RCC seeks to build student life center

HAMLET — Richmond Community College is looking to add a new engineering degree to its curriculum and provide better food service on campus based on actions taken at the Board of Trustees meeting Tuesday night.

Board members approved a proposal to request support from the Richmond County Board of Commissioners to design and construct an addition to the Lindsey-Petris Building on the main campus in Hamlet. The expansion of the JC Lamm Student Center would provide additional space for food service and student activities.

Submitted photo RCC President Dr. Dale McInnis, center, stands with Board of Trustees in the JC Lamm Student Center to discuss a proposed addition to the building that would meet the demand for more space for student activities and better food service on campus.

Submitted photo
RCC President Dr. Dale McInnis, center, stands with Board of Trustees in the JC Lamm Student Center to discuss a proposed addition to the building that would meet the demand for more space for student activities and better food service on campus.

The Board of Trustees is looking for the county’s support and involvement in this project while it is still in the conceptual stage.

“We’d like the county’s engineers to be involved in the design of this project from the ground floor up,” said RCC President Dr. Dale McInnis. “We invited the county manager and county commissioners for a site visit in March, and they were receptive to the project.”

There is an across-the-board demand for the space and added service, according to the students and employees at RCC.

“The feedback we have received from both students and employees every year on a college-wide survey is that we need to provide better food service on campus,” McInnis said. “While the mobile food truck has served us well, it is time to provide our students and employees with a better food selection and a more modern student life center.”

Prior to Tuesday night’s meeting, the Board of Trustees toured the Lindsey-Petris Building where the proposed addition would be constructed. Built in 1970, the Lindsey-Petris Building houses the student lounge and has a brick patio for an outdoor eating area.

Associate in Engineering degree

The Board of Trustees also approved a request from the college to offer an Associate in Engineering degree, which would be a transfer program.

“This Associate in Engineering degree would put our students in the right science and math courses that will transfer and account for the first two years of engineering programs at NC State, North Carolina A&T, East Carolina University and UNC-Charlotte,” McInnis said. “This will allow us to ramp up what we are offering in math and sciences, and it will save our students and their families money.”

The Board of Trustees learned about the transfer degree programs RCC already has in place from Director of University Transfer Services Patsy Stanley.

“The Comprehensive Articulation Agreement between community colleges and public senior institutions has been strengthened with key changes to the policy,” Stanley said. “It identifies foundational courses that are guaranteed to transfer for general education equivalency credits and improves overall student transfer success and program completion.”

Academic program changes

Other changes approved for academic programs at the May 5 board meeting were the termination of a nursing assistant certificate and an articulation agreement that will allow completers of the Effective Teacher Training course offered by the Workforce & Economic Development (WED) division to earn college credit for RCC education programs.

The Nursing Assistant Certificate will be replaced by the Therapeutic Diagnostic Nursing Assistant Diploma.

“This new program includes all the Nursing Assistant Certificate courses and satisfies the prerequisite courses for students seeking to enter the nursing program,” McInnis said. “Plus as a diploma program, it is eligible for federal financial assistance. The certificate program currently is not eligible for federal aid, so this change is beneficial to our students.”

WED update

WED Vice President Robbie Taylor provided the board with an update of WED courses being offered this summer, including a literary Braille transcription course, law enforcement instructor training and landscaping.

“Students who complete the literary Braille transcription course will be eligible to pursue a Library of Congress certificate to transcribe general literary materials,” Taylor said. “There is a shortage of Braille transcribers, and this would be a great job opportunity for retirees or college students or anyone looking to make some extra money from the comfort and convenience of their own home.”

Other business

Exiting Student Government Associate President Thomas McDonald officially passed the torch to his successor, Sandra Huneycutt. McDonald will be graduating with an Associate in Arts transfer degree on May 16, and he plans to pursue a bachelor’s degree in the Teacher Education program at the University of North Carolina-Pembroke.

The Pinning Ceremony for graduates of the Associate Degree Nursing program will be May 14 at the Cole Auditorium, and RCC will hold two commencement ceremonies on May 16 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the Cole Auditorium to accommodate more than 300 graduating students.

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  • Vickie Singletary

    I would like for Dr. McInnis to explain to me why Cosmetology has been on the curriculum for several years now, yet when I personally asked him why there was no program yet he told me that Cosmetology was not a lucrative profession. He had no idea that I’ve been a hairdresser for over 20 years and have made a very good living as such. They also said there was no room on campus for the department yet this is the second addition to the campus that I’ve seen since the non-existent cosmetology department has been added to the curriculum. It seems to me that it’s not that it’s not a lucrative business, only that it’s not lucrative to the college. We have students here that would love to take the program yet have to drive an hour each way to go to another county to take the course. As of 2013 there were 46,405 residents in Richmond County, so there are plenty of potential clients for new stylists. The salary range for a hairdresser in North Carolina is between $16000.00 and $75000.00 a year depending on your location in the state, so saying it is not lucrative is not a valid argument! So again, please tell me why there is not room on campus for a cosmetology department, yet they’ve built the relay station department and now an engineering department??

  • Brittany Nicole

    I don’t understand why the college has the money to add this, which is the second department I might add, but when I asked why we cannot have a cosmetology department so that all of our residents who are interested in the cosmetology business do not have to travel to different counties to get their education, I was told their were no funds available and that “the hair industry was not a lucrative industry.” Maybe it’s just me……. but something doesn’t seem right about this.

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