Published: November 18, 2005 11:38 pm            

Ashford president speaks about future

CLINTON — Ashford University President James Chitwood has big plans for his school and knows the university will play a viable role in the future development of Clinton.

“Vision Iowa and Iowa Great Places are going to change the face of Clinton,” Chitwood said. “Ashford is going to play a crucial role in that because Ashford’s going to have an integral part in building quality jobs for a strong future.”

Bridgepoint Education in Poway, Calif., purchased The Franciscan University of the Prairies from the Sisters of St. Francis earlier this year and renamed it Ashford University. At the time of the sale, the university was having financial problems. Chitwood said it would have been devastating if the school had closed its doors.

Following the sale, the school, which had never been assessed property tax because of its nonprofit status, was put on the tax rolls and would generate about $386,000 the first year.

Earlier this month Chitwood approached the Clinton City Council asking for a three-year tax break.

“The tax rebate is going to assist us in hiring people and supporting our infrastructure to grow,” Chitood explained. “It is my strategy to bring on 201 jobs in the next three years. Will they all be Clinton residents? Only if they apply.”

Ashford will provide three methods of educating students. One will be the traditional campus. The second will be with the accelerated adult program, which Chitwood describes as geared for the 30-something-year-old students living in the community, working full-time jobs.

“They’ve got families and they’ve never completed their bachelor’s or master’s degrees,” he said. “They can do that on campus — right here in Clinton.”

The third program will be online education, which will provide opportunities for students throughout the entire globe.

“One of the misperceptions out there is you have an online campus, you don’t need anything except computers — that’s completely false,” Chitwood stressed.

The current management of the university has more than 80 years of combined experience with “brick and mortar,” as well as online experience,” he said.



“Myself, personally, I have run commuter campuses but they are face-to-face educational environments,” he said, adding he is very familiar with providing quality education in a classroom.

“My experience does come from that,” he said. Chitwood earned three degrees in a classroom setting. He is pursuing his doctorate online.

It is his firm belief that in order to have a quality online environment it takes a significant amount of personnel to develop a curriculum, to recruit students as well as offer academic and financial advice “to assist the students from entering the school to graduation.”

Ashford already has added 12 people to support the online program.

“I literally anticipate hundreds in the next couple of years — that’s our immediate strategy. I personally see a limitless potential of online employees,” Chitwood said. The university also has hired 13 new people for the campus program and has plans to open up 12 to 17 more new jobs.

“The growth of Ashford is going to benefit the Clinton community in three ways,” Chitwood related. “The online program is jobs — plain and simple. Hundreds of them in time. The potential is there to make that happen.”

He describes the nontraditional program as a benefit to the community by providing the working adult the opportunity to get a degree.

“As we grow our traditional student population, those students will spend their cash in the community, helping out the small business owners,” Chitwood explained. “The physical campus is an integral part of our online strategy. We will never, ever get rid of the Clinton campus. This is a traditional university with sports teams and a college life.”

“Myself, personally, I have run commuter campuses but they are face-to-face educational environments,” he said, adding he is very familiar with providing quality education in a classroom.

“My experience does come from that,” he said. Chitwood earned three degrees in a classroom setting. He is pursuing his doctorate online.

It is his firm belief that in order to have a quality online environment it takes a significant amount of personnel to develop a curriculum, to recruit students as well as offer academic and financial advice “to assist the students from entering the school to graduation.”

Ashford already has added 12 people to support the online program.

“I literally anticipate hundreds in the next couple of years — that’s our immediate strategy. I personally see a limitless potential of online employees,” Chitwood said. The university also has hired 13 new people for the campus program and has plans to open up 12 to 17 more new jobs.

“The growth of Ashford is going to benefit the Clinton community in three ways,” Chitwood related. “The online program is jobs — plain and simple. Hundreds of them in time. The potential is there to make that happen.”

He describes the nontraditional program as a benefit to the community by providing the working adult the opportunity to get a degree.

“As we grow our traditional student population, those students will spend their cash in the community, helping out the small business owners,” Chitwood explained. “The physical campus is an integral part of our online strategy. We will never, ever get rid of the Clinton campus. This is a traditional university with sports teams and a college life.”

        

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