Students have a new place to get help with course work on Palomar College's Escondido Campus.

Educators, staff, board members and students were among the 50 people gathered to check out the new Teaching and Learning Center at 1951 E. Valley Parkway, which opened after a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday afternoon.

The high-tech center will serve as a hub for students who need help in school, a place where students can get tutoring and meet with teachers or other students.

The approximately 2,800-square-foot space cost just over $1 million, equipment and furniture included, officials said. Funding came from California Community Colleges Basic Skills Initiative and Title V/Hispanic Serving Institution grants.

Tutors associated with the school and from the community will staff the center to offer educational support and guidance to any Palomar student, said foundational college skills co-coordinator Fergal O'Doherty.

Mentors and tutors will reflect the student body so that most students can find a tutor to whom they can relate, O'Doherty said. Because the Escondido campus hosts the most English as a second language students, some tutors will be bilingual.

Mac and PC desktop computers line the walls and students can check out either type of laptop for use inside the center. The large classroom at the back of the center has a magnifying device for visually impaired students and a electronic board that will save whatever teachers write on it as a computer document.

The main part of the center is lit by a combination of conventional light fixtures and natural light brought in through 18 feet of steel solar tubes from the roof.

Nearly every piece of furniture in the center is on wheels, making it possible to clear the space in about five minutes, O'Doherty said.

The high-tech stuff is cool, but it's beside the point, O'Doherty said. The point is putting people together face-to-face.

"Computers are not what this place is about," he said. "It's about tables and chairs and pens and paper."

Palomar President Robert Deegan put it another way.

"This is a place where students can go when they don't know where to go or what to do," he said. "This is a place to connect students with faculty and other students to promote success."

The center will act as a prototype for another center to be built "in the very near future" on the college's main campus in San Marcos, Deegan said.

Until then, all Palomar students are welcome at the Escondido facility.

"Please come see us," said foundational college skills co-coordinator Gary Sosa. "We will be waiting."

Contact staff writer Morgan Cook at 760-740-3516.