Karas: FVCC success shaped by community input

The leader of Flathead Valley Community College stood before the Montana Legislature on a recent spring day and asked for approval of the school’s most recent project: operating a brew house and — possibly — a tap room on campus.

Several lawmakers questioned how a taproom on a college campus could be described as an educational or economic development tool.

“When the local brewers came to us and hop growers said we need people trained in this, we did our research,” FVCC President Jane Karas said.

It’s how the college responded in 2011 as health systems transitioned from paper to electronic medical records. When health officials revealed a need for 10,000 new specialists nationwide, FVCC created a health information technology specialist program.

Similarly, in 2013 the college launched a two-year integrated agriculture and food systems program in response to the growing local food movement across Montana.

As FVCC dives deeper into its 50th year, Karas said how the institution shifts and grows over the next 50 years depends on future workforce needs.

“We’re here to meet the needs of local business and industry — that’s always been the point,” she said.

Karas has been a leader at FVCC for about 18 years. Her focus on education’s impact on community began with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a doctorate in social policy.

A New York state native, Karas said her intrigue with Montana began when she moved to a ranch in the Crazy Mountains to work as a wrangler for a season.

“I guess it is the cliche, ‘I fell in love with Montana,’” she said. “It’s not easy to get to, but it was a great place to be.”

Karas found work as a job developer for displaced homemakers. She also taught courses in business, sociology and animal science at Montana State University.

In 1991 she joined the Montana Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education.

“The opportunity to get back on campus was very appealing — to be back with students and more engaged in the direct level of learning,” she said.

Karas arrived on the Flathead campus in 1999 as the vice president and dean of instruction and student services.

“It was a much smaller student body [and] employee base, so it was a very family kind of feeling — everybody knew each other,” Karas said.

But that FVCC “family” functioned in limited space with a growing demand for programs. There were 1,077 full-time students among four campus buildings.

When the FVCC board appointed Karas as the college’s 11th president in 2001, her first goal was to create a master plan for growth. But it would run into a roughly two-year legal battle.

WHEN FVCC moved from scattered buildings in downtown Kalispell to its current campus in 1991, the college took a dip in its square footage in exchange for its own space.

Karas said when she arrived, the campus was a bit “cramped.”

“We had [occupational trades] programs, but it was in a very limited ability, or we were renting and leasing space off campus,” she said.

The 2001 master plan called for three new buildings: the arts and technology building, an occupational trades building and a child development center.

In 2002, FVCC trustees voted to proceed with a $15.9 million school bond election for the expansion. The result was 10,325 Flathead voters in favor of the bond and 9,500 against, according to a Dec. 27, 2002, Daily Inter Lake article.

But on the heels of FVCC’s narrow success, opponents questioned the election’s validity.

The election became controversial in mid-course when the college discovered that the county election office had dropped 15,000 names from the voter registration list in error. Instead of canceling the election, the college sent out additional ballots and extended the election.

A lawsuit followed in protest of apparent violations of election laws that required mailing ballots all at once and adherence to an election plan. The lawsuit challenging the election surfaced on the last day of a 60-day period allowed for election disputes — halting construction on the expansion.

The college settled with the three citizens who filed the lawsuit by offering an apology and covering attorney costs in 2003. But a second lawsuit that sought to overturn the settlement continued through 2004.

“I think there was a very small vocal group of people, who, for whatever reason, had their own issues and did provide some challenges,” Karas said. “We had a lot of support from the community as a whole … We were able to move on.”

While the court system dismissed the lawsuit, FVCC had to cut $2 million of planned work due to higher interest rates and construction costs that came to pass during the years of litigation.

THE EXPANSION broke ground in 2005, three years before the national recession was felt in the Flathead Valley.

In 2009, FVCC’s enrollment increased by 33 percent over the previous year as people looked toward more training after receiving pink slips. In response, the college added 239 sections of classes and hired 89 new adjunct faculty.

Karas said two years into the crisis, there was an overall 55 percent jump in enrollment.

“It was a challenge,” she said. “We added classes at night and weekends and squeezed as many as we could in classrooms.”

As the Flathead Valley’s economy recovered from the financial crisis, FVCC’s enrollment leveled to its pace before 2008. But overall growth has continued at FVCC — something that hasn’t been the case at the state’s other community colleges.

Combined, Montana’s three community colleges have seen more than a 10-percent decrease in enrollment over the last decade. However, FVCC has experienced an increase of nearly 8 percent during that time.

This year, the college is set to finish construction on its first on-campus student housing, which is scheduled in the fall of 2017.

Karas said FVCC is also looking toward the next project, a student life center with a large multipurpose room for events.

“Even now with the arts and technology building, our public space is already too small,” she said. “The board has prioritized a student life center as the next priority and students have made it clear that that’s their interest for our next building.”

Karas said the college will continue to change with the valley’s need and also will continue to rely on community input to develop new programs.

“In the 18 years I’ve been here, we never would have been able to make the gains and progress and ability to offer what we offer here without the support of our community,” she said.

Reporter Katheryn Houghton may be reached at 758-4436 or khoughton@dailyinterlake.com.