Dean of Academic Success and Institutional Effectiveness Bryan Reece said in an email that he and “a group of faculty, staff and managers have been working on an overhaul plan for the Learning Resource Center,” to help students with their individual class work.

The general planning for this project started about a year ago and the detail level in planning has been happening since November.

On March 31, Reece and the group of faculty, staff and managers presented the plans for the project to fellow staff members, and it was open to students as well.

Francie Quaas-Berryman, developmental education and success center coordinator is working with Reece and is excited for this project to get started.

Though she is not clear on when this project will start,  she says it will take place during the summer of 2011. “The minor construction will take place this summer, just to get it up enough, ” Quaas-Berryman said “So, we can get started in the fall; we don’t have a definite timeline on the development, but the major one will start the following summer.”

Quaas-Berryman is not definite about the time-line, because Reece mentioned in the meeting that it will be done by Fall 2012, because all the paperwork will be done by the summer of 2011.

“I can promise that the planning has been comprehensive,” Reece said, “and upon implementation will dramatically expand the academic services available to the students.”

Professor Anthony Fortner is looking forward to this project as well; he hopes that his department will help launch this project. “I hope we can use the resources and talent in woodworking to help build some of the desks and chairs to get this project started in a timely manner.”

The Language Success Center will be devoted to reading and writing, and will provide language and study skills services.

Anyone that has trouble in these areas can use this space to their needs.

It will include resources such as, technology and software, general study areas, faculty, tutor and instructional aid, private study rooms, workshop areas, testing and assessment areas, clerical and check-in-support; storage areas, and faculty and staff office space.

Among the people who were in the crowd listening to the meeting was president of the college Linda Lacy, and she said after the meeting that,

“This is exactly what I asked for, it’s a vision of where I want to be; Bryan is doing a great job and this is not a one person endeavour and he has a lot of talented people who are willing to work.”

The Math Success Center will be focused for math and study skills services, it is going to be devoted to students who need help in areas regarding math.

That area will be occupied with the cubicles that are in the study rooms upstairs in the library, and the computers where this area currently occupies are going to be transferred to where the study rooms are.

The Student Success Office is the purple area and it will be designed to help students for planning, teaching and basic skills for students who need questions answered.

The Open Computer Labs area is designed to be a “new” area that will maintain 200 computers and it will be an open lab section for students, some stations will be for stand-only use.

Reece talked about the budget for this project. The money that will go into this is going to come from the General Obligation Bond (a voter approved GO bond), and Vintage Savings Fund, related to the retirement home next to the college.

“It can only be used for student success, so we definitely qualify for it.”