BIG SAVE: Columbia College re-opens once-threatened Air Force base campus

New 12,000 square foot branch campus

emerges from dark clouds

 

COLUMBIA, 7/19/12 (Beat Byte) -- Columbia College re-opened a branch campus at New York's Hancock Air Base threatened with closure last year. 

 

Heightened security concerns were motivating possible closure, after access to classrooms on the air base became increasingly limited. New York Senator Charles Schumer intervened to help save the campus.

 

A ribbon cutting ceremony June 21 (pictured) marked the auspicious day, with the Columbia, Mo.-based college relocating the campus to a new 12,000-square-foot building on land leased from the U.S. Air Force, but outside the air base's security fence.  One of 35 branch campuses, the Hancock Air Base campus had long used whatever space was available in its 37 years on base.

 

The new building includes nine classrooms, computer labs, a student lounge, and office space. It also includes less hassle for students, who will no longer have to pass security checkpoints to attend class.

 

“We intend to provide access to the campus like never before,” said Scott Vinciguerra, who directs Columbia College of Missouri-Hancock Field. “The new facility allows us to carry a long-standing partnership between Columbia College and Hancock Field into a new era, enabling even more students to advance their education and improve their future.”

 

Eighteen Columbia College campuses are on military bases, serving the 20 percent of students who are in the military.