EGCC grows, seeks more space

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Enrollment growth throughout the district prompted Eastern Gateway Community College to seek additional classroom space in the city and to purchase additional computers and furniture.

With enrollment up 12 percent for the spring semester, topping out at nearly 2,300, the college’s board of trustees authorized the college to negotiate a rental agreement with the Jewish Community Center, which is located across the street from the college’s Valley Center on Gypsy Lane.

The college has outgrown the Valley Center classroom space rented at the Northside Medical Center so nearby space at the Jewish Community Center is being sought for the summer and fall. Enrollment in Mahoning and Trumbull counties is up 366 percent and 192 percent, respectively, over this same period last year.

The actual spring figures for the district are 1,450 in Jefferson County, 284 in Mahoning County, 105 in Trumbull County and 99 in Columbiana County.

“In reviewing spring enrollment over time, we have shown a 21 percent five-year growth average,” said Patty Sturch, dean of enrollment management. “We are pleased to see the enrollment growth.”

The board also approved the purchase of computers for a computer lab at the Jewish Community Center; desks to allow rooms to be used as regular classrooms and computer labs at the Valley Center and Jewish Community Center; and laptop computers to support a mobile computer lab at the Valley Center and/or the Choffin Career Center in Youngstown. All purchases are designed to be portable.

In the election of officers, the board selected John Gilmore of Jefferson County as chairman; William Mullane of Trumbull County as vice chairman; and Marilyn Montes of Mahoning County as secretary.

Board meetings will be on a bimonthly basis with the 2011 meetings set for May 4, July 6, Sept. 7 and Nov. 2. The annual organizational meeting will be in November.

The college will be moving several administrative offices to the second floor of the Pugliese Center on the Jefferson County Campus this spring, and the board approved equipment purchases using capital funds.

Work for the Hope Coalition, a $14 million federal grant designed to provide eligible, low-income residents with the opportunity to obtain education and training for careers in health care, is moving forward, said Jacqueline McCoy, program director.

“We have had meetings with our partners to review progress and to hear recommendations,” she said. “Taking in the number of students being served by all the training providers, there are more students who meet the qualifications than we can serve with the program at this point. Staff members for the program are being hired throughout the district and marketing to students will begin in May.”

Dr. Holt Murray, director of critical care medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, was approved as the medical director for the respiratory therapy program.