Oxnard College expands offerings for military
Ventura Star 1/17/07
As part of the designation, Oxnard College has agreed to tailor some of its courses to sailors and others in the military, enabling them to pursue a college degree while serving in the armed forces.
Oxnard College also will give service members college credit for their military training as well as for their time in the service.
"As the U.S. military becomes smaller and more high-tech, colleges play an ever more significant role in the education of service members," Kathy Snead, president of Servicemembers Opportunity College, said in a Jan. 2 letter to Robert Jensen, president of Oxnard College.
There were 6,447 students enrolled at Oxnard College in the fall, the fewest of the county's three community colleges.
Based in Washington, D.C., Servicemembers Opportunity College is a nonprofit consortium with more than 1,800 colleges and universities among its members nationwide. Members include numerous public and private colleges and universities in California, including many in the California State University system. Moorpark College and California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks are also members.
The organization was created in 1972 to provide more educational opportunities to members of the military.
The designation at Oxnard College is an important step in fulfilling Ventura County Community College District Chancellor James Meznek's goal to have each of the county's community colleges better serve the region's diverse population, including about 7,000 service members assigned to Naval Base Ventura County.
As part of this effort, the district will train instructors at Oxnard College on the special needs of students in the military, Meznek said.
Military personnel often tend to be more mobile and may be sent to another part of the world midway through a college course.
Schools with the Servicemembers Opportunity College designation must make it easier for those in the military to take an incomplete should they be called elsewhere. In this era of instant communications, many of these schools are also offering courses over the Internet.
"We think that within a year, Oxnard College will have a very aggressive Internet program," said Joe Clark, a consultant who helped Oxnard College get its designation.
Clark worked with Meznek when Meznek was president of Barstow College to increase the enrollment of military-based students. Barstow eventually became an important provider of education to those stationed at Fort Irwin and the Marine Logistic Base, both near the campus.
Teri Reid, spokeswoman for Naval Base Ventura County, said Oxnard College's tailoring more courses to meet the needs of those stationed at the base is something that's sorely needed.
"The Navy has always championed education and training for our sailors," Reid said. "This will be an excellent opportunity for them."
The U.S. military spends about $500 million a year in tuition assistance for its active-duty forces. This is more than twice what it spent just four years ago.
The military is expected to pay the full $20 per unit that Oxnard and other community colleges in California charge for in-state tuition.
While the district is working with Naval Base Ventura County, it hopes to offer courses to those serving in other branches of the military.
"We're not just limiting ourselves to the Navy," Meznek said.
He said it's too early to know exactly how many students the new program will attract, although the district hopes that it will be a sizable number.
The growth in military tuition assistance has led to a similar growth in the number of colleges and universities wanting to offer courses to those in the service. The Servicemembers Opportunity College consortium had 1,200 members in 1997. Since then, its membership has grown by more than 50 percent.
Other schools offering courses to those stationed at Naval Base Ventura County include the privately owned University of Phoenix and University of La Verne.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Navy College also offer courses on base, Reid said.