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Wilkes‑Barre seeks $750,000 RCAP grant to finish King’s College student success center
Summary
City council authorized filing for a $750,000 Redevelopment Assistance of Capital Program (RCAP) grant to complete a King’s College Student Success Center in the Corbin Library; college representatives described the center and provided campus population and staffing figures.
The Wilkes‑Barre City Council moved to authorize city officials to file a project management proposal with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania seeking a $750,000 Redevelopment Assistance of Capital Program (RCAP) grant to assist King’s College’s Student Success Center project.
King’s College representatives said the project will renovate the first floor of Corbin Library to create a one‑stop student success center that consolidates academic support services including the academic skills center, tutoring, the writing center, academic advising and a casing pathways group. The college said the renovation is already underway; work began last summer.
The center is intended to centralize student services and support retention by providing multiple services in one location on campus. “This is basically going to consolidate the services that our students need to be successful all in one particular location,” King’s College representative Tom Woodchem said.
Woodchem provided staffing and enrollment figures during the discussion: 512 employees (he said 351 are full‑time regular and 61 are part‑time or temporary), 222 student employees and about 1,900 students total, with roughly 46% living on campus. Council members asked whether the requested grant represents the final funding piece; Woodchem confirmed the renovation is underway and that the current request is to assist with the project’s costs.
The resolution to seek the RCAP grant was presented during the meeting; the transcript records the authorization to file the proposal but does not specify a recorded vote or final outcome on the resolution in the provided excerpt.
City staff and college representatives did not provide a detailed project budget in the recorded discussion; the grant amount in the text is $750,000 and the project scope in the record focuses on the first‑floor Corbin Library renovation and the consolidation of student services.
Council members and college staff said they would continue coordination as the grant application proceeds, and college representatives offered to provide additional information about staffing and project timing if requested.
