LANSING – “Our county relies on Glen Oaks for their education. They want to stay in the county, and we offer the education that they need to be successful,” says Bryan Newton, the new president of Glen Oaks Community College.

The college is in Centreville in rural St. Joseph County, just 20 miles from the Michigan-Indiana border. The central campus was established in 1965 on donated land that was previously a farm.

Before joining Glen Oaks, Newton held leadership roles at colleges in South Carolina and Indiana. Most recently, he served as vice president for enrollment management and student services at Wor-Wic Community College in Maryland.

“I think one of the reasons I was hired is that the board of trustees saw the need to focus on enrollment moving forward,” he said. “Most of my career, I spent in enrollment management and have learned that enrollment is not only outreach, but it’s also retention and completion.”

He is one of two new presidents this fall at Michigan’s 28 community colleges.

The other is Bradley Barrick at Montcalm Community College in Sidney. Mott Community College in Flint is currently searching for a new president.

Michigan community colleges are still recovering from a significant enrollment decline due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a 13.1% drop in fall 2020, according to the Center for Educational Performance and Information.

The center reports that while enrollment briefly rebounded by 3.5% in 2021, the 5% decrease in fall 2022 shows that community colleges have yet to fully recover to pre-pandemic levels.

Newton said, “Fifty-five percent of our student population are high school students in dual enrollment. We need to continue our partnerships with the high schools, but it also means that we have all our eggs in one basket.”

“So we need to find a way to attract more traditional college-age students to Glen Oaks.”

State-funded programs like Michigan Reconnect and the Community College Guarantee help students pursue an education at community colleges.

Michigan Reconnect had been limited to people 25 and older but recently expanded its eligibility to adults ages 21 to 24. That opened the doors of opportunity for up to 350,000 more Michigan residents to earn a tuition-free associate degree or skills certificate, according to the state Department of Lifelong Education, Advancement and Potential.

Michelle Richard, the deputy director of higher education, said “The program has had a notable impact on enrollment at community colleges across the state, with over 190,000 individuals applying and over 52,000 enrolling in classes.

With the approaching Dec. 31 deadline for 21-24-year-olds to apply for the program, the department is focused on raising public awareness, Richard said. That includes statewide marketing campaigns and partnering with employers and local organizations for community outreach events.

With approximately 1,570 students in the 2022-23 school year, Glen Oaks Community College ranks as the third-smallest community college in Michigan. The smallest is Gogebic Community College in Ironwood.

Asked about the importance of programs like Michigan Reconnect, Newton said Glen Oaks has seen some growth in its non-traditional student population.

At the same time, he acknowledged the barriers Glen Oaks Community College faces.

“One of the limitations that we have is our small workforce development operation. I mean, we have one person right now,” Newton said.

“It’s fine if you get your degree or certificate and graduate, but what do you do next with that?” he said, adding that growing its workforce development operation will help people “go out and get a job right away.”

According to the Center for Educational Performance and Information, 98.9% of Glen Oaks’ students were classified as “in-district” for the 2022-23 school year, the highest percentage among the 28 community colleges.

“We must do more to find out exactly what our students in a rural environment need so that we can get them employed and keep them here in St. Joseph County,” Newton said.

“Learning the rural environment, learning the rural way of life and capitalizing on that is important because what we have at Glen Oaks and St. Joseph County is very special,” he said.