State Rep. Mike Bost and college officials at Anna Extension Center.

Shawnee College Enrollment Makes Big Jump

6/10/09

By Shannon Woodworth

ANNA - Enrollment at Shawnee Community College's new Anna Extension Center is up 68 percent, college officials announced Tuesday.

"Part of the reason we have seen such growth is location, location, location," said Mike Fitzgerald, extension center director.

The college moved its extension center from the grounds of the Choate Mental Health Center to the center of town at 1150 E. Vienna Street. On Tuesday, State Rep. Mike Bost (R-Murphysboro) toured the new center for the first time. He called the 20,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art facilities, impressive.

Dr. Larry Peterson, president of Shawnee Community College, led the tour. Members of the college board of trustees, Wesley Wright and Cathy Belcher, joined the tour. Bost noted that his daughter had just enrolled in the college's cosmetology program.

Overall, enrollment at Shawnee Community College is up 10.7 percent, Peterson announced during the tour. "We think the increase is a sign that the college's facility improvements and outreach efforts are working," Peterson said.

"The college has always provided the highest quality instruction," Peterson said. "More and more people are now realizing that." Instructors like Sheryl Ribbing, who was teaching Biology 111, at the Anna center on Tuesday said there is excitement among teachers and students about college improvements.

"When you have nice facilities, it has a positive effect on everyone in the classroom," Ribbing said.

The college's overall enrollment increase include students like Kelsey Merchant, 2009 Goreville High School graduate, who will complete her associates degree at Shawnee Community College this summer.

"Kelsey is a great ambassador for Goreville High School and Shawnee Community College," said Goreville Superintendent of Schools Dr. Steve Webb. "She excels in just about everything she puts her mind to and does it with exceptional character and tons of class. For her to be able to complete an associates degree this early in life puts her way ahead with her future educational and career plans." Peterson said giving high school students a "head start to their future" is just one way the college is putting the needs of students first.

Coraviece Terry, has a bachelor's degree in biological science from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. She is enrolled at Shawnee Community College in an effort to change her career path. Terry is in the college's nursing program with future plans of being a physician's assistant.

"The college has gone above and beyond in helping me transition back to college," Terry, a 1998 Meridian High School graduate, said. "I chose Shawnee because its nursing program has an excellent reputation."

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