Ivy Tech classes resume today

Bagpiper will make sure students are awake at 7:30 a.m. welcome session with Chancellor John Whikehart

H-T Report
August 20, 2007

Classes get under way today at Ivy Tech-Bloomington, and the campus is expecting its largest contingent of students ever.

In an Ivy Tech tradition, Chancellor John Whikehart will greet students arriving for classes that start at 7:30 a.m. while bagpiper Ian Arthur provides music to make sure everyone is awake.

This year marks the five-year anniversary of the Ivy Tech campus at 200 Daniels Way west of Bloomington, and the college is already outgrowing it. It has leased 8,500 square feet of auxiliary classroom and office space at 1907 Liberty Drive, where some classes will be held starting today.

Ivy Tech-Bloomington is one of 23 campuses of Ivy Tech Community College. It enrolled about 4,500 students in the fall of 2006 and could top 5,000 this year.

With more students in the 18-to-25-year-old age group, Ivy Tech is taking steps to create more of a college atmosphere on its campus, Whikehart said.

“Our students expect a college experience similar to what they would get at a four-year university, and we are meeting this demand by offering opportunities to socialize outside of the classroom,” he said in a back-to-school statement.

Welcome Week activities this week will include rock climbing and video game tournaments. The college plans this year to offer recreational sports, add student clubs, bring musicians to campus and schedule an alternative spring break experience.