JCCC Leaves Bishop Miege North

JCCC welcomes students to Bishop Miege North facility in 2006.

Five years after approving a temporary move to Bishop Miege North, Johnson County Community College officially began the process of leaving. Except it will not return to a new location at Mission mall as it planned. It will withdraw from Roeland Park to a second off-campus facility at King’s Cove office park located south west of the facility in Merriam. In their May 19 board meeting, trustees approved a new contract with King’s Cove that will shift the BMN classes to that location.

JCCC began offering classes at Mission Center Mall in 2002. When 50 year-old mall was demolished in 2006, JCCC authorized offering classes temporarily at Bishop Miege North. JCCC planned to return to a new Mission mall that would have included a proposed aquarium. However that project has been delayed for more than five years with no deal in sight.

In order to accommodate the almost 500 students who used the Mission Center Mall location, JCCC rented approximately six classrooms at BMN and made several improvements to the site including replacing the electrical system, adding lighting, building an accessible restroom, replacing chalkboards with white boards and painting the classrooms.

BMN was not the only site JCCC considered. Trustee Lynn Mitchelson lobbied for JCCC to partner with the University of Kansas Medical Center on Shawnee Mission Parkway just a few miles away from the Mission Center mall site.

Flier noting JCCC’s move from Mission Mall to Bishop Miege North in 2006:

Read JCCC’s press release:

JCCC Take Sides in Cola War

Coke machine in the JCCC Billington Library. June 1 Coke products will no longer be available on campus.

UPDATE May 20: The C-store does not carry Coke products. However, the food court has Coke products available as fountain drinks — for now.

UPDATE May 19: JCCC’s C-Store will carry limited Coke products.

Starting June 1, Coca-Cola products will no longer be available at JCCC.

At the May 19 Board of Trustee meeting, trustees are expected to approve a contract granting Pepsi Beverages Company exclusive rights to JCCC’s Dining Services.

According to board packet, three vendors submitted bids – 7Up Bottling Company, Coca-Cola Refreshments, and Pepsi Beverage Company.

However, the  three vendors bids are not listed in the packet as is the usual procedure — a procedure that allows the public to see if the selected bid is, indeed, the lowest. Instead, the packet provides an estimate saying the cost of providing beverage service cannot exceed $200,000.

JCCC Grower’s Alliance Market Returns May 26

Locally Grown, JCCC’s community supported agriculture market, returns May 26

Locally Grown, the JCCC Growers’ Alliance Community Supported Agriculture program, returns for a third season this month.

The weekly market will be offered from 2 to 4 p.m. Thursdays, starting May 26 and running through Sept. 22. CSA is a subscription service where participants pay a registration fee and then a set fee each week to receive a mixed bag of food from local growers and producers. Items will be seasonal and change from week to week. The fee for JCCC’s CSA is $25 per week, with a $25 registration fee.

Each week’s market will include a trading table where participants can swap items with other members.

Sign-up is under way now and is entirely electronic. Click here to learn more about Locally Grown and register.

– posted May 9 to the JCCC electronic mail server, Infolist

JCCC Board of Trustees Video – April

Students in JCCC’s Advanced Broadcasting II and III classes began recording the board’s monthly meeting in April. The students stepped up when trustees voted to discontinue recording and broadcasting their meetings in January citing the cost, $40,000, to be too expensive.

Individuals who routinely watched the board meetings live or on JCCC’s video server the next day will have to learn to live with the 2-week delay from recording to webcasting. The students must edit, add name and title keys, etc. For those who need the info faster, JCCC continues to provide next day audio followed a few days later with a written transcript of the meeting.

Q: Now that students have stepped up to save JCCC from a PR nightmare, how will they continue to record and webcast the board meetings that take  place during the summer when the college doesn’t offer broadcast journalism courses?