COMMUNITY COLLEGE WEEK names PTC one of the nation's "Top 50, Fastest-Growing Small Colleges!"
PTC is one of the nation's Top 50 fastest-growing small colleges!
The data is in, and according to Community College Week, PTC made the list (at number 39) of the nation's Top 50 fastest-growing public, two-year colleges! See the data for yourself!
No surprise!
The news does not come as a surprise to PTC administrators; at the start of the Spring, 2013 term (compared to last spring's fall start), enrollment had increased by 8.2 percent.
PTC administrators attribute the growth to a number of things, including a new medical assisting program, a new business technology program, and more courses offered in alternative formats and schedules. In anticipation for last fall semester’s jump in enrollment (2.3 percent compared to the previous fall), the college had been busy building new classroom space, as well as repurposing and enhancing existing facilities for much of the summer term – a time where, historically, student traffic is limited. With a new medical assisting classroom and lab, an added classroom building located to the main building’s east, new office space for the college’s Child Care Aware staff, as well as two new storage buildings on the south side of the campus, the campus now boasts seven buildings and a total of 102,654 square feet.
“The additions and improvements go hand-in-hand with our overall goal of enhancing the educational experience of our students,” says PTC President Robert Musgrove, Ph.D. “It’s part of our mission in providing superior and relevant education, and to that end, it’s important to provide the right kind of learning environment supported with updated technologies to facilitate student learning,” Musgrove adds.
The campus’s most notable changes include its new, state-of-the-art medical assisting lab – a space specifically designed for students enrolled in the college’s new medical assistant A.A.S. degree. The combined laboratory and classroom boasts the latest in phlebotomy (blood-drawing) and electrocardiography training facilities and technologies, as well as patient examination tables and designated student learning and instruction space.
“I am so proud of all PTC has accomplished to bring this program and facility to fruition,” says Medical Assistant Program Instructor Nanci Milbrath. “With the curriculum we’ve established combined with a technologically-advanced lab equipped with all the right tools and more, our students have everything they need to achieve success,” Milbrath adds.
Additionally, to accommodate growth in all areas across programs, the college has added a modular building on the east side of the campus. The 2,016 sq. ft. structure also is equipped with advanced technologies to facilitate instruction and student learning, yet serves as a temporary solution for accommodating the college’s ongoing growth. Also new to the campus is a 1,144 sq. ft. prefabricated structure, built by students in Pine City High School’s Industrial Arts class, specially designed and created to house PTC’s Child Care Aware staff – a department previously housed within the college’s main building. The department is comprised of seven staff members, and their new office space contains offices and workstations for each, a restroom, and a kitchen.
“We have everything we need in the way of workspace and technology, and we’re just about 50 feet away from the main building,” says Child Care Aware Executive Director Wendy Walburg. “It’s cozy and comfortable to come to work here; we affectionately call our new building ‘the cottage,’” Walburg adds.
Summer, 2013 enrollment and registration is underway, and PTC administrators are cautiously optimistic regarding the trend's continued upward streak. PTC is accepting applications for new and returning students in all programs; courses will start June 3, 2013.
