From left: Paul Boucher, River Valley CC advisory board; former college President Alicia Harvey-Smith; Congresswoman Ann Kuster; state Rep. Martha Hennessey; and state Rep. Lee Oxenham at the launch of the Lebanon Academic Center. Courtesy Photo.
As part of a strategy to reach new students and establish centers of excellence, River Valley Community College formally opened the doors to its new Lebanon Academic Center at the end of August.
The main campus is in Claremont, and another academic center is in Keene. When Lebanon College, a vocational training school, closed its doors in 2014, River Valley saw an opportunity to fill a void in the Upper Valley for an affordable, two-year education, says Alicia B. Harvey-Smith, president of River Valley Community College until she started a new job this month as executive vice chancellor of Lone Star College in Texas.
“That was a market that the college had some interest in approaching for a long time but not the strategy,” Harvey-Smith says. When Lebanon College closed, several local and state officials reached out to the community college to consider moving into the area. “We had so much support.”
During the renovation, the college worked with two of the region’s largest employers, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and Hypertherm, both in Lebanon, to make sure the facility would provide skills and training required for their workforce. A Community Development Grant included a Job Creation Partnership with Dartmouth-Hitchcock to provide workforce training.
In addition to offering general education courses, the Lebanon Academic Center will be a hub for workforce development and business and industry training, including courses in business information technology. It also houses WorkReadyNH, a tuition-free workforce skills program focused on foundational workplace and soft skills. As of late August, about 150 students were enrolled at the Lebanon Academic Center, which can accomodate 500 students. “Our goal is to be at maximum capacity in a year or two,” Harvey-Smith says.
The Keene Academic Center has a focus on criminal justice, nursing, and human services, while Claremont will be a hub for allied health and nursing. River Valley Community College is incorporating the former radiography program from Lebanon College into its curriculum.
For the fall semester, total enrollment at River Valley Community College is about 1,100 students. “There is certainly room to grow,” Harvey-Smith says, noting it is the second-smallest community college in NH, and Keene and Lebanon are growth areas for the college. “It’s a real opportunity for River Valley to expand access to quality educational programs.”
To learn more, visit rivervalley.edu.
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