Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System voted last week to close a technical college, arguing that transferring its programs elsewhere would be more cost-effective than making needed repairs to the building that houses the college.
Under the plan, programs at Anoka-Hennepin Technical College would be moved during the next two years to Anoka-Ramsey Community College and Hennepin Technical College. Anoka-Ramsey is about four and a half miles from Anoka-Hennepin, and Hennepin Technical is nine miles away.
Anoka-Hennepin, which serves about 1,800 full-time students and about 1,200 part-time and high-school students, needs repairs that various sources have estimated would cost $7-million to $70-million.
Erected in the 1950’s as a manufacturing plant, and converted for use as a college in 1967, the building has been valued at $4.7-million, system officials say.
Opponents of closing the college argued that many of its programs could not be duplicated at the other two colleges.
“This system is the portal of entry for most students in the state, and this is a grave oversight,” argued Rep. Jim Adeler, a Republican who represents Anoka in the Minnesota House of Representatives.
When the legislative session begins next month, he and State Sen. Leo T. Foley, a Democrat from the Anoka area, plan to introduce a bill that would sustain the technical college. Their measure would provide $14.7-million for Anoka-Hennepin -- enough to run it for 15 years, Mr. Adeler said -- and would direct the state-college system to continue operating the institution.
Of the trustees’ views, Mr. Adeler said: “The attitude is, learning might be better in a better-looking place.”
But Linda Kohl, an associate vice chancellor of the 36-campus system, argued that basic repairs would not be enough. “Those renovations still would not improve the facility to make it suited for the kind of quality education we would like to provide,” she said.
http://chronicle.com Section: Government & Politics Page: A34