HomeMy WebLinkAboutAttachment 3 4-1-13 Letter from Gallatin College M
MONTANA
STATE UNIVERSITY
GALLATIN COLLEGE
April 1, 2013
Bozeman City Commission,
I am writing to express appreciation for the funding support the city has
provided to Gallatin College the past two-years and to provide an update on the
program growth and development that this funding supported. As you will
recall, on January 10, 2011 the Bozeman City Commission passed Resolution
4308,which emphasized the Commission's commitment to supporting Gallatin
College. The resolution stated, "budget appropriating general fund cash reserves
in an amount up to 1.5 mills for support of Gallatin College Programs and to aid
the development of two-year education, programs,services and operations."
For the past two-years,the college has received approximately$124,000 each
year from the City of Bozeman. This funding has supported new program
development and allowed the college to quickly grow programs and enrollment.
Some of the most significant developments of the college are as follows:
1. Developed and started a Certificate of Applied Science in Bookkeeping
and Certificate of Applied Science in Medical Assistant Programs in the
fall of 2011.
2. Conducted a comprehensive workforce needs assessment of local
industries,which has helped identify high priority programs from the
perspective of local employers in 2011.
3. Developed dual enrollment courses at Bozeman High School offering
High School students college level courses and credit for the first time.
4. Developed and started a Certificate of Applied Science in Residential
Building Performance in the fall of 2012.
101 Hamilton Hall 5. Received approval for the College to start offering courses leading to the
P.O. Box 170515
Bozeman,MT 59717-0515 Associate of Arts and Associate of Science Degrees in the fall 2012. This
www.monta na.ed u Aga I lati ncol lege
Tel 406-994-5536 expanded the mission of the college to include the two-year transfer
Fax 406-994-5577 component.
gallatincollege@montana.edu
Mountains & Minds
6. Developed and received Board of Regents approval to start a Certificate
of Applied Science in Medical Coding Program in the fall of 2013.
7. Developed a seven-year Strategic Plan for Gallatin College in January
2013.
8. Developed a Certificate Program in Small Business Management. This
program is currently working its way through the approval process with
a potential start in 2013/14.
Along with the program development growth,the enrollment of the college has
also seen a significant increase. The number of Gallatin College degree seeking
students grew from 100 students in fall 2010 to 238 students in fall 2012.
Another enrollment measure is full-time equivalent students,which accounts for
every student credit hour and converts these into a full-time equivalent student
measurement. On this basis Gallatin College grew to 411 FTE this past fall,
which puts the college's enrollment ahead of two Montana Community Colleges
and the long established two-year college in Butte,the Highlands College.
There is no question that the support from the City of Bozeman has helped
accelerate the growth of the college. If the City is able to continue the college's
funding support over the next couple of years this will foster the development of
new programs and expansion of existing ones. This helps meet local workforce
needs and creates opportunities for our current and future two-year students.
The continuation of this funding will provide time to develop and implement a
county-wide mill levy initiative. This county-wide funding approach is
recognized as a better long-term funding model for the college and the
community.
We appreciate the Commission's history of supporting two-year education and
the development of Bozeman's local workforce!
Respectfully,
Bob Hietala
Dean of Gallatin College