Thatcher family establishes Cincinnati State scholarship

By Rick McCrabb, Staff Writer 8:36 PM Tuesday, May 29, 2012

    MIDDLETOWN — The work that Perry Thatcher started when he was alive is being carried on by his heirs.
    A scholarship fund is his name has been established for Middletown residents who enroll at Cincinnati State, the school announced Tuesday.
    Judy Bober, Thatcher’s longtime secretary in Middletown, called the scholarship fund — with an initial gift of $60,000 — “a natural step” because bringing the campus to downtown Middletown was Thatcher’s “last goal.”
    Thatcher, a well-known philanthropist and businessman, died on Jan. 28, 2010.
    When asked what Thatcher’s reaction would be, Bober said: “He’d certainly be pleased, but he wouldn’t say much. He’d just smile. He’d be grateful.”
    While she credited Thatcher for the scholarship, she also praised the generosity of his family, “an extension of his kindness and vision.”
    Of that $60,000, $10,000 will be used in the 2012-2013 academic year to assist Middletown residents enrolling in the fall. 
    Cincinnati State President O’dell M. Owens said the university has once again been “touched by the generosity of this family.”
    Thatcher was an entrepreneur and industrialist who amassed a controlling interest in a number of commercial properties in downtown Middletown. Before Thatcher died he made arrangements to transfer some of those properties — including the former Cincinnati Gas & Electric building that will house the new Cincinnati State campus — to the city of Middletown at a nominal cost.
    Sheree Garrett, one of Thatcher’s three daughters and the executor of his estate, said the decision to endow a scholarship fund is in keeping with her father’s wishes to spark a revitalization of Middletown’s core.
    “He loved this city and he believed in education,” she said.
    The family, she said, hopes the scholarship keeps their father’s “memory and dream alive” in Middletown and his “legend lives on.”
    Cincinnati State Development Director Dawn Perrin noted that additional gifts in honor of Perry Thatcher are welcome, and will be added to the permanent endowment.
    For more information about the Perry Thatcher-Middletown Endowed Scholarship Fund, contact Perrin at dawn.perrin@cincinnatistate.edu or (513) 569-1706.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2842 or rmccrabb@coxohio.com.

Dear Cincinnati State Middletown Community Relations Committee:

Many times I have been asked for a list of course and degrees being offered in Middletown and the document attached is comprehensive (and nice looking).

This should be available shortly (if not already) at the Fast Track Saturdays and other events in Middletown where Cincinnati State has a presence.

