BC3 campus still growing to meet community needs
BUTLER TWP — Administrators at Butler County Community College are celebrating 40 years of growth and are planning for another 40.
There are 3,809 full-time and part-time students from Butler and surrounding counties enrolled in credit programs and 15,762 students in non-credit programs.
Twenty buildings are on the college's 323-acre campus — two were built in the past five years.
"We've grown so quickly in the last five years, just to accommodate the students, we had to build," said Lynn Burtner, vice president of finance and administration.
The Science, Technology and Cultural Center opened in June 2002. It houses natural and applied science classrooms and a 450-seat theater.
Susan Changon, BC3 spokeswoman, said the building was driven and supported by the faculty at the college.
"The faculty were involved from the ground floor," she said.
The center and the Public Safety Training Facility cost $17.5 million.
The college has about 200 full-time and 1,000 part-time employees.
The faculty, she said, wanted state-of-the-art laboratories and equipment so students graduating from the science programs knew how to work with the best equipment available.
The old building was too small and presented problems for some of the high-precision programs.
For example, Changon said, the metrology students would have to move the sensitive equipment used for exact measurement. Any bumps and shifts could cause the equipment to loose calibration.
"They needed their own space to expand and take more students," Changon said.
Since the science wing of the center has opened, the metrology program has grown from three to 20 students, Changon said. The rare program's enrollment is nearing the numbers it had many years ago."We're seeing the fruits of (building the center)," Changon said.BC3 added a manufacturing program when it opened the center. The program is advised by professionals in the field who saw the need for trained employees for manufacturers. It also opened its first robotics lab.The center's theater has been as important to the community as the science wing is to the students, Changon said.The entertaining, professional programs the college brings to the Succop Theater each year give residents a less expensive alternative to driving to Pittsburgh, paying for gas and parking, and buying more expensive tickets."We hope to have a nice, comfortable venue with free parking and first-class entertainment," Changon said.At the same time the center opened, the college built its safety training facility."It allowed us to offer more advanced training," Changon said.The facility covers five acres at the north end of campus. Fire safety professionals and volunteers from Western Pennsylvania learn theory in the large classrooms and then apply it at a specially designed burn tower, a fire training building or a number of hard-to-fight fire structures.Changon said many volunteers who had never tried to put out a burning propane tank before, for instance, have learned at the facility."I think we've learned since 9-11 that first responders are important to society," Changon said. "It's been important to have the facility in Butler County."A donation of The Succop Conservancy off Route 8 has also added to the visibility of the college in the community.A main house on the property has been updated and used for weddings and corporate events.After the driveway, parking lot and electrical works were redone, the BC3 Educational Foundation, which owns the property, is focused on turning the barn into a usable building.The barn will eventually be weatherized and updated with plumbing and electric, according to Bill Spiedel, executive director of the foundation.In compliance with the wishes of the donor, the barn will be updated with energy-saving "green building" principals, he said."We want to preserve the feel of a barn, but also make it high-tech," Spiedel said.Though planning for the project is just beginning, Spiedel expects a gift shop and a large space for dance classes and other large gatherings to be on the bottom floor of the barn.The college is also in the beginning stages of planning a student service center. The building will group the offices of admission, registrar, bookstore and financial aid under one roof.Changon said the building will add convenience for students who often need to go from one office to another.
