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RCC's expensive success Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell In just a few short years, Rogue Community College's enrollment has ballooned from about 5,000 to nearly 17,000 - causing some growing pains while funding catches up with enrollment. These students are among the 700 who are attending RCC to get their general equivalency diploma. From left, Luke Walker, 17, Marie Rowan, 22, and Sherry Reames, 42, wait to take their GED test at the Medford campus. The college has bloomed in Jackson County, but it still lacks a real Medford campus, an idea whose time has come in the midst of money troubles By DAMIAN MANN Almost overnight, Rogue Community College has grown into an educational colossus that spans two counties and has become the largest institution of higher learning in Southern Oregon. In just four years, enrollment has skyrocketed from 5,000 students mainly in Josephine County to an anticipated 17,000 by the end of this year. A majority of the new students come from Jackson County. RCC ranks itself the seventh largest community college in the state. This rapid growth has not come without pains as RCC slashed its budget this year and now anticipates a future dominated by the ever-growing needs of Jackson County. From its inception in 1970 at the Redwood Campus in Grants Pass, RCC now sprawls over 10 locations, six of them in Jackson County. After RCC officially expanded into Jackson County in 1996, student enrollment grew at a dizzying pace and the school scrambled to lease buildings in downtown Medford to meet demands. "I think we are almost there as a real campus," said teacher Laurie Van Riper. "Part of it is just establishing yourself - being here for a while, getting used to the configuration and the growing pains." The Medford facility, known as the Riverside Campus, is a loose collection of eight buildings spread out over a 10-block area. This hodgepodge campus isn't favored among students, who often find it lacking - particularly in comparison to the 80-acre facility in Grants Pass. Students especially dislike the shortage of parking around the school, and the limited time allowed in the spaces that do exist. "In between classes you have to go out and move your car around," said 25-year-old Vanessa Vicino. Parking, commuting to Grants Pass for classes and having a very uncampus-like feel are the main complaints of Jackson County students. The down side of growth Tom Bradbeer, dean of human resources and college advancement, expects growth to continue, particularly in Jackson County. He anticipates it could become the fourth largest community college by 2005. But growth hasn't come without a cost. The school was rocked this year by massive cutbacks of $1.5 million as spending outpaced revenues. Next year, RCC plans to slash its budget by $3.4 million. Even though the school has averaged 12 percent growth each year for the past three years, its funding hasn't kept pace. The state bases its funding on the average number of students enrolled over a three-year period. As a result, the school so far has received less money than it needs for its current enrollment. The school has been forced to increase class size and reduce its staff to make the cutbacks. RCC President Rick Levine said part of the school's problem has been an increase in the number of students who take just one or two classes, rather than a full load, resulting in less money than expected. In the midst of its financial turmoil, the school has proposed a $30 million expansion that would unify the Medford campus and create a technical school in the White City area. The school predicts the earliest the bond measure would appear on a ballot is May 2002. This unification plan, Levine said, would also help the school get rid of an annual $1 million in lease payments, which would improve RCC's financial picture. Levine envisions a new classroom facility that would be connected via a sky bridge to the student center (the old Montgomery Ward store at Eighth Street and Central Avenue). Levine said the first floor of the new building would feature parking. It would also help unify downtown and create a cultural corridor including the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater and the new county library headquarters. RCC hopes to establish a partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs Domiciliary in White City to build the technical school there. "This is one of the locations we are seriously considering," said Bradbeer. "It is one of the prime options that we have. And it wouldn't require that we purchase the land." Michael O'Malley, coordinator of vocational rehabilitation services for the domiciliary, said the Veterans Administration would occupy about 15,000 square feet of the new 100,000 square-foot facility. "I don't think it's pie in the sky," said O'Malley. "From the VA's side, we're on board with this." The budget battle In the meantime, the school will wrestle with cutbacks and look for ways to raise more money, including a possible increase in tuition. Levine believes that a tuition hike could slow down the enrollment growth at the school, resulting in a loss of income from the state. Bradbeer said the hike is far from certain. Board members will have to decide whether a nominal increase is possible without affecting enrollment. "There is no formal proposal under review," said Bradbeer. Reflecting a major shift in student population, five of the seven board members who govern the school will be from Jackson County as of July. Currently, five are from Josephine County. But, even with Jackson County's increased clout, very few school officials or students feel the two counties should break up their union. Student Natalie Smith, 37, said, "Especially because of funding problems, it would be a bad idea." Jerry Bryan, department head for social sciences and human services, said it would be difficult and expensive to offer some of the smaller programs if the Josephine and Jackson county campuses parted company. As long as the needs of the students are being met, Bryan said, he doesn't foresee a problem. "But if the needs weren't being met, then I think you'd see some pressure to go our own way." Bradbeer and Levine said that it is more economical to run a combined operation that shares resources. "We have more concerns about offering services to outlying areas like Cave Junction or Prospect," said Bradbeer. Portland Community College is an example of an institution that has successfully run three campuses, he said. Bradbeer said RCC is planning for the future expansion of facilities in both counties. Teacher Van Riper envisions a day when a split might be inevitable. She said the needs of students in the two counties are different, with Jackson County students requiring more electronics and high-tech classes. Even if the campuses don't split into two community colleges, Van Riper said, "10 years from now, everything will be offered here because of the large population base." She also believes the Medford facility will then seem more like a real campus. With plenty of parking for students. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] RCC's history Rogue Community College was established in 1970 in Josephine County with only a $5,000 startup budget and a staff that included one part-time and six full-time instructors. In two years, the budget had grown to $1 million and the school's business manager declared RCC "out of debt." Constructed in the late 1960s as a Job Corps training center, the RCC Redwood Campus has undergone extensive remodeling in the past 30 years. The campus is five miles west of Grants Pass on 80 wooded acres and has grown to 215,000 square feet. After RCC's first year of operation, the college had 18 programs, including vocational studies such as forestry, welding and motorcycle repair. In 1996, voters in Josephine and Jackson counties voted to expand the boundaries of RCC to include Jackson County. At that time, the school had just 5,000 students and an annual budget of $12 million. Today, the school has almost 17,000 students and a budget of $27 million. RCC has continued improving the Riverside Campus in downtown Medford, an eight-building complex that totals about 165,000 square feet. The college leases seven of these sites. Last year, the college purchased and extensively renovated the historic former Montgomery Ward building in the downtown area. RCC also occupies 36,000 square feet at the Workforce Training Center in White City. It has other locations in Medford and an educational center in the Illinois Valley in Kerby. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.