Cottey president's breakfast highlights growth, change

"Growth is coming...slow and steady growth," said Cottey College president Dr. Judy Rogers, as she addressed a crowd of business and community leaders at a breakfast held at the college on Wednesday.

This year's enrollment was 322, up a bit from last year's first day enrollment figure of 316 and creeping ever closer to the college's current capacity of 350. Each year since Rogers took over the leadership of the 2-year women's liberal arts college, enrollment has risen. This year's incoming freshman students represent 44 states and 11 countries -- and 20 of them are from Nevada and the surrounding area. Rogers said Cottey College is a bargain, costing about $19,000 annually, inclusive of room and board, with 97 percent of students receiving some sort of financial aid. Cottey's annual international experience, a unique learning opportunity in the form of a trip to Europe filled with educational modules, sight-seeing and more also helps.

Rogers is proud of the growth, particularly the growth in interest from local residents as students at Cottey. Eight of the local students have leadership scholarships and five are from the President's Leadership Program, a seminar for local high school students. The students learn about service learning, preparing for college and hone leadership skills in the afterschool program, which meets roughly every two weeks, September through April. Cottey College representatives recruit members of the leadership program, which, as the name implies, is led by Rogers. A strong commitment to the program is required, and this year, of 30 young women who went to an informational meeting, 25 turned in interest forms and 14 were selected to participate. At the end of the program, students successfully completing it are eligible for a $1,000 scholarship to Cottey. Letters of recommendation are provided to students who don't choose to continue their education at Cottey.

In addition to the growth in enrollment, many other changes are taking place at Cottey. With basketball season around the corner and the volleyball team boasting a record of 7-4, a new athletic opportunity is on the horizon for Cottey. Rogers and coaches said that there had been interest in soccer and softball, and softball was chosen as the college's next athletic program, in part because similarly situated softball teams with which to schedule the games are readily available. "We're excited about the softball program. Women want the opportunity to play their sports," Rogers said.

The softball program will be led by Gregory Tietz, who will be recruiting players during this academic year for the first season of play in the spring of 2009.

Cottey is also expanding its academic offerings, and now has a mass communication and media studies curriculum and a political science curriculum with a focus on international relations.

An Americorps VISTA volunteer, Linda Platt, is working to mesh the needs of the community with volunteer opportunities desired by the students, Shirley Rainey is working to coordinate internships for students and area businesses, and Denise Hedges will be heading the Center for Women's Leadership.

In October, a women's history exhibit will be in the college's library, with a reception slated for Oct. 8. Interestingly, Virginia Alice Cottey wasn't part of the exhibit, which focuses on women of Missouri, but information about her has been added to the touring display. Other events in October include Family Weekend, and a women's college fair set for Oct. 23 that is to feature 14 colleges.