Steve Troxel hopes to see construction begin on a new student housing complex for Allen County Community College by early April. Troxel, ACCC’s vice president for finance and operations, told college trustees Thursday evening bid specifications should be ready for board approval in February, so that bids can be submitted and received by March. The goal is to have the sixplex built and ready for occupancy when the fall 2012 semester begins in August, Troxel said. Trustees in November hired architect Paul Cavanaugh of Places Architects, Wichita, to draw plans for the three-story building on White Boulevard, near other ACCC apartments. The sixplex will house up to 24 students. BOARD MEMBERS were given their first glance at the ACCC Flame, the college’s online student newspaper. A group of six students — working under the guidance of Writing Center Director Bruce Symes — released the first edition Dec. 19. Jon Marshall, vice president for academic affairs, said the stories only are available via the ACCC website to current students and staff, through their personal website portals. The inaugural edition features news, sports, entertainment, campus activities, health and wellness and opinion articles. The newspaper staff plans to release two to four editions in the spring semester, Marshall said, then four more issues for each the fall and spring semesters in 2012-13. From there, college administrators will take a closer look at the program to determine whether it should be further expanded. Newspaper staff members must take four classes through their experience, all of which are transferable to four-year universities, Marshall said. Others assisting with the online newspaper are Tera Reed, Nancy Ford, Anna Catterson, Doug Dunlap and deans Bob Reavis, Tosca Harris and Regina Aye, as well as Susan Lynn, Iola Register publisher. Symes is a former wire editor for the Register. MARSHALL also gave trustees a glimpse at the planning necessary to schedule classes for ACCC’s Iola and Burlingame campuses, concurrent enrollment sites and via the school’s online courses.
Trustees hear timeline for housing project
