By Nardos Taeme
The Scene staff
Students on the Forest Park campus of St. Louis Community College speak more than 60 languages.
Nearly 80 percent of students at Meramec are white.
Many students go to Florissant Valley to study engineering, and Wildwood is known as an environmental showcase.
“Every campus has certain programs that only they offer,” said Tom Flynn, coordinator of deaf communications studies at Florissant Valley. “For instance, horticulture is only offered at Meramec, the restaurant and hotels hospitality stuff is only offered at Forest Park.
“We’re the only campus that offers deaf communications studies, and a number of the technological science (subjects) like biotechnology and engineering, so our programs make us different as well.”
FOREST PARK
Forest Park was the first campus in the St. Louis Community College district to open in 1967.
Its complex of brick buildings is within walking distance of the St. Louis Science Center, Central West End, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, Forest Park, the St. Louis Zoo and The Muny.
The urban campus attracts students from all over the world.
“That’s because (Forest Park is near) the International Institute of St. Louis and other organizations that sponsor refugees and immigrants,” said Keith Hulsey, associate professor and coordinator and the college’s English as a second language program.
“There is so much abundance in the area. For example, housing is cheap. and there are jobs available here in the city. So that’s why (people from other countries) are settling here in the city. We’re in the city so we’re the closest campus, and they tend to come to us.”
Ten percent of Forest Park students are “international,” coming from 80 countries, according to the college’s website.
The campus also is ethnically diverse. In fall of 2012, the total enrollment of 7,994 students included 4,316 classified as African American/black, 2,726 as white, 294 as Asian, 224 as Hispanic/Latino, 211 as unknown, 175 as multiracial, 31 as American Indian and 17 as native Hawaiian.
“(The diversity is) the coolest part, I think, about this campus,” Hulsey said.
Global education is a main focus at Forest Park. Its programs won the 2008 Heiskell Award for Innovation from the Institute of International Education.
Beyond diversity, Forest Park is the leading provider of health technology training among the four St. Louis Community College campuses.
It offers 13 medical programs, such as health information technology and diagnostic medical solography. Students in dental hygiene and nursing get hands-on training guided by professional dentists and nurses.
“Dental hygiene is a rewarding career,” said Kim Polk, assistant professor of oral health care.
“Some of the things that students do during clinic are going over X-ray exams, dental cleaning, fluoride treatment, and they also educate patients. (During each training session), students grow and learn new skills.”
Forest Park also is known for its hospitality studies program, which offers degrees and certificates in culinary arts and hotel and restaurant management.
One of the program’s instructors, Chef Casey Shiller, has become something of a celebrity by winning a competition on the reality TV show “Cupcake Wars” on the Food Network. He also was named U.S. Chef Educator of the Year by the National Culinary Federation for 2012.
“I’m learning from the best,” said student Debbie Thomas, who is earning a certificate in baking and pastry.
“Forest Park is now third in the nation in their education in pastry arts, and some of the other colleges aren’t even accredited, and they charge three times as much.”
FLORISSANT VALLEY
The Florissant Valley campus is in North St. Louis County in the city of Ferguson. It’s primarily known for its engineering and technology programs.
Department chair Dale Gerstenecker emphasized that many engineering classes can be taken on other campuses, but Florissant Valley is alone in its extensive technology offerings.
“The decision was made to define Flo Valley as the ‘technology’ campus,” said Richard Unger, coordinator for civil instruction and survey technology.
“(That means) we now have the resources to not only do academic work in classroom settings by using textbooks, but also get the hands-on lab experience.”
Florissant Valley offers a two-year program for biotechnology, one of today’s booming industries.
It’s the only campus with a Child Development Center, where students are trained in child-care fields. They also can learn to be interpreters and advocates for the deaf.
Flynn has served as coordinator of the deaf communication studies program for three years. He thinks the campus is beautiful.
“The most impressive thing about Flo Valley, when you first come here, (is that) it’s the prettiest campus,” he said. “We’ve got lots of mature trees. We’ve got lots of bushes and lots of flowers.”
Unger also describes the campus, which had 6,681 students in the fall of 2012, as “very friendly.”
MERAMEC
Meramec is in southwest St. Louis County, surrounded by residential neighborhoods and businesses such as UniGroup, Des Peres Hospital and Maritz Corp.
Meramec’s ethnic make-up is 78 percent white, 10 percent African American/black, 4 percent Hispanic/Latino, 4 percent Asian, 3 percent multiracial and 1 percent unknown.
Pat Matreci, district coordinator for Public Information and Media Relations, attributes its relative homogeneity to its location.
“I think historically the population’s ethnicity is not quite as diverse in West County as it is in the city,” she said.
Meramec’s enrollment last fall was 10,436 students. About 75 percent were following the college transfer curriculum, compared to 63 percent at Forest Park, where more students are enrolled in two-year vocational programs.
Meramec has a respected horticulture program. The campus also offers visual technology, which includes photography and video. It has been recognized nationally for its fine arts programs.
Students and faculty brag about their theater program, noting the college was invited to perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
“As of 2001, there were only like three community colleges that ever had been invited to (the Kennedy Center) to take a show and perform there,” said associate professor Michelle Rebolio, coordinator of Meramec’s theater program. “It was usually a four-year institution.”
WILDWOOD
Wildwood is the youngest campus in the St. Louis Community College district. It opened in 2007 in West St. Louis County to serve the developing communities of Wildwood, Eureka, Chesterfield and Ballwin.
It’s the largest campus in terms of property, with one 75,000-square-foot building surrounded by 132 acres of native prairie and woods.
Wildwood is known for its ecofriendly building materials and operational practices.
“Everything on the campus is considered green, from the chemicals we use to clean the campus to the wood the building was made with,” said John Testill, manager of physical facilities.
The campus has water-saving restrooms, lighting systems with heat and motion detectors, an extensive recycling program, an electric car-charging station, showers for bike riders and a green roof covered with flowering plants.
Wildwood was tobacco-free when it opened, setting an example for other St. Louis Community College campuses, which prohibited smoking in 2010.
“Even (while) it was being built, the workers couldn’t smoke within 40 feet of the campus,” Testill said.
Wildwood is the only campus in the district with U.S Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) gold certification.
It also has the lowest enrollment with 1,502 last fall. Most are taking English, math, sciences, history and other courses with the intent of transferring to four-year colleges or universities.
“There’s not really any specific (degree or certificate) programs,” Matrici said. “Wildwood is basically a transfer campus.”