CCC&TI sets enrollment record

By Scott Nicholson
nicholson@wataugademocrat.com

The Watauga campus of Caldwell Community College & Technical Institute showed a record enrollment for the fall semester, just in time for a planned expansion set to break ground in November.

Sandra Phillips, executive director of the Watauga campus, told the CCC& TI Board of Trustees Wednesday that the campus had a current enrollment of 1,268 students, up about 10 percent over last fall. Of those, 490 were new students. The biggest growth was in the number of full-time students, which had doubled to a total of 616 people.

Phillips also hailed the success of the Huskins courses, which allow high school students to achieve college credit during high school. There are 112 Watauga High School students enrolled in 21 different Huskins courses at CCC&TI, and Anderson said the students would save the equivalent of $34,000 in higher-education tuition. A writing center is scheduled to open on the campus Oct. 1, which should help more students develop basic skills outside the classroom.

With the Watauga County commissioners in attendance, CCC&TI president Ken Boham said the college had benefited from county support but added, “There are still challenges to meet.” He said additional funding would expand cooperative efforts between the college and high school, particularly in vocational and technology courses.

Noting the commissioners had attended a ground-breaking ceremony for the new Watauga High School earlier in the day, he said the cooperation couldn’t be stagnant until the new school opened. “We can’t wait until 2010,” Boham said. “We need to utilize the space we have and that we can find.”

Gary Childers, former Watauga High School principal and head of Watauga’s branch of the Building and Grounds Committee, said bids for Phase II of the campus expansion would go out in October, with construction likely to begin in mid-November. The 14,000-square foot facility will contain the nursing program and allied health program, occupational training building, with an art classroom and a physical education and weight-lifting room. The building will also contain maintenance storage space.

Childers reported the plans had been approved by the Office of State Construction. Trustee Bill Miller said the news was welcome, as he recalled days when community college classes were scattered across the county. “Classes were held in the old bus station, the high school, and the old health department,” he said.
“Everything will be right here and I think that’s a great move.”

Phillips announced a partnership between the Watauga Basic Skills Center and the Children’s Council, with parents who are taking skill classes receiving free babysitting. The classes are held in the Playhouse of Boone, and Phillips anticipates English as a Second Language classes to be scheduled in the same fashion.

Phillips said students continued to be involved in service projects, which she said “is one of the ways we try to give back to the community.” She also said a committed faculty and staff was the college’s greatest asset.

CCC&TI broke the 4,000 mark in enrollment this fall, counting students in both Watauga and at the main campus in Hudson.