Cape Fear Community College holds information session in Surf City

Building design plans are on the drawing board and educators are rounding up a list of classes.

The one thing missing during the planning process of the highly anticipated Cape Fear Community College campus in Surf City is you.

College officials want to hear from local residents about the campus during an information session at the Surf City Welcome Center on March 16.

"We’re looking for anyone who’s got an interest in the campus," said David Hardin(cqtt), the college’s public information officer. "If we’re getting information that they want a certain type of class we’re definitely not ruling anything out."

CFCC President Dr. Ted Spring will make a presentation and answer questions about the Alston W. Burke Campus, which will be built on a 24-acre site off N.C. 210 in the coming months.

College officials hope to break ground on the site late this fall with courses beginning no later than winter 2015.

CFCC currently offers adult continuing education classes at the Surf City Community Center, the college’s only location in Pender County for nearly a decade. Courses were once offered in the old Topsail High School building just off U.S. 17 in the heart of Hampstead until 2005.

"Right now we’re planning on offering some general basic college transfer classes," Hardin said.

Those courses include English, math and history, which will transfer to a four-year college and count toward technical and vocational degrees. The college also plans to offer non-credit courses for "lifelong learners," Hardin said. Officials are considering implementing specific programs including emergency management services and Phlebotomy.

The first building is expected to span anywhere from 8,000 to 12,000 square feet and hold upwards of 12 classrooms as well as offices and administrative space.

"Our primary focus for the Surf City campus is to serve the residents of eastern Pender County, but it's possible that they could come from surrounding counties as well," Hardin said.

Last year, more than 1,700 Pender County residents attended CFCC. The student body last year also included 185 Onslow County residents.

"We look forward to hearing directly from the residents about their hopes for the Alston W. Burke Campus and the programs to be offered there," Spring stated in a news release. "We're here for the community and want to make sure we're responsive to the needs of the surf City area."

The meeting will be held from 9:30 to 11 a.m. at the welcome center, 102 N. Shore Drive.