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Enrollment up as Miami VOA campus begins second year

Progress in courses, credit hours also expected to rise

Paula Webster teaches her Literacy Assessment and Instruction class at Miami University Voice of America Learning Center, Monday, Jan. 11, 2010, which was the one-year anniversary for Miami's newest branch in West Chester.

Greg Lynch/Staff photographer Paula Webster teaches her Literacy Assessment and Instruction class at Miami University Voice of America Learning Center, Monday, Jan. 11, 2010, which was the one-year anniversary for Miami's newest branch in West Chester.

ENLARGE PHOTO

Paula Webster teaches her Literacy Assessment and Instruction class at Miami University Voice of America Learning Center on Jan. 11, which was the one-year anniversary for Miami's newest branch in West Chester. Staff photo by Greg Lynch

ENLARGE PHOTO

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By Dave Greber, Staff Writer Updated 1:51 AM Monday, January 25, 2010

WEST CHESTER TWP. — Earlier this month, when the Miami University Voice of America Learning Center marked its one-year anniversary, local leaders had a lot to celebrate.

Numbers — graduate and undergraduate students, courses, enrollment and credit hours — are up for the learning center since its first class Jan. 12, 2009.

And the progress is expected to continue, Learning Center officials say, especially considering the school’s location and convenient scheduling.

“The purpose was to increase access, especially for those who are time and place bound,” said Roderick Nimtz, director of Miami’s VOA center.

“There’s a real convenience factor that we bring to the table.”

Talk of the Learning Center began in the mid-1990s, following the decommissioning of the former Voice of America Bethany Station, a landmark — currently being rehabilitated — that spread messages of democracy throughout the world for more than five decades via shortwave radio.

Ground was broken on the 20-acre site off Cox Road in West Chester on Sept. 5, 2008.

The 23,000-square-foot Learning Center is meant to augment educational opportunities Miami offers at its main campus, as well as offerings at its satellite campuses in Hamilton and Middletown, Nimtz said.

Most of its nearly 40 courses start in the late afternoon or evenings and run Monday through Thursday to accommodate schedules of its students. Fridays are typically left open to the community for area business, trainings, seminars and meetings.

The average age for undergraduate students attending classes at the Learning Center is 29, compared to the 24 to 25 range that attend Miami’s Hamilton and Middletown classes.

Nimtz said the center has received a resounding response from teachers and administrators in Butler, Warren and Hamilton counties who are building on existing degrees or seeking continuing education.

“The dynamic that comes into play is not only where people live, but also where people work,” Nimtz said. “Our setting . . . is bringing a different group other than what we’re seeing at the residential campus.”

Enrollment at the Learning Center is “exactly on target” with what Miami officials had predicted at the outset. They’re expecting an increase of more than 200 students — 100 undergraduate and 134 graduate — for the upcoming spring semester compared to the same period last year.

Although the facility — and its surrounding property — includes room for expansion, Nimtz said there are no immediate plans to do so.

“We’re following very closely how the building is used,” he said.

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2112 or dgreber@coxohio.com.

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