chancellor said, it's a sixty six million dollar project.pWe have a sixty millior bond but through community partners we will raise an additional six million to complete the process and there is information available in fact only about this effort but all aspects of Ivy Tech we can share the contact information here with you now and we'll do that again toward the end of the program.

Just head over to I believe it's IP tech that edu.

>> Yes, there we go.

And there's the phone number as well and if you then forward slash giving that's how you can help contribute to the project.

>> There's an effort there to learn more about that to it just seems like it sometimes it's just a great day.

>> Someone says you've had such a good day you should buy a lottery ticket with with all that's coming through and how exciting to know of the academic connections the STEM connections between Ivy Tech and the new Google Data Center .

>> So it's a toss up question how did all this come about?

Right.

Well, Google reached out to us.

Yes, Google reached out to us because several folks on their staff come from a community college background and so they completly understood the value of a community college education and so they reached out to us and asked us to partner with them to launch a rogram here.

>> Now it's one that they've done in other states but it's called the star program.

So it's skills trade and thank you skills trade and readiness.

>> So these students will come in, they will take a five five week course forty hours a week while they are working, make fifteen dollars an hour and basically come away with certifications in construction or electrical.

And so you know upon completion of the certification they can either you know they can work at the Google construction site but Google promises them a job at some local construction firm when they are done.

>> So it's a win win.

Yes, it's a win win all across the board.

Did I miss anything big?

So now Google will be the Google will be helping with the recruitment.

So it's like a 14 week process from beginning to end.

>> Google will help with recruitment and then there'll be an orientation phase.

They'll be some interview phases.

And what that interview phase is as Chancellor Barnett Johnson was saying is with they will be interviewing with construction or electrical companies and so once they are completed, of course then they are guaranteed a position within that company so they actually can't enter a program unless one of the partner companies partner in the industry say we want Tracy, we want Heidi to be a part of our team if she successfully complete the process.

>> Yes, part of the impact Google wants to make is to create a pipeline of employees in construction and electrical for the local area.

>> Well and so understanding construction on that center is ongoing.

Yes.

With this would be something that would be more tangible say within a year from now or we're actually looking to start our first cohort in October .

>> Yes, October .

>> Yes.

for cohorts in a year.

So yeah they'll be four once quarter and each cohort will have 15 to 20 students.

>> My goodness.

I'm also thinking to hire again back to academics all of a sudden spotlight stem right?

>> Yes.

We continuously have a spotlight on STEM and this is very much a highlight of a national look what Google is doing in this area and how can we advance construction electric is phenomenal and then the unexpected phone call it has made us smile all week and it's making you smile.

Well, I guess we have to go back to maybe it was April or thereabouts but somebody said Chancelor Metallica on online actually called Tracy.

>> Oh, all right.

Yes.

So are Metallica initiative again is a focus on skilled trades and it's through their philanthropic arm.

So the band decided that they-wd highlight skilled trades and high wage high demand jobs and they wanted to take the stigma away from working with your hands and building and doing and so they created the philanthropy philanthropic arm and so we were selected to join the Metallica initiative for twenty twenty four again skills trade and so it all kind of ties in from from the Google to the Strive and now the Metallica.

It's all fitting and it's spotlighting community colleges.

>> I understand this was a big year for their philanthropy.

>> They wanted to highlight an institution in each 50 each of the 50 states.

>> Yes.

And you're the only one we're the only one in Indiana.

Yes.

Congratulations.

So there will be sixty in twenty twenty four.

There are sixty institutions across the fifty states that are part of the program and we're the only one in Indiana.

>> Just another bullet point on the brochure.

>> Yes.

Yes it's phenomenal in their release there is a reference to using this funding and these connections to break the stigma of trade skills.

>> What do they mean by that?

Well, for so long working with your hands was looked at as something bad.

You didn't want to do that.

It wasn't looked at as a career or anything that would support your family or something that you would be proud to say I do X, Y, Z.

