When the Jackson County Learning Center opened its doors last fall, there were only seven non-classroom computers available for public use, only three used for testing for the multiple colleges that utilize the space and one lab that was paid for by Ivy Tech Community College.
Now, just a few months later, between 3,000 and 4,000 students are in and out of just one of the labs that provides academic testing, said Amy Heideman, director of the Jackson County Learning Center.
“We’ve always had a huge need for students to come in and use computers,” she said.
After talking to the board about the learning center, the colleges and universities using the space and WorkOne, Indiana’s employment division, it was decided additional computers would be necessary.
Heideman said they found out the basic needs of the groups and then tried to go above that marker.
Bill Bailey, president of Greater Seymour Chamber of Commerce, along with Bud Walther of the Community Foundation of Jackson County, who were instrumental in the learning center’s creation, see room for growth at the location.
“I’m not sure that I have set a limit on where I’d say it’s finally being used as much as I thought it would,” Bailey said. “Its value is going to go up exponentially.”
Although there are about 635 students enrolled in classes taught at the building through Ivy Tech Community College, Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus and Indiana Wesleyan University, others in the area completing online classes come in for testing purposes or assessment tests for college entrance.
Heideman said that any student in distance learning programs can use the labs, and she’s seen students from Western Kentucky University, Indiana University and even a master’s degree student from the University of Alabama.
Even students in face-to-face classes taught at the center are required to do some work on computers, and Heideman said many don’t have computers, Internet or printers at home. In addition, she said single parents enjoy the quiet space when working.
“They need to get away from the family to actually get work done,” she said.
Working toward his associate degree in accounting through Ivy Tech, Eugene Maines of Paris Crossing uses the computers multiple times per week.
“Anywhere from three to four times per week, I’m out here,” he said Wednesday while registering for classes on a lobby computer.
“It’s a lot helpful since I don’t have Internet at home,” he said.
Maines also said he saves gas money by going to the center in Seymour rather than driving to the main Ivy Tech campus in Columbus.
Heideman said that the seven original lobby computers have doubled to 14, the three testing computers have gone to nine and the center is in the process of adding a computer lab to a classroom. She also said computers remain booked at night during the week.
Midwest Computer Solutions in Seymour is connecting up all the additional computers and equipment.
“Having this additional lab is going to allow more computers in classes when they need it,” Heideman said.
The lab will have 15 computers set around the perimeter, with lecture space in the center. She said it should be completed by the time summer classes begin.
Being an Ivy Tech College cooperative, the center receives money for supporting the college, and Heideman said leftover money in the technology fund is supporting the project.
Heideman said the facility in North Vernon wasn’t seeing the traffic the Seymour location was seeing, so they moved a full-time administrator and the computers he was receiving to the Jackson County center.
With the new computers, Heideman said, she can now open up testing on Monday through Thursday evenings. Before, she could offer testing only on Thursdays.
Students aren’t the only ones who can use the space, Heideman said. Those looking for jobs through WorkOne, or anyone looking to build a resume, will be given a username and password to work on the computers. Additionally, students from area schools who need the facility are welcome.
She said the center, however, wants individuals using the computers only for learning or work purposes and not for gaming or other misuses.
Because the building has Internet access in all the classrooms and is wireless throughout, Heideman said there is room to grow more in the future.
She hopes non-credit classes, such as language tutorials, will grow now, and that the center can turn one area of the lobby into a resource library with books about resume writing and various other topics associated with jobs or classes.
“The computers are open to the public,” Heideman reminded. “They can come in whether they are associated with a school or not.”
Bailey said that people are still discovering the center and its value to the community, and he has high hopes for the future of the facility.
“I’ve said for many years that a well-educated community is the cornerstone of a community with a healthy economy,” Bailey said. “And I’m convinced that the learning center has the potential to be either the first wing of a larger building in the future, or it will be the building that spawns other education-slash-business facilities adjacent to it.”
Bailey said he and Walther were discussing Friday a type of facility next to the learning center that would house space for entrepreneurs to have shared meeting rooms, parking lots and general space. By having the center so close, he said, having access to that information would make the businesses more successful.
“As the economy improves, we know that entrepreneurism will come back,” Bailey said.
Besides additional computers, the center has had to already expand parking space on the lot, he said.
“Only our imagination is probably the only limiting factor,” Bailey said of future expansions.