“We appreciate hosting the Senate Capital Investment Committee members and the time they took to review our facility,” says Dr. Pat Johns, President of Anoka-Ramsey Community College. “Their visit to our campus and support of our building projects shows these decision-makers are engaged and in touch with the needs of students.”
Anoka-Ramsey Community College is requesting funds to renovate two existing facilities. First, the college has joined with nine other Minnesota colleges in a joint request to renovate science labs. If funded, Anoka-Ramsey will receive $525,000 to renovate space on the Cambridge Campus.
A second request is a $3.8 million renovation project for the fine arts building on the Coon Rapids Campus that was constructed in 1971. Renovation is needed due to the building’s antiquated heating, cooling and ventilation systems. In addition, the college’s new fine arts degrees in art and music, along with its renowned glass-blowing program, have led to increased student enrollments and the need for more space.
The college’s third request is for a new 35,000 square foot, two-level facility on its Coon Rapids Campus to provide for growth in allied health and science programs and to facilitate advanced-degree offerings. This is a joint request with North Hennepin Community College to bring new, yet different programming to these two colleges serving the northwest metropolitan area. Anoka-Ramsey already offers some bachelor- and master-level degrees from St. Cloud State University, Metropolitan State University and Minnesota State University Moorhead, but the community is requesting more.
“Anoka-Ramsey is committed to responding to the educational needs of our changing communities in the northwest metro area and East Central Minnesota,” says Johns. “Right now our communities need more healthcare educational options and more advanced-degree programs, close to home. Our goal is to bring these programs to our two campuses in Coon Rapids and Cambridge and we will need more space to do that.”
Enrollments at both campuses of Anoka-Ramsey Community College have continued to climb in recent years. College wide enrollment has increased 4.4 percent this fall as compared to last fall term at the 30-day mark. The bulk of the increase is found in returning students, which increased 7.6 percent. Collectively, 7,866 students are currently attending the college.
Representatives from Anoka-Ramsey will present their bonding project proposals to members of Minnesota’s House of Representatives next week.
For more information about Anoka-Ramsey Community College, visit www.AnokaRamsey.edu or call 763.433.1315.
ABOUT THE BONDING BILL
The Anoka-Ramsey Community College project is just one of many projects that are part of the statewide bonding bill. This bill includes dozens of capital construction projects around the state of Minnesota.
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