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Schools will unite services Center in Medford will serve students By VICKI GUARINO Southern Oregon University and Rogue Community College plan to combine key student services in one new downtown Medford center beginning next fall. University President Stephen Reno and RCC President Richard Levine on Thursday unveiled plans for a $2.2 million University/College Center on Central Avenue and Eighth Street, opposite the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theatre. The building is a furniture store; years ago it was a Montgomery Ward store. A fourth floor might be added to what now is a 42,000-square-foot building, bringing total space for the two institutions to 44,000 square feet. Levine and Reno said the center will enrich educational opportunities for students at both institutions. "Steve and I are calling it a marriage," Levine said during a news conference announcing the first such joint venture. "We're almost there. We're engaged." No decision has been made about whether the schools will lease or buy the building from owner Alan DeBoer. Levine said purchase would be dependent on receiving sufficient funds for the project. The $2.2 million estimate includes purchase of the building. Several funding sources are being pursued by both institutions, including a special request to the Legislature's emergency board early next year. Additionally, money might be tapped from a state fund set aside for regional programs that improve local access to education beyond high school. Also, the SOU Foundation might sell the Mary Phipps Center building and contribute proceeds to the new center's development, Reno said. Levine and Reno appeared optimistic about state funding because of the potential the cooperative program holds for students. "The co-location of Rogue Community College and the university has attracted a certain amount of statewide attention," Reno said. Reno said the relationship between the university and the community college began three years ago, when SOU officials stepped up to support RCC's expansion into Jackson County. The university then lobbied the state Legislature for more funding for the regional community college program. Putting the core services of both schools under one roof is the logical next step, Reno and Levine said. "Our goal has been to expand services to the students," Reno said. RCC and SOU expect to use the old Ward building primarily for classroom space. However, key student services for both institutions also will be centralized at the new location. Those services include registration, tutoring, counseling, student clubs and lounge, computer labs, and a testing center. Levine said one goal of the jointly operated center is to expose all students to a fuller range of post-secondary education opportunities. Students more easily will see the programs and options that are available locally. Also, Reno pointed out, putting together the two institutions, their students and their various community resources and networks will spark creation of new programs and services. "Mere co-location is going to give us more opportunity," Reno said. The nearby site for the proposed Jackson County Library headquarters will further aid students, Levine noted. And the new building will serve both institutions' need for more space in Medford. RCC's Medford campus has been expanding from building to building across the downtown area since its move into Jackson County. Expansion into the Eighth Street building will help unify RCC's urban campus. The building will give SOU much-need classroom space. SOU has long outgrown its downtown location, the Mary Phipps Center, 229 N. Bartlett St. The university has had to resort to various borrowed locations, such as rooms at North Medford High School, for its Medford classes. Reno said the new center will give SOU a larger and more prominent Medford base. Although the University/College Center is set to open in less than a year, much about the project still is up in the air. Designers and school officials will continue working on plans for the new space. Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA