Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 23, 1994 TAG: 9408270005
SECTION: WELCOME STUDENTS PAGE: 73 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Long
When New River Community College begins running out of space, it starts to explore time.
The student crunch should not be too bad this fall. Enrollment is expected to number somewhere between 2,400 and 3,500-a figure that is never fully determined until the first week of classes. But the numbers have been as high as 4,000.
As recently as 1989, enrollment grew 21 percent, while general fund money from the state declined 25 percent, recalled Jack Lewis, dean of management services.
``It is difficult to walk down the halls sometimes'' from about 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., when most classes are in session, Lewis said.
It was thought that Godbey Hall - and, later, Martin and Rooker Halls - would be enough to meet the needs of a community college located on the doorstep of both Virginia Tech and Radford University.
``New River has been blessed with outstanding facilities. Now, at times, they are crowded,'' President Edwin Barnes said.
New River has a fourth building under construction, funded through a state bond issue passed in a referendum several years ago. The $3.8 million New River Valley Regional Center for Economic Development is targeted for completion by next May.
A $500,000 expansion to the library will add space by enclosing a deck under its roof. ``We are very crowded in there,'' said Doug Warren, dean of instruction and student services.
No other major construction is planned for the rest of this century. And even the new building will not relieve overcrowding so much as it will meet industrial training needs better. Warren said it could help indirectly by providing space for that training without having to use classrooms in existing buildings.
To ease crowded conditions, the college schedules classes at times other than the normal class periods, moving them to evenings and weekends.
``It's a solvable situation, usually,'' Warren said. ``We've even gone as early as seven o'clock in the morning.''
``We'll be all over the place, day and night,'' Barnes said. ``We've had some really weird classes. We've taught classes in the middle of the night ... We've taught everywhere, too. I remember teaching a class in a cafeteria.''
The campus still has three ``temporary'' mobile units obtained from the New River Vocational-Technical School in Radford in the mid-1960s. They are set up on one of the parking lots.
``We were going to get rid of those back in 1974, as I recall, or 1975,'' said Barnes. ``I taught in one of those.''
Some of the student growth will be absorbed by new delivery systems, called distance education technology, instead of new buildings.
``New River is the leader in the Virginia community college system in doing those things ... and we anticipate expanding those efforts,'' Barnes said. ``We are seeing more and more students who do not occupy space on a day-to-day basis.''
Instead, Warren explained, they will attend class through technologies such as the Blacksburg Electronic Village, cable television and other means of access. He predicted that, by 2000, electronic access will be a major means of instruction nationwide.
``Access is just going to take on new meaning,'' said Lewis. Instruction will be available electronically, even at home, he said. ``Imagine what that opportunity will be for access.''
A former Appalachian Power Co. office in Christiansburg is being renovated by the college as a distance education center; it should be open this fall.
It has space for only one conventional classroom, but students can register there, pick up study materials and take tests, among other things. It also will be more accessible to Floyd County students than the main campus and to the Newport area of Giles County.
Besides all that, New River will be one of 13 Virginia community colleges connecting with Old Dominion University by satellite this fall.
This will let students stay in the New River Valley and take classes electronically for bachelor's degrees in such areas as engineering technology, business administration and nursing.
Parking on campus also is a major problem, Lewis said. When enrollment was at its highest about two years ago, cars lined all the roads on campus and backed onto Virginia 100.
``When we have large enrollments, parking is as much a problem as classroom space,'' agreed Warren. ``We've just had to put the gravel down.''
The college has 919 paved parking spaces and 240 more where gravel has been spread to handle the overflow.
Last fall, with 3,028 enrollees, including 2,241 day students, 157 full-time employees and variable numbers of part-time faculty members, there was the potential for more than 2,400 cars vying for 1,159 spaces. Needless to say, Student Services encourages car pooling.
by CNB