MORAVIA — The scenery at Honey Creek State Resort may have been beautiful, but the Indian Hills Community College board couldn’t see it: The blinds were closed for the slideshow presentation on what the college needs to thrive in a tough economy.

While the overall goal, IHCC President Jim Lindenmayer said, was to serve the community, he talked about specific goals Monday during the 2009 board of trustees’ retreat.

“If we concentrate on the programs we already have, and focus only on the audience we have now, we’ll be lucky to be stagnant. We’ll go backwards,” Lindenmayer warned.

So it is important to retain students, but also to find new customers. And that requires new ideas every year. For example, more focus could be put on international students. And students from Job Corps will be another source of potential recruits. That means IHCC must have within their goals “ensure easy transitions” from Job Corps student to IHCC student.

And more students would come in if there were the right programs for them: Under consideration for development over the year are fire service training, dental assistant and occupational therapy assistant.

Marlene Sprouse, the chief academic officer for the college, said Indian Hills educators need to provide those services potential students want, and that’s usually whatever is required to find a good job.

So with employers — called “industry advisors” — counseling the school administrators and department heads, IHCC can develop programs people will sign up for, which is good for the college, and can get jobs in, which benefits the student, the employers and the community.

For example, Sprouse and Lindenmayer told board members there is a program that was suspended, the turf and freenhouse course of study; it did not have enough students to make it economically viable.

Industry advisors could help retool the program in such a way as to bring in a full classroom. That program is actually being considered for development. Courses under research last year are actually in place now, said Sprouse.

One new program, she said, is called Renewable Energy Technology, in which students learn to work for wind, solar and geothermal energy companies There’s a new program, too, for the modern surveyor called geospatial technology and a course to become an industrial technology educator.

Sprouse said the college is continuing a trend in the employee-hungry world of health care: Two new programs are medical laboratory assistant and clinical laboratory assistant.

Other goals for this school year include planning for another decrease in state funding. Luckily, said Lindenmayer, the recent big cut was somewhat softened by an increase in enrollment.

But money for running the school is going to be tight, he said. And that brought him to the goal that may be the most important on his 2009-10 to-do list.

Increased workload, restricted pay raises and asking employees to take unpaid furloughs can be tough on morale, Lindenmayer said.

“We’re up against something very formidable,” he said of the reduced funding. “This is not the fault of anyone at the college.”