June 20 – VAN WERT – Members of the Northwest State Community College board of trustees, along with media representatives and other invited guests, got their first glimpse Thursday of what will be the future home of an NSCC branch campus in Van Wert.
College officials expect the under-renovation location at 520 E. Sycamore St. to open its doors to college students in January 2025.
The prearranged open house was buoyed Thursday by a surprise announcement from Todd Hernandez, NSCC president, that $3.4 million in state capital budget funding has been approved by the Ohio Legislature for use in completing the Van Wert facility.
“I received a call last night from State Rep. Roy Klopfenstein saying that our application for funding from the state’s One Time Strategic Community Improvement Fund had been approved,” Hernandez said.
Klopfenstein, R-Haviland, represents the 82nd House District. Hernandez said the board applied for $3.4 million in funding without expecting to receive the full amount. The NSCC president said state funding will pay for a larger portion of the project than expected.
Dr. Jon Tomlinson, dean of the Van Wert campus, said Thursday’s event highlighted an effort that began five years ago when the college acquired a vacant building that once housed Kennedy Manufacturing. The coronavirus caused unexpected delays in transforming the vacant factory into a higher education space, but a representative from Alexander & Bebout, the project’s general contractor, told the gathered crowd that “bids are going out today” and would be awarded sometime in July must be used for the remaining work.
Board members and other guests were invited by Tomlinson to sign their names and inspirational messages for students on a wall in the new building.
While the location won’t be ready for students at the start of fall classes, Tomlinson said a partnership with OhioHealth Van Wert Hospital will allow up to 25 students to attend classes there during the fall quarter. Many of these students could receive financial assistance through a First Course Free program offered by the university.
Scholarships are good for the Fall 2024 semester for one class (three credit hours). Recipients must be newly admitted to Northwest State Community College for the fall 2024 semester and cannot be a current student, and they must reside in Paulding, Van Wert or Putnam counties or surrounding counties. See the college’s website, NorthwestState.edu, for more information.
Hernandez said once renovations are complete at the new location, Van Wert will become NSCC’s second full-service campus, offering two-year degrees in areas such as accounting, IT, trades, banking and finance, electrical engineering and others. Earned credits are transferable to four-year courses at partner colleges.
Tomlinson said NSCC is hosting a job fair for people interested in part-time teaching positions at the university. One-hour online sessions will be held via Zoom at 10am and 5pm on Wednesday 26 June. One-hour in-person sessions will take place on Thursday, June 27 at 10am and 5pm in the NSCC Atrium, 22600 state Route 34, Archbold. For more information or to register, visit careers.northweststate.edu.
