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New KC Campus classes begin on Monday

In mid-December, after a busy week of final exams at the Vandalia Education Center at 722 School St., the staff at the site packed up and moved to their new location, the Vandalia Campus at 2310 W. Fillmore St.

As boxes were carted off to the new location, the Vandalia Staff worked hard to ensure that classes would start at the new location on Jan. 14.

Most of the move involved unpacking new technical equipment, such as computers printers, copiers, etc.

Like most new state-of-the-art buildings, the new campus is filled with beautiful new furniture and state of the art equipment inside and out.

All items left behind at the old center, such as furniture, were donated to its neighbor, Vandalia Community School District. The school district was very pleased to get many student desks, whiteboards, file cabinets and other nice furniture. They said it a great gift to the community.

The new campus opened its doors on Tuesday, Dec. 18, for the community to take care of fall semester business and register for the spring semester classes.

This January will begin a new chapter in history for Kaskaskia College as it opens its doors to the first college students in its new branch campus. The college and the community are both very excited to see this dream come true.

The staff at the Vandalia Campus include Mary Schulze, Director; Janice Eischens, Assistant Coordinator and Community Education Liaison; Ed Parker and Terry Combs, custodial staff; and M. A. Freeland who works part-time as an academic advisor.

Student workers include Braxton Denton, Ashli Wasmuth and Shayla Branham

Together, the staff plan to make the Vandalia Campus a full-service campus. There will also be support personnel from the Centralia campus come to Vandalia to assist students with such needs as financial aid, recruiting and business and industry training.

Just one highlight of the new campus is the extension of the nursing program to the area. The first Licensed Practical Nurse class will begin this spring in a new fully equipped health care lab. The lab has five hospital beds and a fully functional handicap bathroom. The LPN and CNA students registered for this semester will be the first to enjoy the new surroundings.

A registered nurse’s program is planned to begin in the fall of 2008. This facility will make it possible for more nursing students to graduate in the Kaskaskia College district.

The Vandalia Campus will also open its doors to the community as it houses a Community Technology Center. The lab is equipped with twenty-four computers and is open to the public.

The college will also hold community education classes in this space to help train the citizens in such things as computer understanding, Internet and e-mail and how to use the software installed on the computers, such as Publisher and Microsoft Office. These computers were funded by a $35,000 grant from the Bridge the Digital Divide grant program the state of Illinois has made available.

With a full schedule of classes at the Vandalia Campus, it will be just a few days before the students and instructors will be filling the classrooms at the new Kaskaskia College branch campus in Vandalia.

The staff and the Vandalia Campus invite everyone from the community to stop by and visit the new location. An Open House will be scheduled this spring.

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