Ivy Tech Community College — Columbus is just a few months away from adding the Johnson and Shelby counties to its service area.
The college’s state board has passed a resolution accepting service area changes, and the two counties will join Columbus’s service area on July 1, said Jesse Brand, a member of the state board of trustees.
The Columbus campus is currently assigned to serve residents of four counties: Bartholomew, Decatur, Jackson and Jennings.
“It’s a big job,” Brand said at a campus board of trustees meeting on Tuesday. “We’ve got to provide the appropriate care and service for the constituency we have in Johnson and Shelby County, as well as the rest of our service area.”
Some new Ivy Tech hires were announced at Tuesday’s meeting, including two student service professionals for the Franklin site.
“I’m extremely excited to have these individuals on our team, especially the new employees that are joining us with the Franklin team so we can have a larger family that we get to support a larger region,” said Whitney Hale, the executive director of human resources for the Ivy Tech Bloomington and Columbus campuses.
Chancellor Steven Combs added that Ivy Tech is posting a position for an assistant K-14 director who will work with Director of K-14 Initiatives Mark Schneider and Vice Chancellor for Johnson and Shelby counties Stephanie Amos to continue building relationships with high schools.
Schneider said that the expansion has a “big impact” on K-14 operations, working with 15 high schools and career centers and expecting to have 28 next year due to the larger service area. They also expect to go from having around 6,500 dual credit students to having 10,000 to 11,000.
Amos took some time to talk about current programs, projects and partnerships in Shelby and Johnson counties. She said that the Columbus campus has already been helping with projects and providing “tremendous” support despite the fact that they haven’t fully transitioned into their service area yet.
