Letter From the President

Letter From the President

LC State is a small college that does big things. Our students reach their full potential, largely, because we meet them where they are, know them by name, and take pride in guiding them from class to career. Truly, we empower our students to Do More as successful leaders, engaged citizens, and lifelong learners. We are doing big things.

Last year featured myriad examples of how LC State’s small-college care and culture are creating big opportunities for students and laying the foundation for future success. In this Journey Magazine edition, you will read about prison education, one of our most exciting and impactful adult learning initiatives. You will also read about our growing hospitality management program and how LC State is changing how courses are delivered to be able to better address industry staffing shortages, all while helping students earn their degree. COVID-19 decimated the Idaho healthcare industry and, like many states, Idaho is still working to recover from nursing scarcities. LC State is poised and ready to do its part to educate and graduate the next generation of highly qualified nurses to serve Idaho and beyond.

In the Campus News section (page 18) you will read about a few of the ways we’re meeting the needs of students and Idaho, and also maintaining enrollment despite decreasing traditional demographics and increased competition in our region. These initiatives include our adult learner program, the dual credit opportunity and our GED program.

Out of all of our recent adult learning initiatives, prison education might be the most exciting and impactful so far. In 2022, LC State was invited to participate in the Second Chance Pell Experiment, an initiative launched in 2015 to expand access to Federal Pell Grants for incarcerated individuals. That fall we offered face-to-face classes to 21 residents at the Idaho Correctional Institution-Orofino and we haven’t looked back. In the spring we served 33 residents. This fall we exceeded expectations and have over 60 students in Orofino and we’re looking at opportunities and requests to expand our prison education model statewide. It has taken a mountain of work to get us to this point and I thank the many LC State team members involved in the project.

Our efforts to expand opportunities and build enrollment pipelines have not been limited to non-traditional students. In 2022, we signed a memorandum of understanding with the Idaho Department of Juvenile Corrections that allows us to offer dual credit online courses in both general education and Career & Technical Education at the three juvenile corrections institutions in Idaho.

Along with building new opportunities for adult learners and enhancing pathways for traditional students, we’ve also been busy making sure our partnerships and pipelines at sister and junior colleges are stronger than ever. Excellent examples of this include the teacher education pathway at the College of Southern Idaho (CSI), our pharmacy school agreement with Idaho State University, and our nursing pipelines – inclusive of co-branded billboards, materials, etc. – at CSI, College of Western Idaho, and College of Eastern Idaho.

Even with all the above, we continue to be steadfast in our focus to grow and enhance a vibrant campus community, meeting the needs of our growing on-campus, traditional (18-24-year-old) students. We are especially excited to have launched our newest LC State athletics team, competitive dance.

At Lewis-Clark State College we’re focused on enrollment, on partnerships, on synergies and efficiencies, and on new innovative ideas – and every bit of this is guided by our undying focus on each individual student regardless of who they are or where and how they learn.

Our students reach their full potential. We are a small college that does big things.

President Cynthia Pemberton

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