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Carr family uses SCC as springboard to further education - News - The Hawk Eye Newspaper - Burlington, IA

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Carr family uses SCC as springboard to further education - News - The Hawk Eye Newspaper - Burlington, IA

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The biggest change since I went to school here is more emphasis on career technology. Thats great because our society needs that. We need more help on the manufacturing side with auto collision, auto tech, ag, so those programs have really grown up and I think the state of Iowa has been a great partner to grow those. Kevin Carr SCCs vice president of administrative services

SCC numbers Students 2,865 Programs of study

and degrees 40 plus Faculty full-time 75 Adjunct instructors 96

Next Big Thing Ground will be broken on the new residence halls in late March or early April.

Did You Know? From 1973 to 1983 there was at least one Carr walking the halls of the West Burlington campus. In total, Bill and Nancy Carr sent all eight of their children to SCC for either one or two years.

WEST BURLINGTON Southeastern Community College serves the community, but its also the Carr family college.

From 1973 to 1983, there was at least one Carr walking the halls of the West Burlington campus. In total, Bill and Nancy Carr sent all eight of their children to SCC for either one or two years.

Because of that connection, Daniel Carr, a 1982 alumnus, Gary Carr, 74, and Kevin Carr, 79, donated $25,000 to the Building the Dream capital campaign in honor of their parents.

The Bill and Nancy Carr Classroom will be located in the new Health Professions Center under construction. Along with their parents, the three sons will be recognized on a plaque outside the classroom.

Kevin is the only Carr remaining in Burlington. His four sisters and three brothers now are scattered in Minneapolis, Omaha, Neb., Des Moines, Kansas City, Mo. and Dallas. His parents now live in Kansas City.

All of my siblings went to Notre Dame and it was an expectation all of us would get a four-year degree and that we would go through SCC, Kevin said. My folks thought SCC provided a great education and great value. We didnt have a lot of extra value, so she wanted to make sure we started off on a good financial footing when we got out of college. My folks set the expectation, and we didnt believe there was any other way.

All of the Carr kids shared John Cavanah as a counselor.

He helped develop and ask good questions as far as what we wanted to have a degree in, Kevin said. Of course, when I was a freshman, I didnt know other than a general business degree. So John helped me with basic English, economic courses, etc. It was a great education and so when I went down to Truman State, right away there I fine-tuned what a business degree meant for me, and Truman took it from there. But SCC launched me with a great educational background and, luckily enough, no debt. That was the value and good education my folks expected.

Kevin spent one year at SCC during the 1978-79 school year before transferring to Truman State University in Kirksville, Mo., where he received his bachelors degree in accounting in 1982. He went to work in Kansas City, Mo., for an accounting firm, then moved back to Burlington in 1997. He became SCCs vice president of administrative services Jan. 1, 2014.

He specifically remembered taking a speech class his freshman year and a math course with Don Kreckel.

I come back here in 2014 and Professor Kreckel is still teaching, Kevin said. Hes a great teacher. Those were some of my favorite courses.

I had a chance to know and meet Dr. (Michael) Ash (SCC president), and I love his leadership style and positive way of addressing all things, Kevin said. So that really attracted me back to SCC.

Hes the colleges chief financial officer, in charge of all facilities and involved in leading the construction on both the West Burlington and Keokuk campuses.

Carr said the health professions building in West Burlington is more than 70 percent complete. He anticipates a May 10 completion date, with furniture delivered June 15. Ground will be broken on the new residence halls late March or early April with anticipated completion by October.

Kevin said SCC is still accomplishing the same goals it did in the 70s.

Providing that springboard, Kevin said. Its a great education and, of course, I was focused on the arts and sciences, so I was focused on a four-year degree. The biggest change since I went to school here is more emphasis on career technology. Thats great because our society needs that. We need more help on the manufacturing side with auto collision, auto tech, ag, so those programs have really grown up, and I think the state of Iowa has been a great partner to grow those.

The Building the Dream capital campaign supports SCCs construction initiative of the same name. It includes the new Health Professions Center and the Hall of Sciences on the West Burlington campus, and the Industrial Technologies Training Center on the Keokuk campus. With an estimated total project cost of $27 million, it is the largest, most comprehensive infrastructure investment undertaken by SCC since 1995.

In the past year, 400 donors have raised about 75 percent of the campaigns $12 million fundraising goal.

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Carr family uses SCC as springboard to further education

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"The biggest change since I went to school here is more emphasis on career technology. That's great because our society needs that. We need more help on the manufacturing side with auto collision, auto tech, ag, so those programs have really grown up and I think the state of Iowa has been a great partner to grow those."

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2017 Year in Review: SCC's skyline keeps on growing - News - The Hawk Eye Newspaper - Burlington, IA

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2017 Year in Review: SCC's skyline keeps on growing - News - The Hawk Eye Newspaper - Burlington, IA

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WEST BURLINGTON - Southeastern Community College saw the completion of two new buildings and the start of another in 2017, and it's bound to see more in coming years as the college moves ahead with its Facilities Master Plan, which details renovation, replacement and growth projects through 2022.

Since January, SCC finished Blackhawk Tower Residence Hall on the West Burlington campus and the Industrial Technology Training Center in Keokuk.

Construction of the West Burlington John H. Witte Jr. Hall of Sciences began in March and is expected to be complete by July 2018. That building will connect to the Great River Health Systems Health Professions Center, which was completed in October 2016, via a second-floor walkway.

