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Show HOMETOWN NEWSPAPER FOR SAN JUAN COUNTY, UTAH Vol 70 No 4 March 2, 1988 25 cents San Juan Center will add dormitory complex to campus was right the foundation Its include a in auto beginnings were homely, an office and one classroom in an abandoned church, four classrooms in trailers, and 50 students the first year. Today, student population at the College of Eastern Utah San Juan Center in Blanding equals 25 percent of the total enrollment of CEU, the main campus of which is in Price. Recent FmHA approval for a $600,000 loan to build two dormitories and a cafeteria at the San Juan campus should increase that percentage. Dean Lynn Lee finds the prospects exhilarating. After four years of constant work to provide better student housing, It is a dream come true. Its exciting. Lee' has reason to exult. On hand for the colleges birth pangs 12 years ago, he has seen the center, affiliated with CEU in 1978, grow into a recognized insitution of learning with 370 students enrolled during winter quarter 1988. The dormitory complex will r strucadd three tures to the campus, which now operates from an administration building and a science building. The addition will brick-venee- dormitory for 40 men, a dormitory for 40 women, and a combination cafeteria and building. All will be built south of the science multi-purpos- e building. Inside, the dormitories will be divided into 10 mini apartments, five on each side of the building. Each apartment will be divided by a no-cooki- wall running approximately the length of the room, with sleeping and study accommodations on either side of the wall for two students. Each apartment will have a full bath and a hall bath. The basement of the cafeteria, designed to seat 160, will be used for student activities. Without the San Juan Foundation, the complex would not be possible, says Dean Lee. Incorporated in Utah for the sole purpose of assisting the San Juan Center in meeting educational goals, the San three-quarte- rs Juan Foundation raised match- ing funds of $92,000 for the complex and is holder of the $600,000 FmHA loan. As such, it will own the complex and lease it to the college for 31 years, the repayment period of the loan. Lynn said the timing for to secure the loan at an interest rate just under six percent. San Juan Foundation is comprised of San Juan County natives, some as far flung as state of Virginia. Clea Johnson of Blanding serves as president. Executive director is Cleal Bradford of Blanding. Total estimated cost of the complex is $692,000. Architect is Dee R. Taylor of Provo. Dean Lee said bid opening is set for March 22 at the college. Lee says if all goes well, construction should begin in early April. He hopes students will be eating in the cafeteria and sleeping in the dormitories when fall quarter commences. The San Juan campus of CEU occupies six acres near the west city limits of Blanding. Lee thinks that part of the six acres actually may not be inside the city. If that is the case, the situation will be remedied by city annexation proceedings now in the planning stage. The center also holds a lease for 120 acres of BLM land adjacent to the college. In addition to 25 cooperative education classes, the spring quarter schedule includes offer mechanics, art, ings business, education, English, family life, history, journalism, life science, physics, theatre, psychology, sociology, com- puter science, speech, and nursing. Nursing is one of the more popular programs. Lee says the college will be helped by a $75,000 appropriation by the 1988 Utah Legislature. The appropriation will allow a San Juan resident to work toward a degree as a registered nurse. Training for the RN degree will be conducted by Weber State College using county medical facilities. Students in the program will be able to take non-nursin- g courses required for the RN degree at the San Juan Center. Most students enrolled at San Juan Center come from the Four Corners area. Many require financial assistance. Lee said the same financial aid is available to San Juan Center students as is avilable to students in any accredited institution of higher education. The aid can come from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Navajo Nation, the Job Training Partnership Act, the Utah Division of Indian Affairs, or through federal programs and PELL grants. Counties will share vo - ed director San Juan and Grand counties will share the services of a vocational education director in a pilot program. Effective as soon as State Office of Education funding is assured, Winn Westcott, currently serving San Juan schools, will add Grand District schools to his schedule. Westcott will supervise all aspects of vocational education in public schools in Moab and continue to serve schools in San Juan. To facilitate the change, state funds will pay for clerical help for Westcott and for additional travel expense. The program is considered a pilot program and is expected to last from four months to a year and four months, depending on funding. |