Thursday, Aug. 1, 2002 | 9:07 a.m.
Nevada State College at Henderson shed its trailer park image Wednesday by moving into its newly renovated building.
"We're glad to be home," said Christine Chairsell, State College interim president.
For the past two years administrators have been plotting their battle plan for the college's opening on Sept. 3 from the confines of a 900-square-foot trailer.
The new 33,500-square-foot building at 1125 Dawson Ave., just off U.S. 95, will serve as the school's temporary home for the next two years until the college's first permanent structure can be built.
The move-in represents one of the last large obstacles that State College officials had to face to get the college opened. This past year, the college had to find a new permanent site, live off donations from the community and put together a staff and a curriculum while enduring public criticism.
What lies ahead seems relatively simple: furnish the building, hire more adjunct faculty and recruit like heck in the next 30 days.
"Up until now, I have been involved with the facility end of things because there was no one here to do that," said Bob Johns, interim director of admissions at the college. "Now, I can put more time into recruiting students."
So far, 204 of 389 applicants have been accepted for admission. The two-page class schedule is in place, a permanent president is on his way and about 15 faculty members have been hired.
The latest piece of news is that the college's teaching program has provisional accreditation.
But there are things the state college cannot accomplish before opening day. The new building does not have facilities for lab classes such as chemistry and biology. Students will have to take those courses at the Community College of Southern Nevada for now.
And until more state money is allocated to the state college, it must rely on partnerships with CCSN and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in order to operate efficiently.
CCSN will handle personnel. UNLV is lending bookshelves for the library to shelve its 5,000 books. And the class schedule is still subject to change.
The mad dash to the finish line will be over soon, though. At the end of September, Kerry Romesburg is expected to take over as college president and Chairsell will leave just as quietly as she came in.
"I like it this way," Chairsell said. "You just get in your mind that you're here for a short time and you do what you have to do and move on."
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