Creating job skills goal of Cincinnati State programs

By Michael D. Pitman, Staff Writer 8:08 PM Saturday, June 16, 2012

    MIDDLETOWN — Giving people the skills to start a job during their time on campus or the day after they graduate is the goal when Cincinnati State Middletown opens in the fall, school officials said.
    The dozen programs initially being offered at Cincinnati State Middletown were chosen because of their popularity among students, but mostly because they give people the best opportunity to find a job in today’s market.
    The eight associate degrees and four certificate programs allowed the school to quickly start up the new branch campus, said Monica Posey, Cincinnati State’s academic vice president.
    “We want this to be holistic and we want it to be really connected,” she said.
    Leaders at Cincinnati State Technical & Community College looked at their most popular community college programs — social work, criminal justice and pre-business — and then looked at which technical programs would fit the needs of the city and region, which is why she said the legal assistant, medical administrative assistant and hospitality management programs were chosen.“We looked at the most popular, the largest pre-majors on this campus and then we tried get a feel of things that might be of need or interest in that community,” Posey said.
    The school will also incorporate its workforce development, which is housed in Evendale, at its campus on North Main Street and Central Avenue to provide additional training opportunities for Middletown businesses. Earlier this year, Cincinnati State developed workforce programming for AK Steel employees, and that programming is expected to move into the downtown school once it opens.
    Until classes start on Aug. 29, it’s uncertain how many students will be enrolled at Cincinnati State Middletown and how many will be in each program. As of June 13, there are 142 applicants for the downtown campus. If all the applicants turn out to be students this fall that would be 71 percent of the school’s stated goal of 200 students for the inaugural school year.
    Ohio Association of Community Colleges President Ronald Abrams said Middletown is fortunate to have Cincinnati State.
    “The value of the community college is one of the primary focuses, engagement and the support of the community that they are in,” he said. “Over time you’ll see the economic viability of Middletown will improve.”
    And the programs being offered are important to that direction, Abrams said. When it comes to deciding which programs to offer at a new branch of a community college, community involvement and knowledge is important.
    “It’s really based on interacting with the community and the businesses leaders,” he said.
     Posey said Cincinnati State will eventually add to the region’s identity as a medical and health hub. She said the school would like to include its allied health programming, but it wasn’t feasible in the first year because of the long approval process for its nursing program and a complex investment with equipment.
    While the school is developing its relationship with the Middletown community, it already has a relationship with Miami University Regional Campuses, and that has — and will continue to be — expanded.
    An articulation agreement was signed in 2008 between Cincinnati State and Miami University Regionals, which makes it easier for Cincinnati State students to transfer to one of Miami’s three regional schools. The goal is to improve services to students and support Ohio’s goal of an increasing number of those who finish certificate program and earn associate’s and bachelor’s degrees, said Jan Toennisson, Miami University Middletown spokeswoman.
    “It’s cost savings (for the students),” she said. “There’s no reason people should be duplicating efforts. We need to be playing to our own strengths and I think that’s what this is.”
    An articulation agreement has been negotiated for Cincinnati State’s Hospital Management program and the organizational leadership pathway in Miami University’s Bachelors of Integrated Studies program.
    “It’s a very good fit, and that’s going forward very quickly,” Toennisson said.
    The two schools have had an existing partnership at the Greentree Health Sciences Academy in Warren County. Miami University rents space to Cincinnati State for its EMT/Paramedic course.
And other partnerships, and articulation agreements with other programs, are bound to happen.
    “Now that they’re in Middletown, it’s a good reason to make it happen,” Toennisson said. “It’s a good reason to move forward on those.”
    Eventually, Posey said the school will be offering “a wide range of programming” to hopefully thousands of students.
    “We are increasing what we offer through online education, so we also see ourselves growing any student anywhere an associate’s degree,” she said. “I see us actually expanding not in just students and academic programs, but in services to students and potential students.”
    Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2175 or michael.pitman@coxinc.com. Follow at twitter.com/mdpitman

Cincinnati State reduces budget

10:49 PM Thursday, June 28, 2012

    While Cincinnati State announced it is slashing its budget, school officials should it shouldn’t impact the opening of a branch campus in Middletown.
    School officials said the remodeling of two downtown buildings is on schedule and classes should begin when fall semester starts Aug. 29.
    Earlier this week, Mike Geoghegan, vice president of finance at Cincinnati State Technical & Community College, announced the school was cutting $5.8 million, or 7.2 percent, from its budget. The cuts were approved by the school’s board of trustees. For the 2012 fiscal year, the budget was $80.8 million, Geoghegan said. The budget for the 2013 fiscal year, which begins Sunday, will be $75 million.
    Bob White, a spokesman for Cincinnati State, said the university will experience some “belt tightening.” He said some job openings will remain vacant and there will be “controlled spending” on the main campus.
    Geoghegan said Higher Education Partners, a Boston-based company that expands college
institutions, is paying to renovate the former CG&E building and former Middletown Senior Citizens Center.
    When the campus opens, it will offer eight associate degree programs and four certificate programs, which allowed the school to quickly start up the new branch campus, said Monica Posey, Cincinnati State’s academic vice president.
    Greg Pratt, a consultant with the city of Middletown on the Cincinnati State project, called
the college “a great economic driver” for the city. He said the school will bring students and
staff downtown and offer additional educational opportunities for residents.
    Until classes start, it’s uncertain how many students will enroll at Cincinnati State
Middletown and how many will be in each program. As of Thursday, there are 160 applicants
for the downtown campus, White said. If all the applicants are students this fall, that would
be 80 percent of the school’s stated goal of 200 students for the first year.
    Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2842 or rmccrabb@coxohio.com.