Regis’ Fort Collins site signals Loveland’s end

Regis University has finalized plans to open a new learning site in Fort Collins and close the university’s Loveland site.

The university has leased 15,000 square feet at Prospect Road and Academy Court, former site of the Colorado Academy of the Arts. Faculty assessments for new faculty are under way, information sessions at the new site begin in mid-July, and classes begin Aug. 25. The Loveland site will close Aug. 22.

The new site will be one of the university’s largest learning centers – more than double the size of the Loveland facility, said Betty Konarski, associate dean of the School for Professional Studies. It will house 13 classrooms, a full-service bookstore and, eventually, two full computer labs. The site will also go online with the university’s other sites.

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“Several of the classrooms will be wired so we can take a T1 telephone line to the Fort Collins campus and bring it onto the network linking other Regis sites,” Konarski said.

The decision to open a Fort Collins site and close the Loveland facility was based on an analysis of where Regis students in the region lived and worked, Konarski said. The study determined that a large proportion of Regis students were traveling from the Fort Collins-Greeley area to Loveland.

In addition, a demographic study showed that adult students with one year to three years of college are concentrated in Northern Colorado.

Konarski said she looked for sites in Loveland and between the two cities for some time, but everything was build-to-suit.

“We could have expanded in Loveland. There was room in the building we leased from Porter Industries,” she said, “but the lack of parking was a problem.”

One disadvantage of a move from Loveland to Fort Collins is the loss of a close partnership with Aims Community College.

Aims leased day-time classroom space from Regis as needed in Loveland and used the university’s facilities on an interim basis for General Education Diploma testing and other programs.

“It’s been a wonderful partnership, and we’re sorry to see them leave,” said Carol Monthei, campus dean for the community college. “It will be a loss for us and for the Loveland community.”

Monthei said the Regis closing could affect as many as seven courses in the fall, or 20 percent of Aims’ day-time offerings. The community college is looking for other space to lease.

Regis University has sites in Denver, Colorado Springs, Boulder and Cheyenne. Wyoming students in particular will benefit from the larger Fort Collins site, which will expand their choice of masters programs, Konarski said.

Meanwhile, the University of Phoenix has announced the availability of two new programs in Fort Collins. The Human Resource Management Certificate program will be offered beginning in July, and the Master of Business Administration/Technology Management degree will be offered at Teledyne Water Pik. The program will be available to residents of Fort Collins, Greeley and Loveland.