>> And so their focus is to say that being an electrician or construction trade plumbers A steamfitters those are those are the jobs that they kind of shunned away from and then unfortunately some of our guidance counselors we're talking our students out of but we wanted to make sure that they understood that these are good jobs, they're needed jobs because we're always going to need a plumber and we are always going to need you on a holiday weekend when the rates are one hundred and fifty dollars an hour.

>> So I've been there called we don't have we?

>> So again they just want to spotlight that and show that those are lucrative and high wage high skilled jobs that again getting them to graduatin but then also making sure that they have a life after graduation.

>> What is the outreach challenge then on this one in trying to share that message, to break that stigma, to be out in front of say high school junior seniors who are starting to have that dialog now ask him and then Heidi, you know what's fortunate is that in the Northeast in Indiana region that conversation is happening already in a lot of different pockets and a lot of different meetings.

You know, as a community, as a service area, business and industry is understanding the need first of all for even reaching back into the high schools.and into the middle- That's how early you need to to have those conversations with them.

>> But there's a there's there's a group of folks all over especially in Allen County that are having this conversation and trying to be strategic on how do we develop something so that the students will have access to these types of opportunities.

Right now there are pockets of opportunities throughout the county but we're trying to figure how we can build and expand upon that and it's still it's our team's responsibility to continue to show parents, guidance counselors and potential students the potential of these careers, the potential of being in an and back a representative or a construction worker.

>> Those are good jobs.

>> They can provide a future for your family and and their high quality and also just being here spotlighting us and spotlighting Ivy Tech and the good things that are happening at a community college.

>> And so given all that we have discussed, what would you say is today's calling of a community college as opposed to say that same kind of call in the latter part of the last century?

>> Right.

I think especially for us Indiana being so so spread out across the state.

One of the things that's really important to us is to make sure that we're meeting the needs of all users.

And so, you know, one of thepthe a bit in our service area and I know what's happening around the state is just making sure that we're reaching out to partners throughout the service area, having those one on one conversations and trying to figure out what their individual needs are.

And alongside that because we realize and Heidi will be the first one to say we can't do everything but that's where those other partnerships coming in those partnerships with the the four year institutions so that we can maybe work together and offer opportunities for students to start at Ivy Tech, get the same quality education, save a few dollars and then transfer into one of those four year institutions .

So it's important to us to make sure that we're meeting the needs of the entire service area.

Every community and not just focusing on one or two and you would go I would echo all of the statements and in addition when you mention comparing the community college of today to the community college of the late last century, I would say that people tend to look at us as a trade school or a vocational school.

>> We've evolved beyond that.

We are not just teaching construction and typing.

We're teaching it programs.

We're teaching culinary arts.

We're teaching so many technologically advanced programs like how to mechanically fix an airplane so come to the website and check us out because there's a lot happening on the campus and there's a lot happening in the backyard of our community right here that I think folks aren't aware of and the role of the foundation is to keep connections on the present but also to do a little bit of that pay forward.

>> And that's true if you people in my office will often hear me go what year is it because I'm always a year ahead and looking at resources that support all the programing that Chancellor Barnett, Johnson and Heidi have talked about, we're looking to support those programs and then what's new what's on the horizon when we're looking at funding for scholarships and partnering with our our industry partners?

We're not looking at what we're doing today but what are we going to need to be prepared for and preparing our students for four or five, ten years from now.

And so those are the things that we're looking at and we're also looking for that community support.

So I wouldn't be a good fundraiser if I didn't tell Ivy Tech that you give what a segue we will share that on the screen as our seconds tick away and wish our guests a very happy academic year and a merry commencement in 2025.

Keep answering your phone.

You never know who's on the other end.

Oh yes.

Our guests today have been Dr. Kim Barnett Johnson.

She is the chancellor of Ivy Tech and next to her Heidi Fowler, vice chancellor of academic affairs and Tracy Smith, vice chancellor of the foundation.

>> Ladies, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you for all this at prime time.

I'm Bruce Haines.

Thank you for allowing us to join you this week.

We'll see you back here again soon.

Good night