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City, Edison college, to discuss Cape campus

By Staff | Dec 1, 2010

Mayor John Sullivan announced Wednesday that an Edison State College campus might one day be established in Cape Coral.
According to a press release, Sullivan said the city “will begin discussions” with Edison State representatives about making the campus a reality.
The time frame of these discussions is unknown, but Edison State College spokeswoman Katherine Bergeson said Wednesday that a Cape Coral campus was “strictly a conversation at this point.”
While the two entities have discussed the possibility in the past, the campus is closer to a reality now because 20 percent of Edison’s student claim a Cape Coral home address.
“Edison and Cape Coral have talked frequently in the past … about the best way to serve our students,” Bergeson said. “The difference between the past and today, and now more formalized with the letter, we now have a significant amount of students that live in the Cape.”
Of Edison’s 18,608 students, 3,710 students live in, or claim Cape Coral, as their home address.
Edison also has campuses in Charlotte and Collier counties, as well as the Hendry-Glades Center in Labelle.
Bergeson said the classes in Charlotte started small, in storefronts or other small locations, and eventually grew into a full- blown campus.
While she didn’t know what the time line would be, if any, for Cape Coral, she said the forthcoming small business workshops, to be offered in January at the CRA offices, was logical place to start for the Cape.
“That’s the first step,” she said. “We’re happy we could work with the city and start something right away.
Neither Mayor John Sullivan, nor Lee Campus President Dr. James Martin, returned phone calls for comment Wednesday.
Martin did write in a letter to Sullivan dated Nov. 17 that he supported the idea of a Cape Coral Edison State College Campus, and that the college was expressing a “sincere interest in partnering” with the city so the option could be explored.