By Rachel Brown
The Dalton State College building that opened three years ago to house the college’s Center for Continuing Education will be used for the social work department after the spring semester of 2010.
Meanwhile, the registrar’s office, financial aid and admissions will all move to the James Brown building, where the continuing education center was located, to be temporarily housed there while the Westcott Building is undergoing renovations.
John Hutcheson, DSC vice president for academic affairs, said that of the four full-time employees who worked in continuing education, one retired, one was hired as facilities manager, and the other two will be laid off.
“We can’t do severance pay, but we gave (the two employees) all the help we can to find other positions,” Hutcheson said.
College officials said in July that the continuing education department would close Dec. 31 after 41 years. They cited budget constraints and a potential to save $100,000 annually as reasons for the closure. The operating budget for the year was $431,000.
Center director Pam Partain said today is the last day employees were to report to work.
“I can tell you on all our behalf, it’s very sad over here,” Partain said on Monday. “It has been our tremendous privilege to serve the local community with continuing education classes. The feedback we have received has been tremendous. I hope that it’s not long before continuing education is back in some form.”
Partain said there were 1,981 students in continuing education courses since July 1. Students who enrolled in more than one class were counted more than once.
Partain said she hopes local organizations will help fill the void that will be left after the center closes. She said she’s spoken to the Creative Arts Guild about offering some of the classes. The center offered a variety of specialized classes including instruction in cake decorating, foreign languages, swimming, computer skills and job skills tailored to specific industries.
Renovations to the Westcott building began in the fall semester and will likely be complete in late spring, said vice president for fiscal affairs Scott Bailey. He said the current phase of the project is for $475,000 and is being paid for with money the Board of Regents allocates each year for renovations and construction.
Once the second half of the building is renovated, Westcott will house registration, financial aid and admissions offices all in one location as opposed to in several buildings scattered about campus.
“We call it a one-stop shop,” Bailey said. “We’re just trying to make the most of the space we have.”
Hutcheson said there are six full-time social work employees who will permanently move from their offices in the Liberal Arts building to the James Brown building at the end of spring semester.
“Right now they are basically in offices that don’t have windows,” Hutcheson said. “They haven’t had to double up yet, but they’re cramped for space.”
The third floor of the building has DSC Foundation offices, the Small Business Development Center and the Educational Technology Center. Several education classes are held in the Brown building.
