IWCC IS CONTINUING TO GROW

  Dr. Dan Kinney, President of Iowa Western Community College (IWCC), described to club members the recent developments on campus and plans for future growth.  According to Kinney, IWCC enrollment has grown 29% mainly due to on-campus student housing.  Another housing unit is under construction and one more is planned.  Kinney noted that education at IWCC is more economical that at major state universities and campus administrators have been working for efficient transfer of course credits.  The approval of the recent bond issue will allow for expansion on the healthcare program, Kinney explained, to meet the acute needs for nurses and health technicians.  While IWCC is graduating 72 nurses per year, the need in SW Iowa is 410, Kinney noted.  The new and expanded facilities will include hospital labs, surge technician lab, para-medic lab, and dental hygiene lab with current technologies plus general purpose class rooms, all to be operational in 2010.  Kinney explained that expansion of the culinary arts program is planned to enlarge the kitchen and dining rooms.  That will include a change of the library facility also perhaps to a cyber-library setting with more electronic text files and fewer book shelves.  Expansion of the Arts Center is planned to facilitate productions.  With student growth and technical developments there will always be a need to address educational programs, class room space, student housing, and eventually parking, Kinney noted, and this is a challenging, but exciting part of campus administration.