Clark College in the Gorge will host an open house at its new campus to introduce the facility and its winter 2015 class offerings to Columbia River Gorge communities. The open house is from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Monday at Clark College in the Gorge, 310 S. Larch St. in Bingen.
The Bingen campus opened in September. It began by offering a Basic AutoCAD class, successfully launching the new Computer Aided Drafting and Design program in the Gorge. Bingen, population 730, is headquarters to Insitu, a Boeing subsidiary and world leader in unmanned aircraft.
The campus offers classes from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturdays. Students may take individual classes in the AutoCAD and SolidWorks software programs, or pursue a certificate or associates of applied science degree.
“Clark in the Gorge is keen on continuing discussions with the communities in the Gorge to address needs,” said Karin Duncker, educational program manager at the campus. “Since we are new, and our current class offerings came about as a result of community input, we have the advantage of being flexible to current and future educational needs out here.”
The drafting and design program is made possible in part by a grant from the state of Washington to help two-year and technical colleges prepare future employees in the aerospace field.
In addition to the drafting and design program, Clark offers professional development courses in Bingen, including foundations of supervision and introduction to the Microsoft Office Suite.
“Our Corporate Continuing Education department also has the ability to custom tailor classes to individual company needs, and currently does just that for companies in the Gorge including Insitu,” Duncker said. “We are also planning to start offering college placement testing, and will hopefully have an announcement on that soon, so potential students don’t need to travel into Vancouver to take those tests.”
Bingen is approximately 67 miles east of Vancouver on Highway 14.
Registration for winter 2015 classes is now open. To learn more about enrolling, visit www.clark.edu/enroll/index.php.
To sign up for the open house, or for more information about Clark College in the Gorge, contact Karin Duncker at 509-493-1430 or kduncker@clark.edu.
