By Gabrielle Fitzgerald
For some people, driving to the college campus is a long commute.
The college has a program called College Close to Home with a “selection of credit and continuing education courses offered at various locations in the Kansas City and Lawrence areas,” according to the college’s website. In order for this program to grow, the college is looking for a new building to house classes.
“First of all, we’re really strapped for space, instructional space, on the campus itself … another reason is for the sake of convenience,” said Dana Grove, executive vice president and education and development planning coordinator. “Some people just don’t want to drive more than 15, 20 minutes.”
The college currently has a few locations around the city, including King’s Cove and West Park, all of which Grove hopes will be relocated to this new building.
“You’ve got general education, you’ve got GED and ESL, and you’ve got cosmetology,” Grove said. “Those are three very different kinds of programs. And the idea is that if we could combine them into one [location], that might be more efficient for us … somewhere in the northern part of the county.”
Transferring these two locations to one larger building is cost-effective and beneficial to the economy.
“There’s cost savings in there when you’re talking about rental as opposed to what you’re bringing in as far as tuition is concerned,” Grove said.
“The ratio is really good…it’s very cost effective…Right now is a great market for lease space because of the economic downturn,” said Rex Hays, executive director of campus services. “Our lease agreements are very advantageous, so it’s very cost-effective.”
Not only is it important for the new building to be cost-effective, but it should also be comfortable and appealing to students.
“Our location in Lawrence is in a former elementary school and that’s…very approachable,” said Loralee Stevens, community outreach coordinator. “You walk in and there is someone waiting to say hello…Our philosophy is ‘yes.’ So if someone forgot a pencil and says, ‘Do you have a pencil?’ We’ll say, ‘Yes.’ Yes, we will give you a piece of paper because whatever it is, we really want to make sure instruction is not interrupted … and that learning can continue.”
One of the problems with finding this new location is the decision of where in the county it should be located. Grove said while it is necessary to plan ahead it is also necessary to cater to the locations of the students. Stevens said this can be determined by looking at the zip codes of current students.
“What’s the county going to look like in 20 years, even 50 years?” Grove said. “They say it’s moving southwest…And we want to see if that’s actually the case. And if so, then should we be looking down in that area to acquire some property … for the future. Even though the need may not be there now, who knows, 20 years from now, it could be.”
Grove said the ultimate decision belongs to the Board of Trustees, who gets the final say in whether the college purchases or rents a new building and what programs are relocated to it.
Contact Gabrielle Fitzgerald, reporting correspondent, at gfitzge1@stumail.jccc.edu.