"It is time to really look seriously at expanding."
A new look for a growing campus is in the near future.
It’s an expansion that will bring a whole new building to Kirtland Community College.
When Kirtland opened its Crawford County campus last year, classes filled quickly.
In response, Kirtland’s Grayling campus will build a new 40,000 square foot building next year to meet rising demand.
9&10’s Cody Boyer took a look at expansion plans and has more details.
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"Considering that we just opened this building less than a year ago, it is super exciting,” says Julie Lavender, Vice-President of Kirtland’s Instructional Services.
Kirtland’s grayling campus is getting a welcome addition.
“We need space,” Lavender says. “We need classroom space just for those pre-requisite classes, English, history, math."
“It’s meeting the needs of industry and the people in our communities, and so, if we add on medical programs, there’s jobs available for students, the demand is there for our colleagues in the medical industries,” says Tom Quinn, President of Kirtland Community College.
New rooms and more technology for students, like these cardiac sonography machines.
“There’s new technology and, in our program, alone, we have 10 to 12 machines, which gives us a ton of more scanning time,” says Katlin Kangas, a third-semester cardiac sonography student.
“We’re looking at a new program in computer sciences, which is generally computers with an eye on cyber security,” Quinn says. “We are also looking at two other areas for the college, one in advanced automation for the wood products industries."
The field to the north of the college is, in fact, where the new addition is planned to go.
To put size to perspective, that 40,000 square foot will be roughly half the size of the current facility.
“The whole new building will definitely bring a lot of new courses for other people interested in the medical field and stuff, more opportunities like, where I came from, there’s only a limited amount of courses that were offered,” Kangas says.
The college president says they hope to start construction next spring.
“For all of us here, it is really exciting,” Quinn says. “We went through a lot of work here on this campus. The chance again to really keep engaged in our communities, those are the things that are really exciting for us."
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