LIHU’E — Gov. Linda Lingle, on a visit to Kaua’i on Thursday, symbolically released $10 million for improvements at the Kaua’i Community College in Puhi to centralize and improve services for its 1,200 students. During the meeting at the Lihu’e
LIHU’E — Gov. Linda Lingle, on a visit to Kaua’i on Thursday, symbolically released $10 million for improvements at the Kaua’i Community College in Puhi to centralize and improve services for its 1,200 students.
During the meeting at the Lihu’e Civic Center, Lingle handed a ceremonial check of $10 million to KCC Chancellor Peggy Cha earmarked for building the first phase of a “one-stop center” at the Puhi campus.
The center would house administration offices, student services and academic support offices, which currently operate in various buildings on the campus.
The new center will allow for testing and career planning, and “will remove restrictions to their careers,” Cha said.
The various offices will provide services for enrolling students, testing, counseling, financial aid, registration and business office services, state officials said. The design of the project was completed last month, and construction is anticipated to be finished by August, 2006.
The project was included in the UH Board of Regents’ capital improvement budget for supplemental year 2004-2005, and university leaders ranked it as a priority project.
Members of the Accreditation Commission for Community and Junior Colleges found the location and space assignments of offices in operation now interfere with the quality of services to students.
Lingle said the operation of the new facility is pivotal to continued accreditation of the KCC campus, and “so this is a priority.” The governor said the release of the funds for the center is tied to “her responsibility” to maintaining the accreditation of the entire UH system, consisting of 10 campuses.
The new facility at KCC will greatly enhance opportunities for students to get four-year and advanced degrees without having to leave the island, Cha said.
“A person can get an MBA or a master’s (degree) in nursing without having to leave home,” Cha said.
The center “will enhance our services, and we really appreciate our governor’s support,” she said.
Currently, the student services program operates at the campus center, and the administration and university center programs operate at a learning resource building.
The office buildings that will become empty when the school services are relocated will be used by various departments, Cha said.
The second phase of the project will house the college’s Office of Continuing Education and Training (OCET) program and the bookstore.
Presently, the OCET operates from temporary portable buildings and faces limited space as well as a lack of integrated technologies that are needed to adequately plan, coordinate and administer non-credit, short-term courses and activities, KCC officials said.
- Lester Chang, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) and lchang@ kauaipubco.com.
