BEATRICE – It appears Southeast Community College will be able to make use of CARES Act funding to help with a capital improvement project at the Lincoln Campus. The project to modernize the student services area is underway. The $30 million Student and Academic Support project will renovate 80,000 square feet and add over 25,000 square feet of new space.


SCC received $2 million in the initial CARES Act, which has been spent. The college received about $9 million in the second round, at the start of the year.
SCC President Dr. Paul Illich says the modernization fits with eligible improvements that are related to the response to Covid-19.


"Everything that we're doing in regard to the 88th and "O" renovation and addition is absolutely related to modernizing and updating those spaces. If you recall, there were a lot of things we couldn't do in terms of operating many of our services because of, the spaces were too crowded...we couldn't some things...we had to have persons work from their homes. So, the renovation itself is going to put us in a position to do that."


During a Southeast Community College Board meeting Tuesday held virtually, Illich said it appears that SCC will receive about $16 million in third round CARES Act funding, about half of which would go for scholarship support. Illich says the college is examining whether part of that money could also support capital construction projects.


Ilich gave a preliminary report to the school’s board of governors on spring semester enrollment.  "I feel really good about the enrollment. We ended up down about 3.8 percent. That appears to be much, much less than what others have been experiencing. I think that has everything to do with the way we kept our schedules pretty much intact, in the fall and spring semesters."


Community colleges have been following a legislative bill that would remove the two-cent capital levy the colleges can use to help fund building projects….and a bill that would cap how much additional property tax revenue can be raised, at 3-percent, not counting growth.