Flathead Valley Community College has nearly completed renovation of an apartment building on the hospital campus for student housing.

A joint project with Northwest Healthcare, the building offers 16 units with two bedrooms and one unit with one bedroom. Chuck Jensen, vice president of administration and finance, told trustees at the board meeting Monday that the units were nearly complete with just some carpets left to install.

He said they should be ready to occupy in 30 days.

“We believe we can fill them through this semester,” Jensen said.

Brenda Hanson, dean of students, said the college has a list of students interested in the unfurnished housing that will rent in the vicinity of $500 to $550 a month. She said these will be added to a list of rentals in the community that the college maintains.

Hanson said the college is completing its rental agreement with the hospital.

In other action at the meeting, trustees voted to terminate the Marketing/Sales Certificate program and to place the Customer Service Certificate program in moratorium status.

Kathy Hughes, vice president of instruction, said the college continues to review all programs for enrollment and effectiveness. The 16-unit (one semester) Marketing/Sales Certificate program had low enrollment due to significant competition from other short-term options such as the Superhost program.

“There was more interest in the year or longer programs,” Hughes said.

The college kept the one-year Marketing/Sales Specialist Certificate of Applied Science. Hughes said most of the graduates of the short-term certificate were in the Montana prison system where the college offers classes.

Hughes said the college’s program review and curriculum committees approved placing the Customer Service Certificate program in moratorium status because of low enrollments. It will remain inactive until the business division has an opportunity “to revamp and retool it.”

Also at the meeting, trustees heard good news from financial reports.

“We’re right on track with projected revenues and expenditures,” said Bob Nystuen, board chairman and member of the finance and audit committee.

Trustee Tom Harding said the college has done an exemplary job of managing its money. At the same meeting, trustees heard about new efforts to raise endowment money for specific programs.

Colleen Unterreiner, executive director, institutional advancement, and Suzy Williams, member of the college foundation, announced that the college has received $200,000 to create matching programs for two new endowments of $200,000 each.

One would benefit the Scholars Program which provides highly-motivated students with rigorous cross-disciplinary academics. The other would help fund nursing programs from Certified Nursing Assistants to an Associate of Science Registered Nurse expected to start in 2012.

According to Williams, 140 students registered last fall listing nursing as their major area of study. She encouraged people to donate to each program, saying the foundation was a good steward of gifts to the college.

Making the president’s report by phone, President Jane Karas had been in Helena making a legislative presentation with others, including Nystuen, before the Joint Appropriations Subcommittee on Education. Six students also traveled to testify.

“They all did a wonderful job representing the college and telling how the college had changed their lives,” Karas said.

She said the college again has strong support from local legislators.

Karas reported that the college has five architects selected to interview about designing a new maintenance building for the college.

She announced that Flathead Valley Community College is one of 37 institutions selected to participate in the Voluntary Framework for Accountability initiative of the American Association of Community Colleges. Karas said the effort will define measures of success of community colleges serving a variety of students.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.