EDUCATION Can ’Downtown U’ Get Off the Ground?

THE DREAM: DOWNTOWN employees leave their jobs at 5 p.m.; by 5:30, after a short walk or drive to the Dallas Education Center in the old Titche’s Building, they’re in classes working toward an MBA. The reality: Making progress, but not there yet.

The importance of a downtown university offering higher-level educarion and graduate courses was first articulated in The Pierce Report, an analysis of the city’s future needs published in 1991. The report pointed out chat Dallas is one of the few major U.S. cities that does not have a public university offering a four-year degree within its corporate limits. (Southern Methodist University, a private school, is in University Park, and the University of Texas at Dallas is actually in Richardson).

The dream took a step toward reality in 1994, when the Dallas Education Center began offering junior- and senior-level classes for those pursuing baccalaureate degrees in sociology, criminal justice, education and business under the umbrella of The Alliance for Higher Education, a long-standing consortium of both private and public institutions in North Texas. Classes are taught by instructors from Texas Women’s University, UTD, the University of North Texas and Texas A&M University at Commerce {formerly East Texas State University). The idea was to provide education from state-supported schools without a lot of turf righting.

The classes are open to anyone with 60 hours of college credit at a cost of $280 to $400 per three credit hours. Classes typically meet one night per week Monday through Thursday. About 400 students enrolled last fall and more were expected to enroll for the 1996 fall semester, says Claralynn Jefferson, assistant director of the DEC. The DEC recently moved into one half of the old Titche’s Building, which has been undergoing extensive renovation. (The other half is being developed for residential use.)

This fall, the DEC has tackled something more ambitious than upper division courses: It plans to offer a full two-and-a-half-year MBA program. Jefferson says that the degree is geared toward the full-time professional who wants to advance his or her career. She adds that the program has received lots of interest from TU Electric, Lone Star Gas and Bank One Texas.

Will it work? So far, it’s getting off to a slow start. One corporate spokesman, who asked not to be identified, said that of 40 or so employees from his company who said they would be interested in the MBA program, only 26 attended a meeting about it. He said he would be pleased if even five actually signed up. The program for [he MBA, which will be awarded by Texas A&M at Commerce, has been slow to get organized, leading some potential students to enroll in other programs. Others have expressed concern about the safety of returning to their cars downtown at night; some tunnels and walkways are locked before 10 p.m. And, the school has no academic or financial aid counselors at the downtown campus to help students plan and finance their degrees. They can get that help, though, at the main college campuses. This fall, 15 to 20 students are expected to begin the MBA program.

The potential for a strong graduate program at DEC is there, says Dr. Richard Carlisle, the schools director. But the program needs the active participation of the downtown business community-providing tuition reimbursements and other incentives -to succeed.

Of course, higher education has long been available downtown. El Centro Community College, part of the seven-campus Dallas County Community College District, has earned a strong reputation for its associate degrees in food and hospitality management, nursing and allied health, interior design, and fashion merchandising and design. In addition to freshman- and sophomore-level courses in general subjects, the downtown campus also offers classes to help those who have left high school but are not prepared for college.

Since it was founded 30 years ago, says Dr. Wright L. Lassiter, president of El Centro, the college has evolved to meet the needs of the community. El Centro operates “under the broad rubric of access,” says Lassiter. “it should be a bastion of opportunity for a wide variety of individuals who want to pursue education.” El Centro now enrolls about 5,000 students in credit programs and about the same number in noncredit programs.

In 1985, El Centro started the Mary Crowley Academy with funding from Home Interiors, which is owned by investor Don Carter. (It’s named after his mother.) The program makes it possible for welfare mothers living in public housing to obtain their General Educational Development certificate {better known as the G ED) and enter El Centro. “It has helped 300 women move from being illiterate to having college degrees,” says Lassiter.

Also in 1985 the community college set up a computer programming training program for the physically handicapped. In collaboration with the Texas Rehabilitation Commission, the 10-month program provide training and job placement for 18 students per year. The business community provides hardware and software and El Centro provide instruction. “The program has a 96 percent success rate in placement,” says Lassiter.

A newer program called “Community in College” is beginning its second year. A collaborative effort with the Texas Department of Human Services, the 10-week summer course offers life skills and personal and academic counseling to young adults from families receiving welfare benefits to prepare diem for college. They receive free tuition, books, childcare and transportation. At the end of the summer session, they have a graduation as elaborate as any black-tie event, Lassiter says.

El Centras influence on downtown is more far-reaching than most people know. More than 400 students, many who are already working as secretaries in law firms, are enrolled in El Centro’s two-year legal assistants program. And El Centro offers classes at Dallas City Hall in conjunction with the city’s personnel department to address specifie needs in municipal management; graduates receive specialized certificates in public administration or government service.

El Centro sends instructors to downtown law firms and businesses wanting to do business in Mexico to teach Spanish and to Parkland Hospital to reach classes in general education. It provides emergency medical training for paramedics with the Dallas County Fire Department and UT Southwestern Medical School. “In order to be a Dallas police officer, you must have 45 hours of college credit,” says Lassiter. “Most get it at El Centro.” And with the arrival of light rail, which stops a block from die school, El Centro’s reach will certainly grow.

As for the newer venture, still unproven, the success of the Dallas Education Center would mean that some students will be able to take their freshman and sophomore ;lasses at El Centro, finish their bachelor’s degree at the DEC, and then pursue an V1BA, all while working-and even iving-down town.

Maybe the dream isn’t that far away.