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Outreach C e n f e r sHundreds attenddedication of South SideEducation CenterCowley County Community College officially joined hands Feb. 29, 1996 with two otherinstitutions of higher learning as the South Side Education Center in Wichita was dedicated inthe presence of about 250 people.Dr. Patrick J. McAtee, president of Cowley; Dr. Eugene Hughes, president of Wichita StateUniversity; and Dr. Rosemary Kirby, president of Wichita Area Technical College, each spokeabout the partnership that has been forged between the schools."What a wonderful day this is," McAtee said. "This is one we've been dreaming about fora long, long time. We are really going to pool our services for south-central Kansans."The center, located at 4501 E. 47th St. South in Wichita, is a unique educationalpartnership in this region. It combines educational offerings of Cowley, WSU and WATC underone roof.Jackie Snyder, dean of academic outreach at WSU, introduced the three college presidents and Michael C. Germann, director ofcommunications and government affairs at Boeing-Wichita. She said the partnership between the three schools was proof that the needs of citizenswere of the utmost importance."This particular location allows us to reach out to areas we never could before," Snyder said. "This is the fruit of a common union."The South Side Education Center, a 23,000-square-foot facility, is a full service operation for all three institutions, where students can be advised,enroll and pay fees, in addition to taking classes. The center officially opened Oct. 23, 1995.Kirby, who also teaches a class for WSU, said a phrase ina chapter of her textbook rang true for the dedication ceremony."It said 'times are changing' and they certainly are," Kirby said. "An all-in-one campus is extremely exciting. This shows that it can be done."Hughes, WSU's president since1993, has dramatically changed the way the university does business by opening outreach centers downtownand in west Wichita. He said getting people to recognize what an urban university was all about was a priority."We are interested in serving the entire metropolitan area and we can do that in partnerships," Hughes said. "What you see here is an exampleof that."Hughes said Pittsburg State University, which specializes in technical education, could become a partner as early as this fall."But the big player in this whole effort is Boeing and the 15,000 employees, and our neighbor down the road in Cessna and others," Hughessaid. "Post-secondary education is on the move in Kansas. If you give us the opportunity, we'll find a way to get it done."Germann said the South Side Education Center was important to his company because of the potential to train and retrain employees."The things we do today are not the things we will do tomorrow," Germann said. "A person who left (Boeing) five years ago would be surprisedtoday because they are not using the same skills. This is what education needs to do, to train the work force of the future."McAtee was delighted to be in the partnership. He said the teamwork that had taken place to make the center a reality was the result ofdirectives from a number of stateagencies."The Legislature, the StateBoard of Education and theDepartment of Education imploredus to work together cooperatively,"McAtee said. "We're doing withthisventure what they've asked usto do. We look for great things tohappen here."McAtee singled out ConradJimison, associate dean ofinstruction at Cowley, and GeneCole, Cowley's director of businessand industry, for helping putthe center together.2 7From left, Susan Sanders, Dr. Eugene Hughes, Dr. Pat fDr. Rosemary Kirby, and Michael Germann