Dr. Ron Bartley, president of Northeastern Technical College, gives Bob Jay, far right, from readySC and representatives from McLeod Medical Center in Dillon, left, a tour of the biology labs in the new building on the Dillon Community Campus. A dedication ceremony was held Sept. 21 celebrating the completion of the campus expansion project.

September 29, 2011
NETC Celebrates Completion of Its Dillon Campus Expansion

Northeastern Technical College held a dedication ceremony on Sept. 21 in Dillon to celebrate the completion of a new facility that more than doubles the size of its Dillon Community Campus.
 
The new addition to the Dillon campus, at 2204 U.S. 301 South, grows the campus size from 4,200 to more than 10,000 square feet. The extra space will allow for more students in the Dillon County service area to take college courses close to home.  
 
“By expanding the Dillon campus, we are growing our capabilities to serve the needs of the community,” Dr. Ron Bartley, NETC president, said. “We have utilized our distance learning classrooms in Dillon, but now we can offer more independent classes with instructors on site at the Dillon campus.”
 
Bartley welcomed community leaders and local dignitaries, as well as college faculty and staff, to tour the new facility following the dedication ceremony. Dr. Darrel W. Staat, president of the S.C. Technical College System, was among those in attendance at the dedication ceremony.

“Accessibility — making certain a quality higher education is available to all South Carolinians — is a key tenet of the S.C. Technical College System.  Northeastern Technical College is doing the right thing in the expansion of the Dillon campus.  I applaud Dr. Bartley and his staff for the great work they have done to bring this facility into reality. This is truly an exciting day for the local community, Northeastern Technical College and the state of South Carolina,” Staat said.
 
The 6,000-square-foot facility will house three classrooms in addition to an administrative office and lobby. One of the classroom settings will be divided into two rooms by a partition that can be removed to create one large room that can accommodate 200 people. Bartley extended an invitation to the community to use this facility for large group meetings.
 
Students taking English and math courses this fall in Dillon had the honor of being the first classes to use the new facility on the Dillon Community Campus. The College plans to offer biology classes beginning fall 2012, which will allow students at the Dillon campus to complete requirements for a degree in nursing or an Associate in Science degree.

“Our enrollment numbers continue to grow across all our community campuses in Pageland, Cheraw, Bennettsville and Dillon as more students are completing their first two years of college at NETC while saving money and getting a quality education,” Bartley said.

NETC has about 50 students enrolled in classes in Dillon, but the expansion gives as many as 400 students the opportunity to further their education at NETC’s Dillon Community Campus.

The Dillon campus opened in 2003 to offer access to higher education and job training for residents and industry in Dillon County. Plans for the Dillon campus expansion began in March 2008.
 
Admission applications for spring semester enrollment at Northeastern Technical College are due on Thursday, Dec. 9. Applications can be obtained and submitted at any of the college’s community campuses in Pageland, Cheraw, Bennettsville or Dillon. They may also be filled out and submitted online by going to the Admissions page and clicking on Apply Online.  

For more information, call 1-800-921-7399.