Mat-Su College Will Experiment With Offering Upper Valley Classes

In January, Mat-Su College will begin offering credit for classes taught in Talkeetna.  The college’s director hopes it could pave the way for a satellite program in the Upper Valley.  KTNA’s Phillip Manning has more:

Mat-Su College’s main campus is the closest option for in-person college courses for Upper Valley residents.  That may be changing, however.  Starting with the Spring 2015 term, the college is offering credit for an English class that will be taught at Northern Susitna Institute in Talkeetna.

Dr. Talis Colberg is the Director of Mat-Su College, which is a branch of the University of Alaska Anchorage.  If the name is familiar, it may be because he has also served as the state’s attorney general and mayor of the Mat-Su Borough.  He says the college has grown significantly in recent years, and will soon be opening a new theater building.

“When the theater is open, we’ll have six major buildings on the campus.  If people haven’t been here in a few years, they might be surprised at the size of campus.”

Dr. Colberg says that over 1,500 students enroll each fall in Mat-Su College, but most of them will finish their degrees elsewhere in the University of Alaska system.

“We’re graduating the ones who seek an associate’s degree, but many of our students are seeking a bachelor’s degree and taking as many classes as they can out here because they live here.”

While Mat-Su is the closest campus to the Upper Valley, Dr. Colberg says it’s still far enough away that not many people commute for classes.  He also says that, despite the availability of distance learning opportunities, the ability to take a class closer to home could still appeal to students.

“A lot of people still value the face-to-face encounter, and I think a lot of studies on distance suggest that the ideal class is actually a blended class with a little bit of both.”

This is not the first time Mat-Su College has tried to set up a satellite program north of the Core Area of the borough.  Dr. Colberg says a previous attempt was made in Willow, but lack of enrollment eventually caused the program to fizzle.  He believes that the Talkeetna program could succeed, however.

“I think what’s probably different about this is you’ve got a pretty darn enthusiastic group of people who are interested in doing this up there.  They’ve been approaching us for quite a while.”

The first class offered will be English Composition, a prerequisite for many of the more advanced English classes offered by the University of Alaska.  It is available to high school graduates, as well as current juniors and seniors.  Additionally, Dr. Colberg says the college is working with the borough to provide credit for an Emergency Medical Technician course which will be taught in the Upper Valley as well.

Dr. Colberg believes that these classes could lead to future courses being offered in the Upper Valley.

“It’s the type of thing where, if both of these things work out–or either works out, it could open the door to do similar things and expand it.  It’s always the first one that’s the hard one.”

Dr. Colberg will be in Talkeetna on Thursday at the Chamber of Commerce meeting to discuss recent developments at Mat-Su College.  That meting is at 7:00 at the Swiss Alaska Inn.