MOUNT VERNON — “The Knox County campus of COTC is developing beautifully,” is what Dr. Bonnie Coe, president of Central Ohio Technical College, told members of City Council Monday night.
Coe, along with Joel Daniels, Knox campus administrator, and Diane Henwood, chairwoman of COTC’s capital campaign, appeared before council to update it on the status of the Knox campus. Coe thanked council for its financial support of $700,000 to COTC and $300,000 to Mount Vernon Nazarene University.
“We collectively celebrate that $1 million investment in downtown Mount Vernon,” she said.
Coe said the college underwent its 10-year reaccreditations in May. College officials had requested the Knox campus be allowed to skip the second level of accreditation, that of offering full degrees, and jump to the highest level, that of being a full-service campus.
“The Knox campus was indeed approved as a full-service campus,” said Coe.
Noting that parking had been discussed with council on earlier occasions, Coe said COTC has purchased the parking lot located behind Ariel Hall. In addition to the city allowing COTC to use the lot at South Gay and East Ohio Avenue, Coe said COTC has leased the adjacent lot. Additional parking is available at The Dan Emmett Convention Center.
The college is about two weeks out from the start of fall quarter.
“We have over 100 course offerings this fall, compared to about 70 at this time last year,” said Daniels. “We have 351 students registered to the Knox Campus for fall quarter, which starts on Sept. 24. We are anticipating approaching 400 students for our campus this fall.”
Daniels said Knox Metropolitan Housing moved out of the building at 236 S. Main St. on Friday, to its new location on West High Street. Knox campus officials will move from their current office on South Mulberry Street into the space formerly occupied by metropolitan housing; the move is anticipated in late December. Daniels said John Lambert of Ameriprise Financial still has offices in the COTC building; he, too, will be moving at the end of the year.
Daniels said administration on the Knox campus consists of himself, two admissions counselors and one clerical person.
“We’ll carry that staffing for the next two or three years,’ he said. “Last fall, I think we had 35 to 40 instructors. A lot are part time; a lot are from the community.”
Coe spoke briefly about the college’s $6.5 million capital campaign, which is the amount estimated is needed to totally renovate the 33,000-square-foot building. Coe said the campaign has received huge support in Knox County, with about $3.5 million having been raised thus far for renovations. A total of $4.3 million has been raised, but $850,000 went toward the purchase of the building. The campaign will end Dec. 31.
Coe cited several future funding sources which look positive, including contributions from the Community Foundation of Mount Vernon and Knox County, Jeld Wen, Honda, and the Kresge, Crock and Kellogg foundations.
Henwood said several fundraisers have been held, one of which will be running from Sept. 15 through Oct. 15. Patrons to the Parkside Restaurant can turn in a Certificate of Support when dining at Parkside; for each certificate received, owner Jeff Boucher will contribute 10 percent of the bill to the capital campaign.
Another fundraising event is a spaghetti dinner planned for Sept. 29, also at Parkside. Ascetta Bread Co., Lannings Foods, Smithhisler Meats and Oxley Food Service have also contributed supplies for the dinner.
