ACC to install new instructional model at Highland Mall

Virginia Tech, for example, installed an emporium in 1999 for students taking linear algebra. According to a report from 2001, the original projected savings was $128,180, but after full implementation, the university saved $140,000 annually in faculty and student costs.

"The beauty of an emporium style is that it can be very flexible. Also, you can get through it as fast as the student is able. It is a great opportunity for accelerated learning," Ferrell said.

ACC has been interested in the emporium model for some time, Ferrell said, but until the college completed the purchase of Highland Mall in 2011, it did not have a good facility for the emporium.

"[The J.C. Penney space] is wide-open and has tall ceilings; you can get a lot of computers and there, and a lot of students can get in there are the same time," he said.

In addition, the first floor will house student services to assist those who need extra support. Each semester, ACC has about 10,000 students enrolled in developmental classes across all subjects.

In January, ACC's board of trustees chose local architecture firm Barnes Gromatzky Kosarek Architects to redesign the former J.C. Penney building. The second floor of the store will be used as "swing space" for students displaced by renovations at other campuses. While the swing space will be in use for 10–15 years, the emporium will likely be permanent, Ferrell said.

"It's hard to say now, but if the model is as successful as it has been at many other places, then we would start looking at putting [emporiums] on other campuses. With the demographics, population and how many students we are expected to have over the next decade or two, we would need that capacity," he said.

The school will begin to occupy Highland Mall in May 2014.