Gallaudet University opens new regional centers; national outreach network reconfigured

New Regional Centers Open

Gallaudet University announced in September that it is opening regional centers at John A. Logan College in Carterville, Ill., and Austin Community College in Austin, Texas. The two new Gallaudet University Regional Centers (GURCs) join existing centers in Massachusetts; Hawaii; Washington, DC; and California. The GURCs provide students with a host of services, including extension courses, training programs, and workshops.

Said Gallaudet University provost Stephen F. Weiner, “For more than 20 years, Gallaudet has served the nation’s deaf and hard of hearing citizens, their families, and the deaf and hearing professionals who work with them, through a network of college-based GURCs. We are pleased to welcome our new partners, who are strategically located and who have shown much enthusiasm for this joint venture.”

Following a recent review by the University of its GURC network, the multi-state areas served by the centers were modified to ensure more effective and equitable distribution of their programs and services. The reconfigured geographic areas covered by the GURCs — Midwest, Northeast, Pacific, Southeast, Southwest, and West — will be served by John A. Logan College; Northern Essex Community College in Haverhill, Mass.; Kapi’olani Community College in Honolulu, Hawaii; Gallaudet University; Austin Community College; and Ohlone College in Fremont, Calif., respectively.

According to Dr. Joseph J. Innes, dean of Gallaudet’s College of Professional Studies and Outreach, of which the GURCs are a part, the geographic reconfiguration of the centers and the competition among colleges to host them are part of the University’s strategic planning process, particularly as it relates to enrollment and revenue production.

“The historic success of the GURCs is a result of the special collaboration between Gallaudet and the colleges that host the centers,” said Innes. “As we welcome Austin Community College and John A. Logan College into the Gallaudet family, we look forward to experiencing with them the mutually beneficial relationship enjoyed between our university and all GURC host colleges.”