Eastern Shore colleges outline workforce training, capital needs and enrollment recovery

Leaders from the Eastern Shore’s colleges and universities told the delegation on Jan. 31, 2025, that enrollment is recovering after the pandemic and that institutions are expanding workforce training and seeking state capital and operating support to meet regional needs.

The group — which included presidents or representatives from Cecil College, Chesapeake College, Salisbury University, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES), University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), Washington College, and Warwick Community College — described new training programs, mobile equipment for trade training, and specific capital projects that would increase local capacity for health care, skilled trades and cultural programming.

Mary Bolt, president of Cecil College, said the college’s accelerated nursing program (a three‑year, one‑year accelerated cohort for students with prerequisites completed) has a third cohort with more than 38 applicants. She said Cecil will open a cybersecurity range in April and noted partnerships producing utility-worker training where Delmarva paid for both training and stipends for nine students who completed utility industry certifications.

Salisbury University President Lynn Laprie described the SURGE program to support small-business growth for minorities and veterans and said the university secured $2 million in Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) funding and $12 million in private donations for a proposed downtown Salisbury performing‑arts center. She and other university leaders urged continued state operating and capital support to expand nursing and health‑care training capacity.

UMCES President Fernando Miralles Villamil summarized a FEMA‑funded natural shoreline flood‑mitigation and living‑shoreline optimization project on the Choptank River; he said the federal program will fund analysis, design and construction work over three years with an expected project budget of about $16 million.

UMES President Heidi Anderson reiterated the university’s growth and focus on STEM and health professions and renewed the campus request for development of a veterinary program to retain Maryland students who are otherwise leaving state for training. She said UMES has seen four consecutive years of fall enrollment growth and emphasized the university’s HBCU-designated priorities.

Washington College President Mike Sasolski and Chesapeake College representatives described an innovation hub and a mobile welding lab. Sasolski said a Wareheim School of Business will be seeded with a $15 million private gift and that collaborative projects — including an innovation plant in Chestertown and a mobile innovation lab — are designed to support entrepreneurship and workforce development across the upper Shore.

Warwick Community College President Deb Casey noted demand and wait lists for welding and power‑line utility programming; she said Warwick was selected for a $5.7 million Disability Innovations grant that will partner with school districts, juvenile justice and police academies to build alternative pipelines into education.

College leaders repeatedly raised concern about the state budget climate and asked delegates to restore hold‑harmless funding levels for community colleges and to protect capital‑project funding. Several presidents described specific proposed capital projects on the governor’s list (Queen Anne’s Tech building, Salisbury performing arts center, UMES veterinary school planning) and asked for continued advocacy in Annapolis.

Provenance: the colleges’ presentations begin with Cecil College’s remarks and conclude with closing comments from college presidents and the delegation’s thanks.