Beaver, WV (WOAY) – New River Community and Technical College will open its Raleigh County campus to the public Friday, offering campus tours, program information and help completing an application. The open house runs from noon until 6 p.m. at the Beaver campus, and no appointment is required.
Campus Director Tori Taylor said the event is built for anyone curious enough to walk through the door.
“Our summer open houses are geared towards anybody in the community who wants to come in, check out the campus, see what we have to offer, learn about new programs, explore opportunities for them, and we’ll have people onsite to help them if they want to apply,” Taylor said.
The Beaver campus houses surgical technology, medical laboratory technician, physical therapist assistant, practical nursing and business programs, among others. Two more were added recently.
“Our newest programs for this campus specifically are massage therapy and nail art and technology,” Taylor said. “Those are both expanded from our other campuses. We now offer them here at the Raleigh County campus, and it’s a great new facility for them to train in that area.”
Taylor said the college’s programs are designed to train people for jobs that are in demand in the region, while also looking ahead to what students will need later in their careers.
“Trades are very popular right now, and we have a lot of opportunities out at our facility in Ghent, and that’s our advanced technology center,” Taylor said. “We offer things like welding, the line service program, HVAC, auto and diesel. Very popular programs, and very necessary for today’s world.”
She said the college has also introduced coursework in artificial intelligence.
“We do have a new program that is offered for AI and teaching our students so that they can be prepared to learn how to properly use it, because they’re going to need it when they go out into the real world and these careers,” Taylor said. “So we’re trying to teach them how to use it as part of their program so they’ll be ready for the future.”
Open houses are being held at every New River campus this month, according to Taylor, and students can apply to any location or to an online program at any one of them. The fall semester begins Aug. 24.
The Raleigh County campus is located at 280 University Drive in Beaver. The college can be reached at 304-929-5450.
