State senators praise work of DMACC 
during visit to Newton campus Monday

Following $3.5 million in budget cuts for the upcoming fiscal year, DMACC’s campus in Newton appears to have weathered the financial storm for now.

State senators Dennis Black and Tom Courtney visited the campus in Newton Monday to assess the condition of local community colleges as part of a statewide tour. Eating lunch with campus administrators before taking a tour of the school, Black and Courtney were effusive in their praise for the work done by DMACC President and CEO Robert Denson as well as Newton Campus Provost Mary Entz.

“You’ve really created a nice monster,” Black said, noting that the number of career academies and programs offered for on-the-job training in the face of hefty budget cuts should be viewed as a “tremendous success.”

DMACC was expecting an $8 million cut to the Newton campus, Denson said, but stimulus funds and late legislative boons, as well as a $10 tuition hike per credit hour, lowered that number by more than half.

Denson said DMACC not only trains individuals for careers but is highly successful in retaining young Iowans. More than 98 percent of students at DMACC campuses are from Iowa, and 97 percent of those people end up staying in Iowa to begin their careers, he said.

The DMACC president added that community colleges in Iowa are as popular as ever. Many of the career academies offered have long waiting lists due to high demand. The result is a tricky balance in steering students toward the proper careers.

“We don’t want to overproduce for jobs that aren’t there,” Denson said.

Courtney, the Iowa Senate Majority Whip, said he was thoroughly impressed by the work being done at DMACC. He added that education is the best way to keep kids on the straight and narrow.

“I believe every penny we spend on education is a penny we don’t have to spend on prisons,” Courtney said.

Oddly enough, DMACC has allowed for those worlds to collide in a welding program for prisoners.

The program is offered to men and women in the correctional system, and has had several graduating classes to date.