Ivy Tech Wabash will join the Ivy Tech Northeast region this summer, a move that local leaders say will better align the Wabash campus with economic development efforts underway locally and throughout the region.
The Ivy Tech Community College State Board of Trustees recently approved the alignment change, which will go into effect on July 1. The new designation will affect students attending the Wabash campus as well as all other Ivy Tech students residing in Wabash County.
Ivy Tech Wabash, currently under the directorship of Pam Guthrie, was previously a member of the Kokomo/Lafayette region.
“This move brings the Wabash campus into better alignment with the state of Indiana’s economic development divisions,” David Bathe, chancellor for Ivy Tech’s Kokomo/Lafayette region, said recently. “Guthrie and her staff have been involved in a variety of activities related to projects in the northeast Indiana region and I am confident they will serve the Northeast region well.”
The new alignment could also mean more course offerings for Wabash County students.
“I am excited about our Wabash Campus moving to be part of the Northeast region,” Guthrie said. “As one of the largest regions in the system, I believe we will be able to expand our class offerings and services here in Wabash County. The collaboration process and transition discussions are going really well ... we are also hoping to see additional opportunities for offerings between both Wabash and the Huntington County Community Learning Center, where Ivy Tech is a partner. Technology labs in Huntington may open up possibilities we have previously been unable to offer.”
The request to join the Northeast region was first submitted in February by the Economic Development Group of Wabash County (EDG).
“That question for me was born out of the fact that all of our major partners in economic development are aligned toward the northeast Indiana region,” EDG President and CEO Keith Gillenwater said.
Wabash County has been a member of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership since 2008 and frequently relies on Ivy Tech Wabash for workforce training partnerships.
“It’s going to pay dividends for us in the future, there’s no doubt about it,” Gillenwater said. “We work together as a region and even though we have larger communities in Wabash, Fort Wayne and Warsaw, that has never gotten in the way of us functioning well together.
“Ivy Tech Northeast is a big player in all of that so to be able to align our efforts with them is only going to be a positive for us.”
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