New CIT shape: Bricks and mortar

Moving beyond a vision of the Colorado Institute of Technology as a statewide network of high-tech training centers, state officials are now focused on establishing a separate campus and faculty for the institute.

Newly appointed state Secretary of Technology Marc Holtzman said in a Northern Colorado Business Report interview that he and Colorado higher-education officials now plan a free-standing institute housing 6,000 students and graduating 1,500 to 2,000 information-technology professionals annually.

“We’re now looking at the institute from two different perspectives,” Holtzman said. “One is short-term, beginning as early as September of next year. We want to have in place CIT courses, CIT-credentialed faculty and CIT scholarships supporting hundreds if not thousands of students from the very beginning.”

But Holtzman’s long-term view of the institute is vastly different from one described after meetings earlier this year among Colorado Commission on Higher Education officials.

The earlier plan called for an institute that would not have a brick-and-mortar campus, employ a separate faculty or even grant four-year degrees.

Holtzman said competition from other states and demand from employers had combined to change his and Gov. Bill Owens’ thinking about the institute.

“What you are going to see, and what we are already seeing, is different states and regions taking creative and innovative approaches,” he said. “Gov. Owens passionately believes that if Colorado does not take steps to address this, we stand to lose a tremendous competitive advantage that we now enjoy.”

Holtzman said the insititute was still “four to five years away from being realized,” but that the seeds would be sown with initial CIT offerings beginning next fall.

A separate campus and faculty would require a budget of “$150 million and up,” Holtzman said. “We’ll certainly be north of that number. ä Our first investments will be in scholarship support, recruiting of talented students that might not otherwise consider Colorado and faculty compensation.”

The CIT budget will come from corporate grants that supplement state funds, including $2 million set aside for the coming year.

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