Students were greeted with sunshine as they started a new academic year on September 21, 2015.

The parking lots were filled. The Bookstore was bustling. And the sunshine poured down as if to comfort those who were still mourning the end of their summers as they started the 2015 fall quarter at Clark College on Monday, September 21.

View of Gaiser Hall from the new STEM Building, currently slated to open in fall 2016.

Returning students got to see how much progress had been made on the college’s new Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) Building, which broke ground last fall and is slated to open in fall 2016. What had been mostly a collection of girders when students left in June has now grown into an imposing presence on Ft. Vancouver Way with walls and roof.

This will not be the only construction students will see on the main campus this year: Gaiser will undergo a remodel in preparation for a significantly restructured and modernized Culinary Arts program, and C-TRAN’s Bus Rapid Transit Project is likely to also bring some minor construction along Ft. Vancouver Way.

While official numbers are not available until after the 10th day of class, the quarter began with 11,187 students enrolled, or 4 percent fewer students than the first day of the 2014 fall quarter. This decrease in enrollment is consistent with numbers throughout the state, as a strengthening economy has softened the enrollment spike seen during the recent recession. Oregon two-year colleges are also experiencing significant decreases in enrollment.

While enrollment declined overall, some specific segments saw increases. Running Start, which allows high school students to earn college credits while still in high school, saw its enrollment rise by 14 percent from its fall 2014 numbers to more than 2,200 students. Elearning (or online) courses grew this year by 5 percent, with more than 3,700 students taking advantage of the flexibility to take online classes at times and places that work for them. The college continued to see slow but steady growth in students of color, up 1 percent compared with fall 2014. Students of color now make up 31 percent of Clark’s student body.

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

Demolition work will begin the week of March 30 on the corner of Fourth Plain Blvd. and Fort Vancouver Way on the northwest end of Clark College’s main campus. The buildings and the property being demolished are owned by Clark College Foundation.

The future of the corner will have several phases. After the demolition, some of the space will be converted into parking, which will help to offset parking losses due to the construction of the college’s new 70,000 square-foot STEM building and remodeling of a culinary facility on the Clark College campus.

Long term, the corner of Fourth Plain Blvd. and Fort Vancouver Way is part of the Facilities Master Plan at the college and many options are under consideration. One option is for the foundation or college to partner with a developer to develop the property, but the location currently has no funding identified for any project or specific use.

The demolition will run through approximately April 3, 2015.

Clark student Audreyana Foster; Dena Horton, representing U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell; Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt; Clark County Commissioner Edward Barnes; Lisa Gibert, president/CEO of Clark College Foundation; and Clark President Bob Knight shovel the ceremonial dirt at the STEM building groundbreaking.

A burst of rain accompanied Clark’s Pep Band as they played Pharrell Williams’ “Happy” before a crowd of about 60 people on Tuesday afternoon during Clark College’s official groundbreaking of its science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) building.

In speaking about why STEM education is critical to the region, Clark College President Bob Knight was joined by Vancouver Mayor Tim Leavitt; Dena Horton, representing U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell; and Clark student Audreyana Foster.

“When completed, this project will continue to help us do what we have done for over 80 years: train and educate those who will lead Vancouver and the region forward,” said Knight during the September 30 event. “At more than 70,000 square feet, the facility will be the largest single classroom building on campus. The final investment in Clark will exceed $41 million, between state funds and those provided by Clark College Foundation for equipment.”

Leavitt spoke about the economic advantages of having citizens trained for highly skilled and family-wage jobs such as in the STEM field. Cantwell’s message outlined the state’s commitment to education and jobs growth and her excitement about watching the building evolve over the next 20 months of construction.

Foster, a mechanical engineering student who began her studies at Clark when she was a teenager through Clark’s Running Start program, said the college’s faculty have opened up a new world for her.

Clark College’s pep band played through the rain during the STEM Building groundbreaking.

“I have learned how things function in the world outside of the classroom,” she said. “And though not all of the lessons have been enjoyable, Clark College’s STEM program has provided me a safe learning environment that has helped me to learn in spite of my mistakes.”

Knight, Leavitt, Horton, and Foster were then joined by Clark College Foundation President/CEO Lisa Gibert and Clark County Commissioner Edward Barnes to shovel the ceremonial dirt of the groundbreaking. The sun shone through the cloud breaks, and cheers erupted from the crowd. Knight thanked the guests for their continued belief in Clark College and for all that they do to enrich the Southwest Washington community.

