NCSC will open urban 'dream center'The center Community effort March 25, 2010 BY LOU WHITMIRENews Journal MANSFIELD -- North Central State College plans to bring higher education downtown.On Wednesday, after nearly a year of planning, the school announced it will expand to offer college courses and services in downtown Mansfield beginning in January. The new Urban Higher Education Center will be housed in the main floors of 134 through 140 N. Main St., in the Carrousel District. "We believe our $1.2 million, 7,700-square-foot downtown center, funded primarily by donors, will be an inspirational catalyst in an area where per capita income is nearly 25 percent below the national average, and economic growth is among the lowest in Ohio," said Donald Plotts, college president. "Our purposes in establishing a higher education dream center in downtown Mansfield include diversifying our student population, offering higher education in the under-served, inner-city minority and/or low-income population of the Mansfield downtown area, providing an educational opportunity to the downtown area's 9,000 workers, and instilling an 'education gets you there' vision among those who would be first-generation college students. "The new center will make higher education and career-job training more accessible and attainable for many more in our community," Plotts said. "And this kind of investment project is exactly what we need in this state to help jump-start our local economies." Chriss Harris, director of North Central's Foundation, addressed an audience Wednesday morninginside the vacant building, which the college is leasing long term and will renovate. The Urban Higher Education Center will feature a computer lab for online instruction, a distancelearning classroom, a traditional high-tech classroom, counseling rooms and offices, an entrepreneurial small business incubating center and a reception area. The center's staff will assist with admission and course counseling, financial advising, career counseling and work force training. Plotts said the center will spark much-needed community and economic development downtown. "A project like this would not be possible without many community collaborations and significant private funding," Plotts said. "We've been meeting since last May with representatives of minority groups, clergy, elected officials, the local library system, public service organizations, public school adult work force centers, local funders and economic development and community development groups, such as the North End Community Improvement Collaborative and Downtown Mansfield Inc. This is truly a community project." Plotts said the college's foundation secured initial funding from private community sources, including individuals and the Richland County Foundation, which has committed up to $500,000. The college also is requesting financial support from state and federal resources, working with the offices of U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, Ohio Senate President Bill Harris and state Rep. Jay Goyal. A full-time director will be hired to manage the facility. http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20100325/NEWS01/3250304/NCSC-will-open-urban-dream-center 3/25/2010