BEATRICE – Covid-19 has postponed the ribbon-cutting for the new Academic Excellence Center on the Beatrice Campus of Southeast Community College, but reporters were given a tour of the interior of the 52,000 square foot, three-story center on Monday. The building will be opened on the start of the spring semester, January 11th. Students and faculty are getting tours of the facility ahead of time.


"The student ambassadors have gone through the building because they are going to be giving tours to the building and they're just in awe. The faculty that are going to be in this building, we brought them over in three different groups...and they're just like, oh my goodness, I can't believe it. Especially when they look at their office space and their classrooms from what they were teaching back in 1965 to what they're seeing in 2020. The technology in this building, is just amazing."


Beatrice Campus Director Bob Morgan says the building includes ten classrooms, student study space, laboratory area for physics, chemistry, biology and nursing, along with a large conference area. The facility is replacing Jackson and Adams Halls, which date back to 1965 and the former Pershing College.
"We've needed a facelift on this campus for a number of years."


The SCC Board of Governors will hold their Tuesday meeting in the large conference room at the Academic Excellence Center, equipped with audio/visual capabilities.


"This one is not only for us to use, but to work with the community so events can be held in here, as well. If you have tables in here, capacity is about one hundred. If you have theatre seating in here, capacity is about 150 to 200, depending on how it is set up."


A tour of the upper floor laboratory rooms of the facility show a state-of-the-art science area that combines lecture and lab space….and includes nursing student laboratory area which provides connections remotely to the Health Sciences Center in Lincoln, as well as learning centers across the schools’ 15-county service area.


"The Health Sciences Building at Lincoln and this Beatrice building have the identical headboards, oxygen, all those types of things....they're absolutely identical. So, that makes it easier from a learning perspective."


The new center will be home to health and sciences, humanities, social sciences business and criminal justice programs. It also targets a 70-percent reduction in energy use by 2030. Faculty offices are located adjacent to classroom area, to foster interaction between students and faculty.