Construction is underway at the Fort Vancouver Way site and is expected to be completed in February 2016. Currently, the building is slated to open by the summer of 2016, according to college officials.

A version of this article originally appeared on the Clark College Foundation website.

President Robert K. Knight pauses for a moment in his 2014 State of the College address.

At 80 years old, Clark College still has plenty to learn–that was the message Clark College President Robert K. Knight conveyed in his annual State of the College address.

Knight took a moment to acknowledge that the college was in the midst of celebrating its 80th anniversary, but then said that, rather than focusing on the past, “I have been … thinking about what steps we can continue to take to ensure that Clark College at 100 is the vibrant and important place that it is today.”

Knight said that he thought the college was “on the right path” in that respect, pointing to recent accomplishments such as a very successful accreditation visit by representatives of the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, during which the commission acknowledged the improvements Clark has made in the area of shared governance.

Presidential Coin recipient and Automotive Technology professor Mike Godson, right, with Dick Hannah representative Gary Schuler. Godson and Schuler worked together to help create a partnership that allows aspiring automotive technicians to take classes at Clark College and work at Dick Hannah simultaneously.

Other recent accomplishments Knight noted included:

• Receiving funding for a new building on the main campus dedicated to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), scheduled to break ground in summer 2014;
• Recent state approval for a $35 million satellite location in northern Clark County at a site still to be determined;
• The success of the Clark College Foundation’s “Ensuring a Bright Future” fundraising campaign, which is predicted to reach its goal of $20 million in spring 2014;
• The introduction of a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Dental Hygiene, the first bachelor’s degree to be offered by the college;
• A statewide record in the number of online courses certified by Quality Matters;
• The opening of a Veterans Resource Center on the main campus to help the college’s estimated 800 student veterans;
• The continued development of a new Strategic Plan for the years 2015-2020;
• Clark’s leadership role in transitioning to ctcLink;
• New programs and opportunities for students to participate in cutting-edge learning in the automotive, aeronautics, and bioscience fields;
• National awards won by Phoenix, Clark’s journal of arts and literature;
• Increased enrollment in Clark’s Honors Program.

Knight acknowledged that Clark’s enrollment has decreased for the first time in recent years. “We expected that,” he said. “It’s a good thing, because it means that people are finding jobs. We expect enrollment to continue to go down a little bit.”

President Knight with Che’yna Shotwell. Shotwell, a junior at Mountain View High School, is part of the Penguin Promise partnership between Clark College and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southwest Washington, which provides Clark College scholarships to those students who fulfill the program’s stringent academic requirements. She is on track to become the first student to receive such a scholarship from the program, which was announced at the 2013 State of the College address.

Knight explained that administration and staff were already discussing how to manage the college’s enrollment. “We have to determine what is the right size for Clark College,” he said. Then he added, “As we continue to be the most over-enrolled community college in Washington, we haven’t turned away students yet.”

Knight stressed that any decisions about the college’s future would need to be based on whether or not they helped students learn. “As long as I am president, we will never forget that the student comes first and is the only reason we have a job and the only reason we’re here,” he said.

Photos: Clark College/Jenny Shadley

See more photos on our Flickr page.

View the entire speech on CVTV.

President Knight delivering the 2013 State of the College Address.

Clark College President Robert K. Knight will give the annual State of the College address on Thursday, Jan. 16. As the college celebrates its 80th anniversary, President Knight will update the college and members of the community in the address, which he says will focus on “Looking Forward at 80.”

Among the topics that President Knight will be discussing are the plans to break ground on the new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) building in the summer of 2014, the progress of strategic planning efforts at the college, and the role of new programs and partnerships.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place at 11 a.m. in Gaiser Student Center on the college’s main campus. Doors will open at 10:30 a.m. and seating will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Clark College is located at 1933 Fort Vancouver Way, Vancouver, Wash. Driving directions and parking maps are available at www.clark.edu/maps.

If you need accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event, you should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services Office at 360-992-2314 or 360-991-0901 (VP), or visit Gaiser Hall room 137, as soon as possible.

Photo: Clark College/Jenny Shadley