THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, March 22, 1995 TAG: 9503220262
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PHILIP WALZER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
There are twice as many classrooms, twice as many computers. And, student Ken Taylor said, ``We even have an actual student lounge.''
For professors and students, the new Suffolk campus of Paul D. Camp Community College is heaven.
``It just feels more like a college campus than the other place,'' Sonya Jordan, the student president, said Tuesday.
The new Oliver K. Hobbs Suffolk campus opened on Kenyon Road in January. On Tuesday, it was formally dedicated. The guest speaker was former Gov. Mills E. Godwin Jr., who launched the state's community college system in the late 1960s.
The two-year college's main campus is in Franklin. Since 1982, it had operated a Suffolk center in a former social services office on Pinner Street.
Robert L. Tureman, an assistant professor of management information systems, said there's a big difference: ``Pinner Street was small and cramped. While we had some good equipment, you didn't have everything. For the first time in the history of the college, we've got the chance to build this right.''
Added John Patterson, a biology instructor: ``We even have gas outlets'' for experiments. ``We didn't have them there.''
The $3.6 million campus was financed by a general obligation bond issue approved by state voters in 1992.
Paul D. Camp's expanded presence in Suffolk reflects the growing popularity of community colleges, as the state's four-year schools tighten admission standards and raise their tuition. Tidewater Community College is planning to open a Norfolk campus next year.
TCC also has a campus straddling the border between Portsmouth and Suffolk. But Paul D. Camp officials say their new campus is better situated, in the middle of the sprawling city, to meet the needs of residents.
The one-story red-brick building has 33,000 square feet, more than double the size of the old facility.
It features 80 computers in two labs and 15 workstations in a science lab. Classrooms hold 30 people, compared with 15 at Pinner Street.
Paul D. Camp has about 1,600 students, 530 of them at Suffolk. Enrollment at Suffolk has not changed this semester, but with the new campus, it could jump to 900, President Jerome J. Friga said.
``With this new campus, we will be able to do a full and thorough job in Suffolk,'' Friga said. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
MICHAEL KESTNER/Staff
Dorothy Edwards, left, and Willie Byrum work on computers at the new
Suffolk campus of Paul D. Camp Community College. The speaker at
Tuesday's dedication was former Gov. Mills E. Godwin Jr., who
started the state's community college system.
by CNB