Officials look to improve college classes in Bitterroot valley

Higher education in the Bitterroot may look a little different next year.

By JENNY JOHNSON Staff Reporter Ravalli Republic

Efforts to offer college classes in Hamilton have been touch-and-go for the last several years. But recent talks between valley employment proponents and officials at the University of Montana College of Technology are developing new ideas to provide college classes for high school students and adults.

"We want to make sure the curriculum is geared toward the needs of the community," Ravalli County Economic Development Authority Director Betty Davis said.

The college offered satellite classes in Hamilton for the first time in 2001, and continued until this year. While computer classes always filled, said Jim Wenderoth, associate dean at the College of Technology, the traditional college classes didn’t draw very many takers.

"Typically what we’ve done in the past is brought in traditional college classes," he said. "We’ve got to think out of the box and offer different types of classes and different types of delivery."

Davis and Patti Furnace, director of the Bitterroot Job Service, are supportive of the idea to offer courses that would bolster employment opportunities for Bitterroot residents. While officials are investigating what types of classes may serve this purpose, the classes may include computers and accounting.

"We’re trying to get a real solid feel for what folks down there want when it comes to college classes," Wenderoth said. "We need to deliver coursework based on the needs and getting people jobs."

Davis and Furnace have been identifying business clusters in the valley to cultivate ideas about work force development, Davis said.

Ultimately, Davis would like to see a community center available to provide the classes and house computer labs.

Another new dynamic being considered is starting a virtual college – where students can sit in on a class via the computer in real time. The virtual college scenario would allow students to take the exact same courses offered in Missoula without the commute. It would also be an avenue to reintroduce some of the traditional college courses such as English composition and algebra, Wenderoth said.

This fall, the college will offer industrial math and accounting to students through Hamilton High School. High school students will be able to earn dual credit – for high school and college – with the classes, he said.

http://www.ravallinews.com/articles/2003/07/17/news/news5.txt