This blog post is in response to a handwritten letter the College recently received from an alumni.
Dear Ms. Smith,
Thank you so much for the kind letter you wrote May 18, 2020. I always enjoy hearing from our 24,500 alumni. I am also pleased that you believe your educational experience at BC3 from the 1970s has served you well over the years.
Our college has changed quite a bit since you took classes here. Our 330-acre main campus in Butler Township is still as beautiful, especially this time of year, but has far more buildings than the original four dating to our opening in 1966. A one-mile Shaffer Walking Trail now encompasses nearly all of our buildings, and will also pass by a proposed state-of-the-art Victor K. Phillips Nursing and Allied Health building planned for the south end of our main campus – not far from those original four buildings.
You asked about our library. That, too, has changed. We opened the Heaton Family Learning Commons in 2016. Our ultramodern academic and community library was even featured in a November 2017 issue of Library Journal, the nation’s oldest magazine devoted to libraries. Martin Miller, our dean of library sciences, leads an incredible staff in the Heaton.
Yes, we have expanded quite a bit since your time at BC3. We deliver our quality, affordable and accessible education throughout northwestern Pennsylvania. Our additional locations are in Brockway in Jefferson County; Cranberry Township in Butler County; Ford City in Armstrong County; Hermitage in Mercer County; and New Castle in Lawrence County.
The Heaton Family Learning Commons even links those additional locations to our main campus through technology. We also have a thriving distance education program!
Would you believe we serve 25,000 students annually? Not only have we received accolades for excellence in our 56 associate degree credit programs, we serve up to 20,000 individuals in noncredit continuing education, workforce development, public safety and other important trainings.
Margo Pitts and her love of the arts and of students like you are still discussed decades after her retirement. Professor Pitts is symbolic of our excellent faculty and staff over the years. It’s one of the many reasons I just love BC3 — a place I have called home since 1999 and have served as president since 2007.
There’s little question higher education will change as a result of COVID-19. But I am confident BC3 will continue to thrive. Our “all in” for nursing with the Shaffer School of Nursing and Allied Health and the Victor K. Phillips Nursing and Allied Health building could not come at a more important time.
I am so pleased you reached out to the college with your touching letter. You are always welcome for a visit.
Pioneer Proud!
President Neupauer
