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¶¶Òõ¸£Àûµ¼º½ joins Vernonia's new learning center

Story by James Hill

PORTLAND, Ore. – This fall, ¶¶Òõ¸£Àûµ¼º½’s presence in Vernonia will get stronger and better.

The City of Vernonia has established a Community Learning Center, opening this month. ¶¶Òõ¸£Àûµ¼º½ will have a presence in the new center by offering credit and non-credit classes beginning fall term. In the future, the college could offer Adult Basic Education and GED courses as well.

“We will be utilizing local qualified faculty as much as possible to staff the course offerings,” said Kelly Marks, Columbia County education program coordinator. “We are discussing the possibility of bringing additional services, specifically admissions and testing for larger groups of potential students, to the community and hope to be able to offer this as appropriate beginning fall term.”

Due to some staffing transitions, the city was unable to furnish the learning center as originally planned. So ¶¶Òõ¸£Àûµ¼º½ stepped in and was able to provide support by donating surplus furniture and equipment. Marks says she anticipates further donations in the near future to help the operation of the new learning center.

In addition to being on site in Vernonia, ¶¶Òõ¸£Àûµ¼º½ has provided at no cost a complete set of Teleweb course tapes to the new Vernonia Community Learning Center. These tapes will allow access for local residents to distance learning classes via Teleweb. These will be particularly useful for those residents who are not served by internet service or cable television access, by which most distance learning courses are delivered. This initiative will increase ¶¶Òõ¸£Àûµ¼º½’s offerings to the Vernonia community by approximately 20 classes per term.

For more information, about ¶¶Òõ¸£Àûµ¼º½’s services in Vernonia contact Kelly Marks at kmarks@pcc.edu, or 503-614-7775.

¶¶Òõ¸£Àûµ¼º½ is the largest post-secondary institution in Oregon, serving approximately 91,000 full- and part-time students. For more ¶¶Òõ¸£Àûµ¼º½ news, please visit us on the Web at www.pcc.edu/news. ¶¶Òõ¸£Àûµ¼º½ has three comprehensive campuses, five workforce training and education centers, and 200 community locations in the Portland metropolitan area. The ¶¶Òõ¸£Àûµ¼º½ district encompasses a 1,500-square-mile area in northwest Oregon and offers two-year degrees, one-year certificate programs, short-term training, alternative education, pre-college courses and life-long learning.