ITT shutdown spurs offer by Metropolitan Community College

Metropolitan Community College is reaching out to students left stranded when ITT Technical Educational Services on Tuesday discontinued classes at all its campuses nationwide.

MCC announced Wednesday that all five of its campuses — Blue River, Longview, Penn Valley, Business & Technology, and Maple Woods — are looking to work with students displaced by ITT as they search for alternative higher education options.

ITT, which operated a campus in Kansas City and another in Overland Park, announced the immediate suspension of its classes on Tuesday.

MCC officials said they have already started receiving calls from ITT students looking for help. Jackie Gill, president of MCC-Business &Technology campus, said she had heard whispers about a week ago in higher education circles that ITT might be shuttering its doors.

“We began then talking about what we might do to welcome these students,” Gill said.

MCC staff, she said, is available to discuss program options and transition assistance for former ITT students.

“We want to see students succeed, and when someone is faced with the obstacle of a school closing unexpectedly, they can look to MCC to provide support as they work to get their dreams of success back on track,” Gill said.

ITT students interested in MCC programs can contact Admissions Coordinator Muna Dempsey at 816-604-5212 or muna.dempsey@mcckc.edu .

MCC also announced a career exploration event at 6 p.m. Sept. 15 on the MCC-Business & Technology campus at 1775 Universal Ave, Kansas City. Attendees can learn what programs are offered, meet with instructors, tour the facility and speak with an adviser. Register at GoldCollarJobs.com.

Meanwhile, two employees laid off by the parent company of ITT Technical Institute filed a lawsuit claiming the company violated federal law by not providing 60 days’ notice.

Allen Federman, a business analyst at ITT Educational Services Inc.’s Carmel, Ind., headquarters, and Steve Ryan, an instructor at two ITT Technical Institute locations in California, filed the complaint Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Delaware.

The lawsuit seeks class-action status on behalf of the 8,000 employees who are losing their jobs as a result of ITT’s decision to shut down all 130 ITT Technical Institute campuses in 38 states.

ITT spokeswoman Nicole Elam called the campus closures “a complicated process.” Elam also said that “all matters involving students and personnel are priorities.”

This story was originally published September 7, 2016 at 5:46 PM with the headline "ITT shutdown spurs offer by Metropolitan Community College."