BURLINGTON, Vt. -- Champlain College will celebrate the new Miller Center at Lakeside Campus with a community open house on Thursday, June 16 from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tours, live music, refreshments and dedication remarks are planned for the open house.

The new building at 175 Lakeside Avenue was built by REM Development of Williston in less than six months thanks to the construction management team headed by Bob Miller, his son, Tim and daughter, Stephanie.
"Champlain College would not have this new South End home, if not for the generosity and exemplary work of the Miller Family," said President David F. Finney. Champlain will honor the Bob and Holly Miller family for their extraordinary service to the College by dedicating the building to the Millers and naming it Miller Center at Lakeside Campus.

The new three-story facility offers 36,000 square-feet of office, meeting and classroom space and brings together employees from the College's Continuing Professional Studies, Human Resources, Campus Planning, Finance, Marketing, CRM, Graduate Admissions, Information Systems, a Digital Forensics student lab, and the Emergent Media Center.
"More than 70 employees are housed on the first two floors and we now have 270 parking spaces for staff and faculty," explained David Provost, Champlain's senior vice president. "We have created a collaborative and flexible space for more than 40 percent of our administrative staff. The open office environment encourages dialogue and collaboration," he said.
The core of the Lakeside building provides numerous closed meeting spaces ranging from private working cabins, to 10-person meeting rooms. In addition, there are two seminar rooms for 18 people on the first floor that can be converted into one large classroom for 36.
The third floor of the building will be used to accommodate future expansion and new programs.
Lakeside also serves as the main hub for shuttles to campus, with a heated waiting room and a 50-seat cantina/kitchen area for special events and employee lunches and breaks. The shuttle runs every 15 minutes to and from campus for staff, faculty and students who park off-campus.
"Providing additional off-campus parking helps ease the effect of vehicle traffic on the streets surrounding the campus and addresses one of the major master plan objectives to reduce parking and cars on the Champlain College main campus," Provost noted. The four-acre site was purchased in 2009 for $1.5 million and the total project came in at $5.5 million according to Provost.

New Home for Continuing Professional Studies at Lakeside Campus

The Miller Center at Lakeside Campus provides a new, more accessible home for the Champlain College Continuing Professional Studies programs, making it easier for prospective and current students to meet with admissions and service staff and to have the on-site classroom facilities to meet for seminars and training sessions delivered through the Workforce Development Center.
The Lakeside building, located across from the former General Dynamics facility, is located on the Pine Street CCTA bus line, offering easier access to the building along with ample parking for visitors.
Champlain College has offered online courses for 20 years, and the Division of Continuing Professional Studies (CPS) now offers 30 degree and professional certificate programs entirely online to more than 700 students every semester.
Additionally, recognizing that adult students are different than traditional aged undergraduate students, CPS includes an admissions staff as well as a student services staff who understand that the work/life/school balance can be elusive, and a student's success can be directly impacted by how well those balance challenges work out.
The new location in the South End of Burlington fits into the role Champlain College has played with the annual South End Art Hop sponsored by the South End Arts and Business Association. Officials expect to be able to use the new space for art exhibits and special events related to the fall arts weekend.