SideStory: What Extended Studies has to offer

Low enrollment and lack of community interest could mean the end of Fort Lewis College’s Extended Studies Program. The community course offerings may go away in two years if community interest does not pick up. For similar reasons, the program went on hiatus in 2000. Administrators are unsure why the classes are not more popular./Photo by Todd Newcomer.

by Amy Maestas

Only two years after returning to the community, the Fort Lewis College Extended Studies Program is facing its recurring fate and may disappear again. If it happens, area residents interested in furthering their education will be on their own in learning about the history of the famous Italian opera “The Barber of Seville” or getting an expert explanation of why stars explode.

Margie Dean Gray, director of the Extended Studies Program, says that enrollment has been scarce in recent months, putting the program’s longevity in jeopardy because there isn’t enough money to maintain it. In 2000, the program folded under the guise of a hiatus. Fort Lewis College administrators eliminated Extended Studies funding because they faced their own budget crisis. Administrators stopped the program to spend time gauging its necessity and popularity.

When it returned in 2003, the program was able to restart with a grant from the Colorado Commission on Higher Education. But once that grant money ran out, the program transitioned to be fully cash funded. In other words, the program gets its money solely from class fees. Over the past two years, the array of subjects has expanded and the number offered has jumped from about 95 to 195, says Gray. But enrollment is weak.

Because the program is on a tight budget, Gray says she is limited in spending for advertising the classes. She says the types of courses offered aren’t the problem.

“The classes we offer, we feel, are extraordinary,” she explains. “But lately we have had to cancel class after class after class because we don’t have the minimum number of enrollees.”

The majority of classes the program offers include those community members take for fun – learning to play the piano, honing writing skills, getting flexible from yoga – and are noncredit. Some are one-day courses while others go on for six weeks. Costs vary, but most are affordable – as low as $25. The program also has courses students can take to gain college credit hours. Recently, Gray says the program worked with a local bank to offer a course that 4 specialized in teaching employees how to speak Spanish in the banking industry. Such collaborations, explains Gray, are examples of how valuable Extended Studies is.

A student cruises through a quiet Fort Lewis College campus on Tuesday morning. Things could get a lot quieter at the campus in future summers if the college’s Extended Studies Program, which has suffered low enrollment, ceases to operate./Photo by Todd Newcomer.

The majority of classes the program offers include those community members take for fun – learning to play the piano, honing writing skills, getting flexible from yoga – and are noncredit. Some are one-day courses while others go on for six weeks. Costs vary, but most are affordable – as low as $25. The program also has courses students can take to gain college credit hours. Recently, Gray says the program worked with a local bank to offer a course that 4 specialized in teaching employees how to speak Spanish in the banking industry. Such collaborations, explains Gray, are examples of how valuable Extended Studies is.

“We hear all the time how much people want these classes and they like that we offer them. We just don’t know why people aren’t signing up.”

The program spends its small budget on salaries for two part-time employees, renting space on the FLC campus, paying instructors and other administrative costs. To increase enrollment, Gray says the program has gradually added professional certification courses to its offerings for professionals in the health, technology and business industries. It has also been trying to offer more educational travel classes, which couple international trips and history.

Repeat participants who take Extended Studies classes say they will lose a tremendous community asset if it ends. Ginnie Dunlop lives between Mancos and Dolores. She often drives to Durango to take writing classes.

“I think it’s fun to continue one’s education,” says Dunlop. “This program is a more casual setup and more of a liberal arts setting. It’s a terribly important thing to have for the community.”

Durango resident Bob Eaton has taken a couple of courses recently. Eaton says more people should participate in the program’s classes because, “It is an opportunity to expand one’s horizons in their interests and give discipline to them.”

Gray is “determined to get the word out” that the program has such an extensive offering, especially in an area where continuing education opportunities are scarce. It’s the only thing she believes will save it. If the level of participation in the program remains only what it is currently, Gray says it likely could survive only two more years – at best.

“I would be disappointed (if the program ended),” says Dunlop. “And I’d be surprised that Durango couldn’t maintain something like that.” •