New College in Town?

A former Lake Superior College Provost will start a new online university known as "University of Proctorknott," named for the City of Proctor's namesake, James Proctor Knott. The College offices will be located in the former Yahoo! advertising building, on the courtyard of Proctor's famous beer gardens.

Diane Beauvais, Provost at LSC from 1992 until 2004, believes "the time is right for a new online university. Next generation technology is really making it even more possible." Beauvais aims to have over 60,000 students by 2nd semester, 2008. "What you may not know is that the phone companies just came out with some new techology: video screens associated with telephone calls. We can do whole classes via these video-telephones." Beauvais had an example of the technology present during the interview. It appeared to be some kind of digital telephone where one could see the caller's face.

Asked how she will achieve such high enrollment figures, Beauvais explained that "we will be placing placards throughout the greater Duluth area, and we will also target Michigan's UP. With a population of over 200,000, it seems very plausible that we will get just over 1/4 of them to sign up." When it was pointed out that the corporate success of "University of Phoenix" led to only 30,000 students after ten years of operation, Beauvais pointed out a simple fact: "They aren't located over a beer garden."

The City of Proctor, in anticipation of the many professors and instructors moving to the City, has preemptively begun construction on three new condominium towers with over 2,200 units of housing. Proctor officials stated that "We need to get out ahead of the housing rush. With ample public funds available, and with our sidewalks in perfect condition, we thought this was a perfect opportunity for economic development."