The two buildings will create the Lawrence and Marilyn Mattesson Health Science Complex, named for a couple who donated $3.5 million toward SCC's Building the Dream campaign, the comprehensive infrastructure expansion initiative behind SCC's changing skyline.

In addition to the campaign's fundraising efforts, buildings have been paid for through various grants, a $15 million general obligation bond issuance and the plant fund levy, which is funded by property taxes and is approved by voters. Also aiding the expansion is a partnership between SCC and Campus Community Developers, a private company that owns and maintains some of SCC's buildings.

SCC President Michael Ash has been working with staff, the community and the board of trustees on the expansion effort since he arrived at the college in 2012.

The expansion positions the college to better attract students as well as help meet southeast Iowa's workforce needs, according to Ash.

"We live in a competitive world and know that we must continue to attract students to southeast Iowa," Ash said. "We are confident that we are making the right moves to keep SCC a strong and viable entity for the future.

Blackhawk Tower

Work on the 120-bed, four-story dormitory began in the summer of 2016 and was completed nearly 1 1/2 years later.

The college hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the dorm in January, and students were able to move into the building in time for the spring semester. The majority of the students who moved into Blackhawk Tower came from Millennium Hall.

That dorm will re-open to students in August 2018 after Campus Community Developers complete renovations. The private company owns the building but leases the land from SCC. The college, in turn, leases the building from CCD.

The college and CCD have a similar agreement for Blackhawk Tower. CCD paid for and owns the $7 million building, while SCC retains ownership of the land it sits on.

Under the agreement, SCC will begin paying CCD $40,000 per year to use the building in its fifth year of occupancy or once each of the dorm's beds are filled for five consecutive years.

SCC Vice President Kevin Carr said the dorm's average capacity is at about 85 percent, though it was higher at the beginning of the year.

Original plans for the dormitory included a cafeteria or restaurant on the main floor, but CCD representatives said there is not enough parking or demand for food on campus to justify an additional cafeteria, though the Blackhawk Cafe may be expanded. That expansion is dependent on successful expansion of the residence halls.

Ash hopes to attract more international students to SCC and is in the process of putting together cross country and soccer programs to attract student athletes. An increase of 116 students living on campus would mean another dormitory, built in the same fashion as Blackhawk Tower, for the campus.

The campus' older dorms, Witte and Winegard halls, will be renovated and re-opened to provide students with housing in the meantime.

There also are plans to add more parking, and a third dormitory could be added in the future.

Industrial Technology Training Center

Keokuk's $4.2 million, 19,000 square-foot Industrial Technology Training Center was completed last January, and students and staff were able to move in midway through spring semester.

"Our old space was very cramped and spread out across several rooms that were made to work," said Jeron Lindsay, an Industrial Technology instructor at the Keokuk campus. "I have always had students who take pride in their work, but this semester you could really see a lot students going above and beyond. I think the returning students especially felt proud of the new space."

The building is equipped with electrical, mechanical, welding and computer labs, as well as three classrooms and a commons area. It also houses the campus's maintenance equipment.

The building has an electrical technology lab with training stations for robotics, electrical wiring, computer numerical control machines and programmable logic controllers, as well as a mechanical technology lab with training stations for HVAC, hydraulics, pipe fitting and welding.

Solar panels have been added to the top of the new building. The goal is for SCC to save on utilities, as well as to use the panels as educational tools for students.

The former industrial technology building on the northwest side of the campus now houses an Automotive Technology program.

Changes are ahead for Keokuk's science and nursing center, too. Discussions about a $3.6 million remodel on the science labs, nursing classrooms and labs and a general classroom are underway. Ash is hopeful that work will be completed within two years.

Hall of Sciences

Construction on the $6.35 million John H. Witte Jr. Hall of Sciences building began in March, though a groundbreaking ceremony didn't take place until May 1. The facility is expected to be completed in July and ready for students in August.

The building will house chemistry, physics, biology, physiology and microbiology labs, four lecture classrooms, six offices, a STEM classroom, a combination library and workstation and several student and faculty collaboration spaces - something science instructors have been lacking with their classrooms scattered throughout the campus.

Looking ahead

The completion of the Hall of Sciences will be far from the end of SCC's wish list. As funds allow, the college plans to make several more additions to its West Burlington campus, including the Indoor Sports Complex, an Agriculture and Iowa State University Extension office building, courtyard improvements and a new frontage road.

Also in the works are plans to create a space for a Domestic Violence Intervention Program, Alcohol and Drug Dependency Serves and Young House Counseling, though where that space will be has yet to be determined. The estimated cost for this project is $6,500.

There also are plans to build a new learning center in Fort Madison, where adult and continuing education classes, literacy tutoring and other services will be offered. SCC has $733,000 in Accelerated Career Education state funding set aside to pay for that building.

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2017 Year in Review: SCC's skyline keeps on growing

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WEST BURLINGTON - Southeastern Community College saw the completion of two new buildings and the start of another in 2017, and it's bound to see more in coming years as the college moves ahead with its Facilities Master Plan, which details renovation, replacement and growth projects through 2022.Since January, SCC finished Blackhawk Tower Residence Hall on the West Burlington campus and the Industrial Technology Training Center in Keokuk.Construction of the West Burlington John H.