DSC's Deltona campus to add nursing, sonography and machining programs in new building

In an effort to meet the growing demand for employees in the nursing and machining fields, Daytona State College recently broke ground on a second building at its Deltona campus, which opened in 2004.

Building Two, as it is currently called, will join the existing Fathi Hall and will house the college's new nursing, sonography and CNC (computer numerical control) machining programs.

“Deltona is certainly an area that’s growing, and this building will help us meet the growth in that area,” DSC President Thomas LoBasso told The News-Journal Thursday. “We're excited to be able to offer these highly technical skilled training programs in the city of Deltona.”

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Deltona had nearly 93,700 people as of the 2020 census, up from just under 85,200 in 2010.

Building Two will have classrooms, labs, bookstore

LoBasso said the second building has been in the works for about five years and has received various state funding during that time. A news release denotes that $19 million has been allocated between the state and the college over that time.

The college officially broke ground on Building Two on Aug. 17 and expects it to be finished in the spring of 2024.

The 100-acre campus currently has the 42,000-square-foot Fathi Hall, which accommodates administrative offices and general education classes for the school’s Associate of Arts degree. Some portable classrooms also house courses for a cosmetology certificate.

The new building will be two stories and total 30,000 square feet. It will have classrooms as well as biology and chemistry labs.

“Also, the new building will have a bookstore, and they'll offer grab-and-go food,” LoBasso said. “It will be like coffee, grab-and-go sandwiches and things like that.”

Building the nursing and machinery workforces

Daytona State College has several campuses in addition to its main campus, including DeLand, Deltona, New Smyrna Beach/Edgewater, Flagler/Palm Coast, and the Advanced Technology College and News-Journal Center in Daytona Beach.

Each varies in its offerings, but the Deltona campus will be the only to offer sonography and the third to have a nursing program.

“It's probably no secret to anyone, if you look at the news, the shortage of nurses. This was in the works prior to the pandemic, so the demand for nursing was already very, very strong,” LoBasso said. “It became even more of a need with the pandemic.”

Part of the school’s mission is to meet the needs of local employers, so the planning for the nursing program expansion coincided with AdventHealth’s expansion in Orange City and Halifax Health’s new medical center in Deltona, which were both completed in the past few years.

The most recent cohort of nursing students has already started classes in Deltona and will have the opportunity to finish up in the new building.

The new building will accommodate 120 nursing students and 100 sonography students obtaining their Associate on Science degree, as well as 40 working toward their certificates in CNC machining.

"We have a lot of manufacturers here in Volusia County,” LoBasso said. “They need more machinists, and Pine Ridge High School has a manufacturing academy, so that went into our decision in placing the machining program so that those high school kids can transition into our machining program.”

Building will provide 'true campus feeling'

Building Two will be constructed directly across from Fathi Hall, creating a courtyard in between the two buildings.

Architect SchenkelShultz shared in a press release that the building “embraces its native surroundings, creates campus synergy, and nurtures a newfound ecosystem of student life.”

“The design and textures were inspired by the local ecology and history of the site that unveiled a unique mix of wildlife and landscape that informed the design response on the interior and exterior,” Design Lead Ekta P. Desai said in the release, which noted the Florida scrub environment as an inspiration.

Both the exterior and interior of the building will provide more of a “true campus feeling.”

“The design blends these academic programs with a student lounge that engages the commuter population and offers flexible seating and options to ‘plug-in’ anywhere,” Principal and Education Designer Patrick G. Rauch stated. “An open, social stair connects the entry, bookstore and lounge spatially and visually, while also giving students a place to collaborate and gather.”

SchenkelShultz also designed Building Three at Daytona State’s Palm Coast campus. Ajax Building Corporation will construct the new building in Deltona and also add 92 parking spaces, according to its website.

Contact reporter Danielle Johnson at djohnson@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Daytona State's Deltona campus will house nursing, machining programs