SMCC offering early classes to ease traffic congestion

SOUTH PORTLAND — Southern Maine Community College will offer 10 early-morning classes in the spring 2013 semester, with start times of 7 and 7:30 a.m.

The improved flexibility in the schedule is designed to serve two purposes, according to the school. The early classes will provide more options for SMCC’s increasingly diverse student population, many of whom are working professionals or have family demands. The change will also help to ease traffic congestion on Broadway, the main South Portland artery to SMCC, during the morning commute.

Last month, city and school officials held a meeting to discuss traffic congestion on Broadway between Cottage Road and the Southern Maine Community College campus.

“We are always looking for ways to better serve our students. Early morning classes may appeal to students who would like to take a class before they go to work; we are interested in testing demand. Early morning classes may also help to alleviate some morning commuter traffic,” said SMCC Vice President Janet Sortor. “We will offer general education courses, those core classes that appeal to a broad range of students and are required by all programs at SMCC.”

The courses include Introduction to Literature, English Composition, Introduction to Psychology, College Algebra, Introduction to Algebra and Introduction to Sociology, with more than one class in several of the subjects planned.

The new course times are designed to serve a broad range of needs at the college, giving working professionals, parents and transfer students more class times from which to choose. Many of SMCC’s students are professionals seeking to retool their skills; 162 already hold associate degrees, 224 hold bachelor’s degrees and 20 have a master’s.

According to a recent survey of SMCC’s matriculated students, 28.5 percent work full-time, and 42.9 percent work part-time. These types of general education courses are also transferable to other area colleges – so students from other schools can attend the early SMCC classes.

The increased traffic has come as SMCC has grown. In 2003, the college served 3,505 students. This fall, the school has 7,574 full-time students, with roughly 5,600 taking at least one class on the South Portland campus.

“It is a racetrack to a college degree,” Broadway resident Pam Thomas of her road at the meeting last month. “We’re all for the college, don’t get me wrong, but we’ve all had to adjust our schedules to accommodate the students.”

Adjusting class start times is one of several strategies the college is pursuing to address these concerns, the school said.

Students can also ride area buses for free, funded through parking fees. The school encourages students and staff to take alternative means of transportation into the South Portland campus, including biking, skateboarding, walking and more. The school has several parking areas on campus designated for high-occupancy vehicles used for carpooling.

SMCC has opened its Midcoast Campus at Brunswick Landing, in part as a way to deal with capacity issues. Close to 400 students attend school there now, and SMCC hopes to grow that number to 2,000.

The Spring semester starts Jan. 14. The early-morning classes will be evaluated, to see if there is student demand for them and if they help mitigate traffic issues. If successful, the school could look into expanding early-morning offerings.