Mid-Ohio Valley Foundations – Education: Washington State College of Ohio ready to meet student needs

MARIETTA -- Washington State Community College changed its name to Washington State College of Ohio in December as part of its expanding mission, but that is not the only way it has shifted to meet the demands of a changing world.

WSCO was one of the first three community colleges in the state of Ohio to be approved to offer a bachelor of science degree in nursing, which they were previously not permitted to offer. They started working to get the state policy changed under the previous school president, according to Washington State President Vicky Wood.

During the time they were advocating for the policy change, there were 200 nursing positions that needed to be filled at Memorial Health System and WVU Medicine Camden Clark Medical Center. Both organizations were spending millions on traveling nurses and international nurses to fill their needs. Including this information helped secure approval from the Ohio Department of Higher Education to offer the bachelor's degree in nursing, Wood said.

The degree was added to meet the needs of area employers Wood said.

"We align all of our programs with workforce needs, so our programs lead to in-demand occupations," Wood said. "One of the greatest workforce needs in this region and across the state and nation is more nurses".

The school changed its name to Washington State College of Ohio because the addition of the bachelor's degree in nursing was a significant change in their mission, according to Wood.

During the bachelor's of science in nursing program, students work as nurses and do their courses online, while occasionally coming together on campus. The first students in the program started in the fall of 2023 and should be graduating in the spring of 2025, Wood said.

The school will base plans on adding bachelor's degrees in the future on in-demand workforce needs. If there is a significant need in the community that is not being met by the existing public college near them, then Washington State College of Ohio will work on getting approved to offer it, according to Wood.

The school hosts business and industry advisory boards twice a year with employers in the region, Wood said.

"We're always looking at the future and where do (employers) see the workforce going in the next five to 10 years, and then we're looking at how we can adjust our curriculum whether it's bringing on training, certificates or degrees to help (employers) fill their workforce needs," she said.

The school has added new associate's degree and certificate programs in the past three years as a response to changes in workforce needs, according to Wood.

Wood said the school added associate degrees in advanced manufacturing and integration, chemical dependency counseling, cyber security, health information technology management, occupational therapy assistant and physical therapist assistant.

Students will start classes in the occupational therapy assistant and physical therapist assistant programs next year, according to Wood.

The associate degrees in chemical dependency counseling, cyber security, health information technology management and advanced manufacturing and integration are already being offered by the school, according to the college's website.

The school also added certificate programs in the past three years in administrative assistant, automation technician, cyber security, help desk, medical billing and coding and small business entrepreneurship, according to Wood.

As part of the addition of the new certificate and associate degree programs, the school eliminated a welding program and multicraft technology program. Welding was in higher demand 10 years ago when there was pipeline work in the area. The multicraft technology program was not producing the number of graduates or students the school needed to keep it going. The cyber security degree and certificate were a shift of older technology programs, according to Wood.

To meet the workforce demands of the future, Washington State College of Ohio is also focusing on strengthening partnerships with schools, universities and employers.

Right now the school is focusing on partnerships as a way to prepare students for jobs. One way they do this is through employer partnerships, according to Wood.

Washington State College of Ohio Vice President of Student Affairs David Hermann said the school started a partnership with Marietta Memorial Hospital. They received a federal grant to help fund this partnership. Students enrolled in the associate of nursing program receive free tuition and a $6,000 stipend. In return students work for the hospital but there is not a required number of hours.

Another way the school prepares students for jobs is partnering with K-12 schools, according to Wood.

"We recently implemented a program called InCERT Yourself," Hermann said. "That is a program geared toward high school students who come here and they get hands-on training on Fridays. They actually have transportation from the high schools," Hermann said.

The students get hands-on training and learn how their strengths and aptitudes align with programs offered at Washington State. The program is in its early stages, Hermann said.

Wood said that they target students in jeopardy of not graduating high school to participate in InCERT Yourself. Right now there are 61 students from 10 high schools participating in the program and they receive training in cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, industrial technology and welding.

Another way the school has helped prepare students for jobs is by investing over $4 million in upgrading their labs and technology, according to Wood.

Wood said their labs are state of the art and comparable to universities with multimillion-dollar budgets. Every lab but one has received new technology and upgrades in the last four years.

The school has also helped prepare students for jobs by making the education they receive at Washington State College of Ohio more affordable. Faculty at the schools have implemented open education resources in classes, according to Wood.

"They've redesigned their courses using instructional resources that are available at no cost. So we have a large number of our courses that students don't have to purchase anything for the course because everything is already built for them through open educational resources," Wood said.

According to the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center, undergraduate enrollment in higher education grew 1.2% in the fall of 2023, the first increase since the pandemic. Among the three largest sectors, growth was highest at community colleges, which gained 2.6% after steep declines during the pandemic. Washington State College of Ohio has seen enrollment increase too.

Higher education can sometimes struggle to change and adapt, Hermann said, and he believes the enrollment increase at the school is due to the fact that they are willing to adapt.

"We continue to evolve", Hermann said. "Our programs are in demand. (Students) get good-paying jobs. We've done a really good job of access, affordability."

To learn more about degrees, certificates and programs available at Washington State College of Ohio visit https://www.wscc.edu/.

Michelle Dillon can be reached at mdillon@newsandsentinel.com