Training and continuing education. Those are two benchmarks people need to fixing problems and finding solutions in society, according to U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, a democrat who represents Iowa’s third congressional district.

“Here we are in this economic crunch we’re in now, both in our country and internationally really, and I think the solution out of this is community colleges because they produce jobs,” Boswell said in a meeting Monday afternoon with administrators at Southwestern Community College.

With Iowa’s new congressional district map, Boswell, 77, will be running against U.S. Congressman Tom Latham, 63, a republican, in the 2012 election.

Colleges

Boswell voiced his support for Iowa’s community colleges and their programs.

“We need to be doing things that we know work, and this works,” he said. “There’s economic development, getting people retrained, getting kids after high school and into something they can go out there and get that job.”

Iowa Sen. Jack Kibbie, D-Emmetsburg, was with Boswell to discuss the current state of community colleges. Kibbie, 82, announced he would not seek re-election in 2012 during the meeting.

According to Kibbie, jobs and progress will be found in renewable fuels, energy and energy fields.

“We need to recognize that, and we can move Iowa ahead of most of these states,” he said. “There’s only two states better off than Iowa, and one’s North Dakota with the oil rush, and Wyoming with their coal. The state collects a tax off of that. Next, is Iowa, and we’ve got corn and soybeans and related jobs to agriculture. We ought to tout that, in my opinion.”

SWCC concerns

The two politicians invited members of the SWCC administration to share their concerns with them, as well.

SWCC President Barb Crittenden said the public is aware of continued education and the debt it creates.

SWCC is focused on funding for and starting career technical programs, she added.

“On the job creation side, there really is that piece of funding for those programs to get these programs started,” Crittended said. “That’s a real struggle for all of the colleges, so that’s very important.”

Matt Thompson, dean of student services for SWCC, also had concerns with debt for full-time and part-time students.

“I think the federal aid, and you’re (Boswell) a huge supporter of that, that’s such a critical piece for our students,” Thompson said. “We hear so many stories of people losing jobs, and we have a lot of low-income students. If we start cutting back on that, and I know there’s pressures that do that, it’s hard.”

Resolution

In Boswell’s final comments to the administration, he discussed his House Resolution 474, which was referred to the committee on education and the workforce. He submitted the resolution Nov. 18 for the first session of the 112th Congress.

Boswell’s resolution is to recognize the valuable contributions of community colleges and encourage local partnerships with these institutions to train and revitalize the workforce, inspire entrepreneurship, educate skilled workers and invest in local communities.

In the resolution it states “students in the United States are ranked 19th in math and 14th in science out of 31 countries, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

“An estimated 63 percent of the anticipated job openings from now to 2018 will require strong basic skills in math, science, and other technical areas.”

The community college system will be able to provide “affordable, accessible post-secondary options that are often flexible in responding to changing economic, workforce, and industry
needs.”

“It’s really to draw attention to the success story of what can be if we just do it,” Boswell said of his resolution to support community colleges.

Source: http://www.crestonnewsadvertiser.com/2011/11/29/boswell-kibbie-voice-support-for-iowas-c/a213hm2/