MAY 2 0 ,2 0 1 5 • CLACKAMAS PRINT
3
Heald students kicked out
CCC tries to recruit students from Heald College in Northeast
Portland, who were left without a school when it closed In April
by Cassidy Scott
A lth o u g h C o rin th ia n Colleges LLC
had been struggling fo r months, stu
d e n ts o f 1 5 0 -year-old Heald College
w ere n o t p re p a red fo r C orinthian to
pull th e plug, especially so close to th e
end o f th e school year.
According to a press statem ent from
Corinthian Colleges, Inc., dated April 26,
Corinthian was unable to sell Heald, like
it had fo r several o f its other campuses
across th e United States: “The Compa
ny said these efforts were unsuccessful
largely as a result o f federal and state
regulators seeking to im pose financial
penalties and conditions on buyers and
te a ch -o u t partners." Essentially, Corin
thian is stating they were unable to sell
Heald as a result o f th e fe d e ra l and
state g o ve rn m e n t im posing financial
penalties on anyone interested.
“ I have worked in
higher education
for 25 years and
have never been
so depressed
trying to help
students.”
- Tara Sprehe
Fortunately fo r Heald students, Clack
amas Com m unity College staff readied
a response team to talk to the students
a b o u t op tio n s to continue th e ir e du
cations w ith o u t losing to o m uch tim e
and money.
“ I was simply one m em ber o f a rapid
response te a m se n t fro m CCC to be
present as Heald students returned to
th e ir cam pus to retrieve th e ir belong
ings and copies o f th e ir Heald tra n
scripts," said Tawnya Stauffer, stu d e n t
support and enrollm ent coordinator, in
an email. “My prim ary mission was to
help students understand th e ir finan
cial aid issues and resources. Others
on our team w ere available to review
transcripts and ta lk a b o u t enrollm ent
and various programs available at CCC."
Once the response team looked over
transcripts, th e next step was to see
how th e ir credits fit into th e program s
available at CCC. Unfortunately, because
it was halfway through CCC spring term
w h e n Heald su d d e n ly closed, Heald
students planning on graduating this
spring w ere unable to finish on tim e.
“ I d o n ’t th in k any o f th e s tu d e n ts
were able to transfer and complete this
term ,” said Tara Sprehe, associate dean
fo r e n ro llm e n t and s tu d e n t services,
In an email. “ Most o f our program s re
quired additional credits to com plete a
CCC degree/certificate, b u t we worked
w ith each d e partm ent to speed up the
process as quickly as possible so they
can graduate soon.”
U n d e rsta n d a b ly, th is process was
stressful fo r all involved.
“The experience was aw ful!" Sprehe
said. “ I have w orked in higher educa
tio n fo r 25 years and have never been
so depressed tryin g to help students.
They w ere understandably sad, angry,
fru s tra te d and in shock. To suddenly
have th e ir college close was aw ful fo r
th e m and th e fa c u lty and s ta ff th a t
supported them ."
A ccording to Stauffer, d e s p ite th e
w ork being p u t In to helping th e Heald
students, there is still a journey ahead:
“ I can o nly im agine th e process has
been quite arduous fo r these students
... they have some w ork ahead, no m at
te r how th e y decide to proceed.”
As these Heald students (hopefully
fu tu re CCC students) prepare to clim b
back to graduation, th e y are left w ith
fe w real answers, ju s t confusion and
a sym pathetic press release: “N either
o ur Board o f Directors, o ur m anage
m e n t, o u r faculty, n o r o u r s tu d e n ts
b e lie ve th e s e sch o o ls d e se rve d to
be forced to close," w ro te Jack Mas-
sim ino, C o rin th ia n ’s C hief Executive
Officer, in th e release.
CCC s ta ff are still w o rk in g to h elp
students g e t back on th e ir feet.
“W hile it fe lt g re a t to be p a rt o f a
process to try to help th e m as best we
could, w e should never have been in
th a t situation in the first place,” Stauffer
said.
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