Parkland candidates address several issues at forum
CHAMPAIGN – Six candidates, two of them incumbents, debated Thursday for three seats on the Parkland College board, agreeing that community colleges are a springboard to the future but disagreeing about how students can meet financial challenges as the state cuts back.
Voters will elect three of seven trustee candidates on April 5 to fill three expiring terms on the Parkland College Board of Trustees.
Thursday's forum will be available no later than Monday at http://www.parkland.edu/forum as well as on Parkland cable channel 9.
The event was co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the NAACP.
The board of trustees candidates are Samuel McGrew, David Thomas, Jonathan Sherrill, James Voyles, Greg Knott and incumbents Donna Giertz and Dana Trimble. Sherrill was not at the debate. The terms of the three open seats are for six years. Incumbent Paul E. Quinlan is not seeking re-election.
The candidates spoke about the role of the community college, its cooperation with high schools and four-year colleges, development challenges, remedial work and financial aid.
Voyles, the interim Tuscola superintendent who won a Bronze Star in Vietnam, encouraged students to save tuition dollars by earning dual credit while still in public schools. He also encouraged students to apply for scholarships, some of which go unused.
Trimble, a 12-year veteran of the board who also attended the college and has served on school boards, noted that a team approach is best.
"The high school has to help, the parents have to help," he said, in finding all the opportunities.
McGrew, a former state representative who chaired the higher education committee and learned about tight costs as Fisher superintendent, urged a big-picture look at funding, noting that MAP grants tend to benefit more expensive schools as costs rise.
Giertz, who taught marketing and other courses at Parkland for 20 years, said that financial aid is drying up, "but there are always loans."
She urged students to take personal responsibility.
"I believe anybody can get an education if they want to," she said, noting that even bringing a sack lunch could help.
Knott, a county board veteran who took Parkland courses before embarking on a career at the University of Illinois, agreed that creativity helps. He said he went after financial aid, worked three jobs and sought help from family to get his degree.
Thomas, a reporter turned teacher who now works as a consultant, suggested students consider taking tests to place out of courses without incurring costs. He also noted that a "hidden semester" – summer – can hasten the time it takes to get a degree or certificate.
He said repeatedly that the college could become more transparent by putting its meetings on TV or the Internet.
McGrew and Knott both stressed that Parkland needs to go to Springfield to plead its case. The candidates agreed that Parkland was, in Giertz's words, "color-blind" and that remedial courses could benefit anybody.
One idea most of the candidates could agree on was they didn't like a proposal for some community colleges to become four-year institutions.
MoreThere are several problems with the discussion about financial aid.
-don't presume that all high school students have the time to take advantage of those dual credit programs, AP classes, or community college classes. How does a student working 10-20 hours a week work that into their existing class/study schedule?
-many of the students who need help the most can't rely on their parents or family for help, and many also may not have the credit score or history to get student loans
-knowledge about how the financial aid, or even about college admissions is lacking in many students. This is a failure of our high schools and outreach programs.
-taking a sack lunch isn't a viable alternative to financial aid, and is pretty insulting to students already living on a strict budget. For several reasons:
---most of the healthiest sack lunches need refrigeration or freezing. When you have to catch your bus at 7am to get to class, and then your lunch break isn't until 1, what do you do? Yes, you could bring an insulated lunch bag, but there are many students who go straight to work after class and will need to have dinner in there for 8 hours as well.
---taking a sack lunch involves having easy and regular access to a grocery store, as well as the time to shop and/or prepare food ahead of time. Look up food deserts if you don't get why this is a problem.
---sack lunches, while cheaper than buying food on campus, still aren't free. A sack lunch may cost $3 instead of $5. That's only a savings of $96 per semester presuming you bring instead of buy your lunch 3 times a week. That's not even enough to cover the cost of 1 textbook, in many cases.
-to the candidate who worked three jobs, had financial aid, and got help from his family:
---don't presume the average student can even find *one* job right now
---don't presume that students have the time with taking care of family/kids and studies to work full time in addition to classwork (I'd like Knott to juggle his 3 jobs and full time classwork with the CU bus system.)
---don't presume that all students can go to their families for money
---don't presume that all students are as educated about the financial aid system, or even know who to ask for help.
-I'm sure the people working in campus food services appreciate the advice instructing students not to buy food on campus to make up for a lack in financial aid.
-summer classes are a good suggestion, but many students need those 3 months to work full time and save up money to survive the school year. Also, summer classes aren't any cheaper, and require more time per week to complete. Meaning that many full time working students don't have compatible (work/family) schedules to get a class in.
I'd like to see administrators make real proposals on how to cut the cost of textbooks (one of the worst hidden costs of college), reach out to prospective students with information on financial aid information, and actually offer real world advice on how to make a college education accessible rather than "work three jobs", "ask your family", and "pack a lunch."
On April 5th some are finnaly running against spend happy Parkland Board trustees. They are Sam Mcgraw, Greg Knott and David Thomas. Team shake it up!
Qualified and w/o an agenda other than integrity- any change is good change.
It extremely expensive to even put your name on the ballot, the candidates are not ideal but any change is good.
You forgot the list of adiminstrators salaries on the front page of the website and Parkland newspaper posted until the next election.
The role of the community college is about to be redefined. Is it going to be affordable and welcome those older, with children, and have no other place to go or focus on sports and expensive building contracts.
Andrea Antulov
On April 5th some are finnaly running against spend happy Parkland Board trustees. They are Sam Mcgraw, Greg Knott and David Thomas. Team shake it up!
Qualified and w/o an agenda other integrity any change is good change.
It extremely expensive to even put your name on the ballot, the candidates are not ideal but any change is good with this board is good.
You forgot the list of adiminstrators salaries on the front page of the website and Parkland newspaper visable until the next election.
The role of the community college is about to be redefined. Is it going to be affordable and welcome those older, with children, and have no other place to go or focus on sports and expensive building contracts.
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