When our planned speaker for last week had to cancel at the last moment, Susan Wolff agreed to give us an update on Great Falls College MSU. As usual, she did not disappoint.

 

Susan told us about the college's initiatives, including dual credit opportunities to high school students, an open house for home-schooling families, "Science Fridays" and robotics play for area high school students. She welcomed UGF's new president to the club and to our community and told us about the efforts Great Falls College is making to coordinate with UGF, not only on academic programming, but also on services they could share, such as bookstore and security.

 

Great Falls College has done a great deal to provide workforce training opportunities to meet demand in the Golden Triangle, but the college is also addressing these needs across the state. Their mobile welding lab, for instance, is deployed to meet needs elsewhere, including the women's prison in Billings. 

 

The college's enrollment is slightly up, in spite of eliminating 10 programs last year due to lack of demand and the need to tighten the budget. However, the college has added 2 new programs with strong student interest: computer coding and industrial technology.

 

We are fortunate to have this dynamic leader charting the course for one of Great Falls' beloved community assets.