On Monday afternoon, county, state and college officials, gathered with students and members of the community to celebrate the ground breaking of an addition to the Sussex County Community College’s (SCCC) newly named Academic Center. This addition planned as an extension to the Preforming Arts Center promises to serve as a STEM focused gateway for many students and adult learners.
As a key component to a thriving economy and critical to the state’s workforce efforts, the addition will serve as a turnkey facility and allow partnerships with other universities and companies throughout the state. As Freeholder Deputy Director Sylvia Petillo said, “ ... you’re talking about entrepreneurs, you’re talking about business incubators, you’re talking about start-up companies in all types of sectors. Because that is what this type of building and educational facility breeds....now we’ll be able to have that in Sussex County...”
This 13,000 sf addition will include a makerspace with machinery such as prototyping tools, 3D printing, and programming robots. Flexible program-based learning spaces, adaptable for STEM and the Performing Arts, a lobby, writing center, computer lab, lecture-tech room and collaboration spaces will also be included.
Dr. Jon Connally, President of the college, pointed out that the space will be designed with a mindset that encourages a “changing nature of work.” The design emphasizes collaboration and spaces that don’t hold students to a desk. Areas will be well lit and flexible so that flexible technologies can be “infused” into the space. The academic programs offered will center around bringing design to life: fostering engineers that know how to design and understand how technology both informs and then executes design.
Dr. Connally was accompanied by other members of the community, such as William P. Curcio, Chair of Board of Trustees, Dr. Mercedes Aguirre Batty, Vice President of Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer, as well as Mr. Eric D. Brophy, Executive Director of New Jersey Educational Facilities Authority as well as Silvia Patillo, a member of the Freeholder Board.
Completion of construction is expected January, 2020.
For full press release, click here.
