Rogue Community College (RCC) is a public

community college A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...

with

campuses A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a corp ...

in both Jackson County and

Josephine County Josephine County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 88,090. The county seat is Grants Pass. The county is named after Virginia Josephine Rollins (1834–1912), a settler who was t ...

, falling roughly in the geographic region known as the

Rogue Valley The Rogue Valley is a valley region in southwestern Oregon in the United States. Located along the middle Rogue River and its tributaries in Josephine and Jackson counties, the valley forms the cultural and economic heart of Southern Oregon n ...

Southern Oregon Southern Oregon is a region of the U.S. state of Oregon south of Lane County and generally west of the Cascade Range The Cascade Range or Cascades is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia thr ...

History

RCC was established in November 1970 by vote of the electorate of

. On May 21, 1996, voters in Jackson and Josephine counties approved expansion of the college district's boundaries to include all of Jackson County, for the purpose of providing a wider range of educational programs, job training opportunities, and greater college access for students throughout the Rogue Valley. The campus originally was constructed in the late 1960s as a federal training facility known as the Fort Vannoy Job Corps Training Center. The campus of wood-framed buildings was remodeled in 1989, along with several more recently constructed buildings providing additional classrooms and modern laboratory space. Randy Weber, Ed.D., became the institution's seventh president in July 2022.

Academics

RCC offers short-term certificates and associate degrees, including the Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer (AAOT) degree . Additionally, RCC has several cooperative programs with nearby

Southern Oregon University Southern Oregon University (SOU) is a public university in Ashland, Oregon. It was founded in 1872 as the Ashland Academy, has been in its current location since 1926, and was known by nine other names before assuming its current name in 1997.Kre ...

, located in

Ashland, Oregon Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 in Oregon, Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population w ...

. The college is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the

Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) is an independent, non-profit membership organization recognized by the United States Department of Education since 1952 as an institutional accreditor for colleges and universities. ...

. Courses and programs are approved by the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission. Professional associations have accredited those professional-technical programs that require approval. RCC is approved as a veterans training institution by the Veterans Administration. The college is a member of the

American Association of Community Colleges The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), headquartered in the National Center for Higher Education building in Washington, D.C., is the primary advocacy organization for community colleges at the national level and works closely wit ...

, the

Association of Community College Trustees The Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) is a non-profit educational organization representing more than 6,500 elected and appointed trustees who govern more than 1,200 community colleges in the United States. ACCT provides members wi ...

, and the Oregon Community College Association.

Campuses

RCC has campuses in the cities of

Grants Pass, Oregon Grants Pass is a city in and the county seat of Josephine County, Oregon, United States. The city is located on Interstate 5 in Oregon, Interstate 5, northwest of Medford, Oregon, Medford, along the Rogue River (Oregon), Rogue River. The populatio ...

;

Medford, Oregon Medford is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States census on April 1, 2020, the city had a total population of 85,824, making it the List of cities in Oregon, eighth-most populo ...

; and

White City, Oregon White City is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. The population was 7,975 at the 2010 census, up from 5,466 at the 2000 census. White City is about north of the center of Me ...

. The campus located in Grants Pass is known as the Redwood Campus, the campus located in Medford is known as the Riverside Campus, and the campus located in White City is known as the Table Rock Campus. The Redwood Campus is located west of the city of Grants Pass on an wooded site just off the Redwood Highway. The Riverside Campus is located in downtown Medford, at ninth, Bartlett, and Riverside streets. The three-building complex houses classrooms, labs, Student and Community Services and library services. There are two additional facilities nearby: The Fir Street Learning Center at 30 S. First Street, and the D Building, located at 313 E. Eighth Street. The Table Rock Campus opened to students Fall term 2005. It is located at 7800 Pacific Avenue, White City. The Table Rock Campus High Technology Center, which opened in September 2018, houses the Welding, Manufacturing and Mechatronics programs. The Health Professions Center, which opened in 2020, offers classroom and lab space for the college's clinical healthcare programs including the associate degree nursing (ADN) program, dental hygiene and various allied health programs. As a public institution, RCC collects funds from

property taxes A property tax (whose rate is expressed as a percentage or per mille, also called ''millage'') is an ad valorem tax on the value of a property.In the OECD classification scheme, tax on property includes "taxes on immovable property or net we ...

, the state of Oregon, any relevant grants or levies, as well as tuition.

Athletics

RCC started its athletic programs in 2013 with men's and women's soccer. The team name is the "Ospreys." In November 2014, the RCC board of trustees officially approved intercollegiate athletics at the institution and RCC joined the

Northwest Athletic Conference The Northwest Athletic Conference (NWAC), formerly the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC), is a sports association for community colleges in the U.S. states of Oregon, Washington, and along with the Canadian province ...

(NWAC) starting initially with men's and women's soccer and cross country. The college discontinued its cross country and long-distance track programs in 2017 and added a women's volleyball team in 2019.

References

External links