LCSC’s CdA programs get tight on space

Increasing enrollment in Lewis-Clark State College’s Coeur d’Alene program – and a lack of an actual satellite campus – has forced the college to look to creative solutions for classroom space.

The city of Coeur d’Alene has provided the college with some possibilities, including use of the City Council chambers or a room at the Coeur d’Alene Police Station.

Cyndie Hammond, director of LCSC-CdA, said classes are typically held at North Idaho College in the evening or on weekends. But to serve its growing population, Hammond said the college also needs to offer classes during the day.

This semester, LCSC ended up with 96 more students than it had space for.

The city of Coeur d’Alene agreed to let LCSC use space at City Hall and at other city facilities. A class is also being held on the main level of the Idaho Spokesman-Review building.

Hammond said the college is looking for other locations to hold daytime classes, as close to the NIC campus as possible. Almost 360 students are enrolled at LCSC-CdA and about 170 of those students also attend NIC, Hammond said.

“That means they hop back and forth,” Hammond said. “Any drive could create a hardship.”

A total of 51 classes are being offered this spring, Hammond said. As the demand for daytime classes increases, Hammond said the college will become more desperate for class space.

The college can bring laptop computers for students to use, but Hammond said it would be a bonus if an available space had a TV and VCR and a white board or chalkboard for teaching.

In 2002, the city drafted a memorandum of understanding that NIC, LCSC, the University of Idaho and Idaho State University, along with the city, would work to establish an education corridor to serve North Idaho students.

The corridor would run from UI’s campus at Harbor Center along Northwest Boulevard. Right now, there’s no clear timeline for when the vision will become a reality.

“Our need for space is sooner,” Hammond said.