Discovery Community College is throwing its doors open next week to celebrate its move to Courtenay.

The private professional college opened a campus at 1025 Cliffe Ave. late this fall, and Discovery Community College (DCC) is celebrating by hosting an open house March 16 from 3 to 7 p.m.

"It's really an opportunity for us to showcase some of the existing programs and our new web design and coding program," said Michael Fountain, DCC's director of marketing and communications. "We're really looking forward to meeting more of the community.

"Being part of the community is fundamentally important to Discovery Community College, and I think this is a real opportunity to showcase that."

During the open house, each classroom will be set up to showcase each program, and instructors will be on hand to answer questions. It will be a chance to learn about DCC's health services, business, trades, and web design and coding program.

"Fundamentally, Discovery Community College is committed to producing students or supporting students to receive the skills so they can be employed immediately," said Fountain. "It's very practical training."

DCC, which is fully accredited by the Private Career Training Institutions Association of B.C., has been operating on Vancouver Island since 1989.

The college has campuses in Campbell River, Nanaimo and Courtenay, as well as training facilities in Parskville, Port Alberni and Maple Ridge and a dental laboratory in Parksville. DCC also has mobile units that can visit remote communities.

"We're committed to student success, and we really are committed to the community," said Fountain. "The fact that we're not an overly large organization, the fact that we can be cutting-edge with our programming and really adapt to a community's needs is important."

The college strives to give students the skills they need to be employable.

Ninety-five per cent of DCC's students graduate and get a job, noted Fountain.

Graduates usually hail DCC's small class sizes, industry-relevant curriculum, hands-on training and quality of instructors, he explained.

"One of the things about the instructors is the primary qualification is experience in the field in which they are teaching," he said. "They are teaching in their field; it's something they've chosen, so they are passionate, and that passion is passed on."

DCC was already active in the Comox Valley before opening its Courtenay campus through working with St. Joseph's General Hospital and local care facilities, and it operated in Cumberland, so it was natural to seek a permanent home here, noted Fountain.

One of the college's objectives is to find out the training needs of the community and then work to meet those needs, he explained.

"We have a lot of ability to adapt and create programs that really fit the specific needs of the community," he said.

For more information about DCC, visit www.discoverycommunitycollege.com.

writer@comoxvalleyrecord.com