Durham Technical Community College, which provides classes in more than 40 locations around Orange County, soon will have a home in Hillsborough.
The new satellite campus should be ready for classes by March 2008, later than initial projections had reported. Administrators said they had hoped the facility would be ready for the fall 2007 semester.
"We'll be able to offer some spring semester continuing education classes beginning in March," said Barbara Baker, vice president for student support services. "We'll begin curriculum classes in May."
The Orange County Board of Commissioners and the Hillsborough Board of Commissioners heard an update on the project Monday at their joint meeting.
Leaders are attributing the late opening to construction delays and to problems coordinating the plans with county and town representatives.
Orange County residents represent close to a quarter of students enrolled in the college, according to a press release.
Durham Tech has offered classes in Orange County since the 1960s and has served officially as the county's community college since the 1980s. But classes away from its main campus in Durham met in church halls, recreation centers, high schools and other available public spaces, Baker said.
The $8 million campus in Hillsborough will be its first permanent facility in Orange County.
It will include computer and science labs, an emergency medical training facility and 14 general-purpose classrooms, as well as student services such as advising and financial aid offices.
"The biggest advantage to having our own space is to know that it is always available," Baker said.
She added that many of the classes Durham Tech offers in Orange County, such as ESL classes that meet at several churches in Chapel Hill, will not move to the new campus.
"Since we have a new computer lab, I'm thinking some of those classes where we teach computers will move there."
The Hillsborough facility will allow more specialized classes to be offered, as well as student services not previously available in Orange County.
Tom Jaynes, an associate dean of advising, said his department is working to determine what services will be offered to Orange County students in Hillsborough.
"We don't know the extent to which we'll have service there," he said. "It kind of depends on how the campus grows."
He said career counseling, disability services and student activity services all will be provided there.
The campus also will include a library building that will be completed in the second phase of construction.
Orange County's board of commissioners chose the Hillsborough location because it is in the geographic center of the county, Baker said.
Plans for the facility also include "flex space," which can be changed to fit the training needs of new businesses coming to the area.
"As the economic development agencies recruit industry, they will offer training that will come through the local community college," Baker said.
"We can move in a piece of equipment to train people."
Baker said the college has been coordinating with staff from Merck & Co. Inc., a pharmaceutical company, to determine what kind of training their employees would need.
Hillsborough Commissioner Eric Hallman said Hillsborough's economic development commission will work with local businesses to tailor the curriculum to local business needs.
The campus is part of Waterstone, a larger mixed-use development that also will include housing, a retirement facility and retail space.
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