Coverage of Washington County is made possible by a grant from the Eaton Foundation.
Sonja Mingo has lived in Washington County her whole life, but for years she thought the only way she could get a master’s degree was to leave.
“I was working full time and had two kids,” she said. She had thought her only option for completing a master’s degree in counseling was to commute two hours from Calais to Orono. She couldn’t face the commute after having had to travel to Machias for classes toward her undergraduate degree. “It takes a toll, especially in the wintertime.”
But then she saw in the local paper that Husson University had begun to offer counseling courses via the Internet at the Unobskey College in Calais. Mingo jumped at the opportunity and completed her degree in December 2009. By then, she had already been hired as a school councilor, and she now works full time in the Baileyville school system.
Without Web-based classes, Mingo believes none of this would have been possible. It’s been a win-win situation for both herself and the community, she said.
“For me, I have this great education and I’m able to work in the community I grew up in,” she said. “And they don’t have to worry about me moving away.”
In recent years, Husson University, the University of Maine system and Washington County Community College have expanded the distance-learning classes offered in the county to nearly 100 per semester, and all three institutions now offer complete or near-complete degrees online.
In addition, the three schools work closely together to compliment each school’s course offerings. Whereas other colleges and universities are increasingly competitive in lean economic times, the three schools must find ways to cooperate, said Larry Saunders, development coordinator for Husson’s Unobskey College.
“Victim of circumstance, so to speak,” he said. “The numbers [in Washington County] don’t support that kind of competition.”
Distance learning has come a long way since the 1990’s, when students either watched taped lectures or, at best, called in with questions.
With the advent of high-speed Internet and compressed video, students and teachers are able to interact in real time during classroom conversations. Also, new Web-based technologies like smart boards have increased the instantaneous feedback between students and professors. And teachers are learning how to meld technology with the human touch; many distance-learning classes in Washington County feature instructors who rotate from campus to campus.
This increase in online course options within the county may help spur economic growth, said Harold Clossey, executive director for the Sunrise County Economic Council.
“The more educated your workforce is, the better your economy is,” Clossey said. “Just as we need access to markets, we need access to educational opportunities.”
Nowhere is this more evident than in health care, the biggest employment sector in the county, Clossey said. The demand for health care professionals is great in the county, yet historically there haven’t been enough training programs in Maine to meet demand.
Distance learning may be a way to change that. The three schools have focused on health care training, both because of the population’s needs and student demand.
Husson offers a distance-based masters degree in counseling for both Washington and Aroostook counties, the University of Maine at Machias is launching a four-year online bachelor’s degree in psychology, and Washington County Community College offers a medical assistant degree that’s 95 percent online.
Meanwhile, a coalition of business groups is applying for a connectivity federal stimulus grant, in part to create a medical distance-learning center at Down East Community Hospital in Machias.
Increased online courses are possible because they drive down costs for schools, said David Markow, dean of academic and student affairs at Washington County Community College. Distance learning keeps programs more responsive to student demand: a school can providing a training program one year for dozens of students, then disband it the next at a minimal cost.
“Doing this kind of distance education allows us to quickly meet the needs of our community,” Markow said.
Still, even the reduced costs of distance learning sometimes aren’t low enough for schools to break even. Three years ago, UMaine at Machias sold off the Unobskey school to Husson out of economic concern. Many online courses offered there still operate at a loss. In an effort to cut costs, the schools seek to collaborate with other schools in Maine and in Canada.
Colleges and universities may have no choice but to find a way to make online classes in rural areas economically feasible, said Charles Collins, interim president of Washington County Community College. There are fewer traditional full-time students each year, and schools must find a way to accommodate students working full-time and/or with families. The 24/7-access model of classes is proving popular, as evidenced by the explosive growth of online schools like the University of Phoenix. All schools will have to adapt to survive, Collins said.
“I think you will see some pretty historic changes in higher education” in the coming years, Collins said.
And that probably will mean more Washington County residents can receive advanced training and degrees without leaving the county, including Sonja Mingo, who doesn’t seem to be done with her schooling.
“I would love to do a doctorate,” Mingo said. “I’m sure I will.”
Craig Idlebrook is a freelance writer who lives in Ellsworth.