PORT TOWNSEND — The offering of academic programs in Jefferson County that range from associate degrees to graduate degrees is within reach, the Jefferson County Higher Education Committee was told Thursday.
Goddard College, a liberal arts college in Plainfield, Vt., that offered a limited graduate degree program at Fort Worden State Park since 2002, is considering expanding its undergraduate offerings.
The move would turn its facility at Fort Worden, which it shares with Peninsula, into a West Coast campus for Goddard.
The idea was discussed at the monthly meeting of the Jefferson County Higher Education Committee, at which Peninsula College President Tom Keegan addressed about 20 people that includes representatives of Jefferson County Library, Port Townsend city, Washington State University and the Port of Port Townsend.
Keegan said that Goddard’s offering of undergraduate degrees would provide a bridge between the associate’s degree programs offered by Peninsula and the graduate degree programs offered by Goddard.
This expansion of local educational options would eliminate the need for local students to leave the area to get a complete education, and help Peninsula College satisfy a broader mission, he said.
“We are citizens of the world,” Keegan said. “We must provide our students the skills they need to function in the global economy.”
Port Townsend Planning Director Rick Sepler said that “the idea that we would become Goddard’s West Coast campus is exciting.
The expansion of Goddard College is still in the preliminary stage, he said.
The possibility will be examined at a Port Townsend City Council work study session at 6 p.m. Sept. 13 in its chambers at 540 Water St.
Keegan visited Port Townsend after a three-day meeting in Olympia where he learned that colleges are facing cuts of up to 30 percent in the next few years.
The good news is that when the economy recovers, the need for retraining will increase, Keegan said, but the bad news is that the education needed will evolve into an unpredictable area.
Twenty years ago, Peninsula College offered courses in the now-lost craft of typewriter repair.
Computer repair was a popular course for a time, but “it is now cheaper to buy a new computer than to repair it,” he said.
Today’s needed trades have to do with network diagnostics and repair, but that could change.
As a result, faculty members are in the greatest need of retraining, Keegan said.
Keegan said that, statistically, a child who is 8 years old now will hold 14 career-path jobs before reaching his or her mid-thirties.
“Can anyone tell me what we need teach them?” he asked.
“Flexibility,” said Jefferson County Commissioner John Austin.
“Critical thinking,” said Lela Hilton, Clemente Course program director.
Keegan said the competition for students at brick-and-motor schools among Peninsula College and neighboring schools such as Olympic College — which operates in Poulsbo and Bremerton — is a thing of the past.
Instead, competition between schools is intense online.
Online classes offer convenience and variety, expanding offerings and making it possible to complete courses around the clock, he said.
Within this context, community colleges still can provide a needed personal service, Washington State University Extension Executive Director Katherine Baril said.
“As more people go online, they will need a third space where people come together for personal contact where they can better understand their educational choices,” she said.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
