Northwest Florida State College is beginning new chapters at several of its satellite campuses.
By the first week of August, four of the six sites in Okaloosa and Walton counties will have new leaders, and with them a renewed vision.
“You bring in your own ideas about things, but you also respect the ideas of the person who kept the place running for so many years,” said Patrice Williams, the new director of the Robert L.F. Sikes Center in Crestview.
Williams, who has been an English professor at NWF State since 2003, stepped in for Gail Kaltz, who retired after overseeing the campus since it opened.
About the same time Williams took over, Ross Hamilton, who has taught science for more than 40 years at the college, replaced longtime director Mary Henderson at the Fort Walton Beach joint campus with the University of West Florida.
Over in DeFuniak Springs, Barbara Jones, who has been the director of the Chautauqua Center since 1992, is preparing to hand over the reins Aug. 1 to current South Walton Center Director Julie Terrell.
The priorities for educators and students at each campus vary, but more program offerings is paramount at all of them.
“I really like this college, but a bigger school in Crestview would be nice,” said nursing student Laura Jolly. “That way, I wouldn’t have to drive to Niceville.”
Right now, the Crestview center offers day and night courses, and in the fall it will have more than 20 college credit classes for students to choose from. That’s in addition to non-credit classes and adult basic education courses.
The campus, which opened in the spring of 1994, sits on a little more than 5 acres next to Twin Hills Park, so growth options are inhibited by a lack of space as well as funding, NWF State President Ty Handy said.
“We’re just bursting at the seams there,” Handy said. “Perhaps it can be expanded. Perhaps a new campus is needed.”
The college has tried to free up classroom space by introducing what Handy calls “hybrid” classes, or courses taken partially online.
Still, parking issues abound. Students said they typically arrive an hour early to ensure they get a spot. Some, like 2012 Baker School graduate Joe Lee, spend the extra time on the Internet while others, like Jamie Ellis, use it to study or finish up assignments.
“I only have so much time,” Ellis, a mother of three, said with a laugh.
Handy and Williams said they are aware of the parking woes and are searching for solutions. Right now, students use a grassy area for overflow parking. Handy said paving it not only would cost money, but marked parking spaces and a drainage system could actually mean less parking.
Adding classroom space and parking is one of the items on the college’s 5-year-capital improvement plan, Handy said, but both are dependent on the budget.
Williams said her focus will remain, at least initially, on identifying and adding programs or courses.
In Fort Walton Beach, Hamilton also said he would like to expand course offerings to draw more students. He specifically hopes to identify another two-year program with the community’s help that will lead to immediately employable graduates.
“Just simply getting more students is the secret (to adding programs),” Ross said.
Handy said the Fort Walton Beach campus doesn’t need more facilities immediately, but it will require some upgrades in the near future.
In Walton County, Terrell echoed the visions of Williams and Hamilton. However, rather than focusing on adding just college courses at the Chautauqua Center, she hopes to increase the non-credit offerings through the college’s Prime Time program, which has been extremely successful at the South Walton Center.
Terrell said she also wants to start using the fitness area at the center for community wellness courses in the near future.
Holley Langille, who worked closely with Terrell at the South Walton Center, will begin overseeing operations there when Terrell leaves.
Terrell said they plan to continue working closely to “bridge the north and south with these two centers.”
Fore example, the Chautauqua Center might offer an English I class on Mondays and Fridays while the South Walton Center would have the same class on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
“I’m excited with the possibilities about what we can do up there,” Terrell said.
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Katie Tammen at 850-315-4440 or ktammen@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieTnwfdn.