Estherville, IA (KICD)--Iowa Lakes Community College is set to move forward with a new Computer Gaming Program.

On Tuesday the Iowa Lakes Trustees voted to proceed with submitting an initial proposal for the program with the Iowa Department of Education. The Computer Gaming program would start in the Fall of 2013 on the Estherville campus and would provide students with programming and design skills within the context of gaming applications.

Room and Board rates will be going up $200 per year for the combination of food service and housing for the 2013-2014 college year.

A bid of slightly more than $420,000 for a new swine facility for the College Farm Laboratory was approved by the Trustees.

The board also approved moving forward with renovations to the Sustainable Energy Resource Technology – or SERT – building located on the Estherville campus. The building, once renovated, will include a new lab for the proposed Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) program; a lab for the college’s existing Environmental Studies as well as the new Water Quality program; and a location which could include robotics in the future. In addition, space would be available for NC3 and other training certifications for students and industry partners. And, a ‘working at heights’ lab would be included along with ladder training and a turbine blade to train for confined spaces. The Trustees agreed to receive and open bids for the SERT facility on April 11th and then hold a public hearing at their next regular meeting. 

The next meeting for the Trustees is scheduled for Tuesday, April 16th, at the Emmetsburg campus of Iowa Lakes