Roane State to host Sept. 5 ribbon-cutting for new building at Oak Ridge campus

Roane State Community College will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, Sept. 5 for the new Goff Health Sciences and Technology Building at the college’s Oak Ridge campus.

The event begins at 8:30 a.m. The public is invited.

“We would love for the community to see the new building and to meet our faculty and students,” said Melinda Hillman, Roane State vice president of advancement and community relations. “Students will have wonderful learning opportunities in the new building, all thanks to the community’s support for this project. We are deeply appreciative and invite everyone to celebrate with us.”

The 64,000-square-foot, three-story building will help ease overcrowding at the Oak Ridge campus, 701 Briarcliff Ave. Originally designed for 1,800 students, the campus has 2,500 students. The building will accommodate 500 students and give Roane State the space to offer new programs in health care and technology.

The building includes space for Roane State’s new surgical technology program. Roane State’s occupational therapy assistant (OTA) program is housed in the building, giving OTA students access to larger and more sophisticated labs.

The building has additional space for nursing students, massage therapy students and pharmacy technician students. The facility also includes a flex lab, which can be easily configured to suit the training needs of area industries.

Construction of the $13.8 million building began in June 2012 and was completed in March. Overall, the building includes 14 classrooms, seven labs, 37 faculty offices, an adjunct faculty area, three conference rooms, two lecture halls, 15 student study areas and five computer labs. The building includes more than 300 computers.

Crossville-based Upland Design Group designed the building to be LEED-certified for energy efficiency. The U.S. Green Building Council's LEED green building certification system is the foremost program for the design, construction, maintenance and operations of green buildings. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

LEED characteristics of the building include:

• Daylighting: Interior spaces were developed around a daylighting design that limits the need for artificial lighting, thus reducing energy demand for artificial lighting and cooling.
• Artificial lighting controls: The artificial lighting design utilizes both motion and daylight sensors to efficiently control light-use within the building.
• Geothermal: The building has geothermal heating and cooling, which requires 20-50 percent less energy to operate than other HVAC systems.
• Indoor water use reduction: The building includes low flow and low flush fixtures to reduce water waste.

The building is named for Dr. Gary Goff, who served as Roane State’s president from 2005-2012. He was instrumental in raising support for the campus expansion.

For more information about Roane State, visit www.roanestate.edu or call (865) 481-2000.

Tennessee’s Community Colleges is a system of 13 colleges offering a high-quality, affordable, convenient and personal education to prepare students to achieve their educational and career goals in two years or less. All colleges in the system offer associate degree and certificate programs, workforce development programs and transfer pathways to four-year degrees. For more information, please visit tncommunitycolleges.org.