Title
To recognize Columbus State Community College on its 50th anniversary and to celebrate the college's academic programs, community partnerships, and economic impact.
Body
WHEREAS, the Columbus Area Technician School opened its doors in 1963 to 67 students, in response to requests from local business and industry to begin preparing students for employment in high-demand fields at space leased in Central High School; and
WHEREAS, the Downtown campus, after rapid growth, was relocated to the site of the former Aquinas High School and began awarding associate degrees in 11 technical programs and was renamed as the Columbus Technical Institute in 1967;and
WHEREAS, CTI continued to attract and serve students throughout the 1970s and 1980s, adding multiple buildings and programs in high-growth fields such as computer science, nursing, health care, law enforcement, firefighting, finance and accounting, and expanded its service area to include all of Franklin, Delaware, Union and Madison counties; and
WHEREAS, the Ohio Board of Regents re-chartered the institution as Columbus State Community College in 1987and authorized it to award associate degrees in the arts and sciences, establishing the college as an affordable alternative to the first two years of bachelor's degree studies; and
WHEREAS, Columbus State has stretched its boundaries in the 21st century, adding nine regional locations, a second campus in Delaware County, and leads the state in online course offerings; and
WHEREAS, Columbus State played a significant role in helping Columbus rise from the national recession, freezing tuition for an unprecedented six years from 2006-2012, keeping college affordable for area students, and providing scholarships to more than 5,000 adults to help them retrain for new jobs; and
WHEREAS, Columbus State has cultivated partnerships, like the Central Ohio Compact, within the education and business sectors, resulting in pioneering programs that: better prepare high school students for college, streamline the pathway to a bachelor's degree, and train the unemployed and underemployed for careers in targeted, growing industries; and,
WHEREAS, the college will soon celebrate its 50,000th graduate and as a front door to higher education consistently adds about $1 billion in annual economic impact to Central Ohio; now therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
That this Council does hereby recognize Columbus State Community College for consistently fulfilling its mission to educate, inspire, and provide its students with the opportunity to achieve their goals.