On Sept. 15, Ivy Tech Community College announced it will expand its Hamilton County site in Noblesville into a full campus. It will open July 1, 2021, as Ivy Tech Hamilton County.
Ivy Tech President Sue Ellspermann said becoming a campus will allow the community college to conduct a national search for a chancellor. The new campus also will offer expanded programs to fit the workforce in Hamilton County.
“Now recognizing that Hamilton County is the fourth-largest county in the state of Indiana, and the fastest growing and, oh by the way, the only of the top-five counties in the state that does not have a dedicated, true campus for Ivy Tech, we thought with the great progress that has been made, the more than 1,200 students that are here today and the great partnerships that have begun, it’s actually time for it now to spin out and become its very own campus,” Ellspermann said.
Transfer degrees in business administration, liberal arts and general studies are offered at the Noblesville site, along with a building construction certificate and other certificates.
“Those are most of the programs here, and you can start programs here but probably you would finish many of them in Indianapolis today,” Ellspermann said. “We think at the size, the scale we have achieved already, you should be able to have more programs of your own that align to the needs of industry here.”
Ellspermann said some of the new programs may include transfer degrees in psychology, biology, education and certificates in software development and Cloud computing, among other disciplines.
Ivy Tech Hamilton County will form advisory boards focused on industries in the county to see if they are best fit for associate degrees or certificate programs through the new campus.
“That’s the true opportunity that’s going to happen here is, at a much more granular level we will be able to stand up what you need,” Ellspermann said.
Ellspermann said she expects the new programs to have a STEM, or science, technology, engineering and math, focus.
“We struggle sometimes with the trades and different educational things that just are tied up right now. They are at their wit’s limits,” county commissioner Steve Dillinger said.
“I think the things this will afford Hamilton County will help the entire county, and we couldn’t be happier. To me, Ivy Tech is a dream come true for Hamilton County.”
For more, visit ivytech.edu.
