That joint effort of Iowa Central Community College and Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, then called Buena Vista College, debuted in 1975.

In the 50 years since then, 2,713 people have earned both an associate degree from Iowa Central and a bachelor’s degree from Buena Vista through that initiative.

The 50th anniversary of the program was marked Tuesday afternoon during a brief event in the Art and Technology Building on Iowa Central’s Fort Dodge campus.

One of the 2,713 graduates of the program is now helping to lead it. Iowa Central President Dr. Jesse Ulrich was a member of the Buena Vista Class of 2005 after earning his associate degree as a Triton.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Small pennants from Iowa Central Community College and Buena Vista University were displayed Tuesday afternoon in the Art and Technology Building at Iowa Central’s Fort Dodge campus during an event marking the 50th anniversary of a partnership between Iowa Central and Buena Vista University.

During his remarks Tuesday, Ulrich described his instructors from Buena Vista as “very impactful.” He singled out one of them, Phil Wormsley, a longtime educator in the Fort Dodge community. Wormsley, he said, was his academic adviser and a key to his success.

“Those are the types of impacts we want to continue to provide on our campus,” he said.

He said both Iowa Central and Buena Vista benefit from the strong support of their surrounding communities.

“The community support is very, very evident,” he said. “Our institutions are only as strong as the communities we serve.”

Dr. Brian Lenzmeier, president of Buena Vista, said the program is a “great example of what happens when people come together to create something good.”

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
Dr. Jesse Ulrich, president of Iowa Central Community College, speaks Tuesday afternoon during an event marking 50 years of a partnership between Iowa Central and Buena Vista University in Storm Lake. He earned his bachelor’s degree through the program offered by the two schools.

He said there are more than 1,000 Buena Vista alumni in Webster County and 800 of them earned their bachelor’s degree through the program.

According to Lenzmeier, the program lowers costs and creates access to higher education.

“We are grateful for this partnership,” he said.

Lenzmeier said the leadership teams of the two schools came together to try to figure out a way to provide a bachelor’s degree in Fort Dodge so that students who couldn’t travel out of town could earn one.

As a result of those discussions, the process for transferring from Iowa Central to Buena Vista was simplified. Buena Vista opened a center on the Fort Dodge campus and began offering bachelor’s degree classes there.

-Messenger photo by Bill Shea
A stuffed version of the beaver, which serves as the mascot for Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, was on display Tuesday afternoon during an event celebrating 50 years of partnership between Buena Vista and Iowa Central Community College.

“Really, at that point it was unique in the state,” Lenzmeier said.

The classes were on Monday and Thursday evenings. They were taught by professors from Buena Vista or Iowa Central, and sometimes by people from the community with knowledge of the subject being taught.

Today, most of the classes are offered online, but Buena Vista still has an academic advisor office on the Iowa Central campus.

Education and business have been the two most popular majors in the program, according to Lenzmeier.

He said about 80 percent of the program’s graduates stay in Iowa.