Mountwest Community and Technical
College separated from Marshall University in 2010 following the passage of
West Virginia Senate Bill 499, which called for the separation of all community
and technical colleges attached to universities.
The name was changed from
Marshall Community and Technical
College to Mountwest.
Keith Cotroneo is President of MCTC.
“It’s important for West Virginia to
have a viable effective community college system. There has been a void and
that has been to the detriment of the state and now we have the opportunity to
fully implement and realize the workforce mission,” Cotroneo said.
MCTC occupied space on Marshall’s campus
even after the split as well as offices in downtown Huntington. The new home
presents the first true campus, with its location at 1 Mountwest Way off of 5th
Street Road.
The facility has been home to Arch Coal and DirecTV previously.
It’s been transformed to house computer labs, science labs and classrooms for
students to occupy this fall.
“It’s really heartening to see the
students come to the campus. We’re organized so much better to serve our
students. I mean, we were on the Marshall University campus in a building that
used to be the cafeteria down, the student services operation was down in the
basement, and now we have this wonderful facility,” Cotroneo said.
The building features 115,000 square
feet of operating space, 34 classrooms, a book store and staff offices. The
facility will support the 2,000 students and over 120 faculty and staff. The
services provided include studying areas and student support areas. MCTC purchased the building in 2010 for
$7.5 million.
“It’s what the community college has
been lacking for decades, is its own identity, a distinctive identity and
understanding of what the community college is, and for our students it gives
them a sense of identity and connection and sense of community,” Cotroneo said.
Steven Brown is the Dean of the
Business, Technology and Workforce Development College. He says the new
facility provides a campus atmosphere that students and faculty at MCTC have
never had before.
“This is going to be wonderful. The
faculty will see their fellow faculty members, not only on official business,
but in a personal relationship manner and they’ll be able to work better
together to help the college move forward,” Brown said.
An open house will be held on the campus
tomorrow. Brown says this is just what MCTC needed.
“If a problem arises I can walk down the
stairs and talk to student services or up two floors and talk to the president
and staff members are going to be able to see each other on a regular basis and
chat with each other. Iif you do it in a personal manner it often times creates
a better working relationship,” Brown said.
The fall semester beings August 27.