Regional study 1st of its kind for Ivy Tech

The first regional study on Ivy Tech Community College Northeast’s role in the community, including how it meets labor demands and needs, is due this spring.

Undertaken by the board of the regional campus, the study will cost about $25,000, paid for by the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation and the city of Fort Wayne, Chancellor Jerrilee K. Mosier said.

True North Strategic Advisers LLC of Fort Wayne is conducting the three-part study, the first of its kind undertaken by any Ivy Tech campus, Mosier said.

Ivy Tech Northeast serves a nine-county area, the largest Ivy Tech geographic area in the state. Allen County has three sites.

The first part of the study is an internal assessment to see how the institution stacks up to the other 31 campuses in the statewide community college system. It will compare school finances, student bodies, completion rates, enrollment, “the whole gamut of internal analysis,” Mosier said.

The second part will focus on the region’s industry and labor needs – “how Ivy Tech can better serve northeast Indiana, the kind of programs, services and penetration within our nine counties,” Mosier said.

The third phase will be the recommendations.

“If this, then what? Based upon the data, based upon the input, what should we be looking at for the future for northeast Indiana and Northeast Ivy Tech?” Mosier said.

“I’m excited about it,” she said. “We were the first region within Ivy Tech to do this sort of comprehensive analysis, and I think it will serve us well.”