Zach Srnis

Special Correspondent

The Midpoint campus located in nearby Brunswick, OH will be closing at the end of the academic year.  The campus, which serves as one of Lorain County Community College’s outreach centers will no longer serve as one of these outreach centers.

Tracy Green, vice president of institutional development, said that the landscape often changes with higher education.

“62 percent of our students, nearly two-thirds, are going to other places such as the main campus, North Ridgeville, and online,” said Green. “If the student are able to drive to the main campus in Elyria, then Midpoint is no longer essential to the students. After looking at the statistics, the decision was made to close the Midpoint campus.”

Lena Knight, director of the Midpoint campus, said that the class sizes were diminishing.

“We had students that were already making the trip to Elyria,” said Knight. “Midpoint is pretty large for an outreach center, but the number of students in the classes were getting smaller.”

While the outreach center is closing, Knight said the focus is still the students.

“It has been great getting to know the students,” said Knight. “The students walk by the office as they come in and it has been great being with them everyday. The students have told me that they will miss Midpoint but understand why it is being done.”

The Midpoint campus served students who live in Medina County, and each outreach campus offers what the main campus cannot, according to Green.

“We had formed these outreach centers as a way for students to have an easier time accessing a college campus,” said Green.

LCCC’s other outreach centers include Wellington and North Ridgeville.

“There is obviously an easier commute, which is a big help for the students that are very busy,” said Green. “It also has a smaller size to it which helps to ease student into their higher-education careers. The main campus can, at times, feel overwhelming to new students, so I feel these outreach centers are very helpful.”

In 2009, the Midpoint campus partnered with Akron University, Green explained.

Midpoint offered general elective classes while Akron offered the organization supervision program, which had been moved to the main campus. There are also business and allied health students that attend Midpoint.

Midpoint students have partnered with Cleveland State University and Ohio State University, said Knight.

“It was a system where Akron offered the bachelor degrees and LCCC provided the associates,” said Green. “There was a mutual benefit for both sides and it allowed for students to receive 4-year degrees at Midpoint.”

The faculty and staff from the Midpoint campus have had position offers elsewhere, according to Knight.

“The emphasis, however, has been on making the transition as smooth as possible and allowing the staff to have time to make a decision.”