SOUTH FORK—Upper Rio Grande Economic Development (URGED) opened their monthly meeting on Tuesday morning, July 11 to welcome Adams State University President Dr. Beverlee McClure. After a short overview of the past month, council members listened to a presentation by McClure on coming projects by the college and about an upcoming Economic Development Summit that will take place at Adams State University (ASU) on Aug. 3.
McClure began her presentation by thanking URGED developers Bonnie and Marty Asplin for their continued contributions and partnerships with Adams State and welcomed Pam Bricker as the newest trustee on the Adams State educational board. McClure continued her presentation by showing the group national, state and local statistics pertaining to active workforce adults and compared them to the numbers of active students who successfully complete college level classes.
McClure explained that the main goal of Adams State is to make sure entry level students coming straight out of high school to college have the tools necessary to make a successful connection from college classes to the workforce. “We began to see that the students were not connecting the line between college and the workforce and we want to help them make that connection successfully,’ stated McClure.
The conversation continued as McClure explained that in order for the workforce in the Valley to grow they need to bring people in by making ASU a destination school and thereby bringing in an industrial economy to help support the workforce and the people looking for work in the area. The college has set five main goals for students attending the school which include academic excellence that provides a challenging and responsive curriculum to the diverse population within the Valley.
The next goal is student success by ensuring that the diverse students’ needs can be met through the college. McClure stated that Adams State is the oldest Hispanic serving institute in the state and that the needs of the students are different than those in other college communities. The institute offers varied learning opportunities in order to support a student’s educational, personal and career success.
The third goal for the college is to ensure personal and professional development for their students by enhancing the connection between the college courses and the workforce by making sure students have what it takes to enter the workforce directly after college. Adams State also ensures that teachers and staff are properly trained in their fields of study to offer top educational opportunities to the student body.
McClure stated that one of the biggest goals is for the college to make sure the courses and degrees are accessible and affordable to the students who attend Adams State. The school was recently recognized nationally for the fact that they have not raised tuition fees this year and can offer Pell Grants to students still in high school in order to pursue pre-graduation college credits.
The last goal is one that is the main focus for Valley communities that centers on partnerships between the college and local officials as a combined effort to work with students in internship programs to help keep graduates in the Valley.
McClure stated that the coming Economic Development Summit will be the first to include all six counties throughout the Valley. “Each county will have representation at the summit and will have an opportunity to talk about the things they are doing within their communities in order to better understand what is going on throughout the Valley,” said McClure.
The summit takes place on Aug. 3 at the Adams State Student Union Building from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. and will feature two guest speakers from economic development groups from the Front Range. McClure ended her presentation by inviting and encouraging everyone to register for the summit through a link provided by URGEDC.