President's Column for November 2022

November 2, 2022

Greetings from the Office of the President at Roanoke-Chowan Community College!

It’s a busy fall semester at R-CCC with so many activities happening on campus. We celebrated Indigenous People’s Day with a presentation by Dr. Marvin T. Jones sharing his family history and the local Chowanoke tribe’s contribution to history. During the month of October, a breast cancer awareness day and a fun-filled Fall Fest brought students, faculty, and community members together to recognize health and wellness. We are also raising awareness of suicide prevention and domestic violence.

Our college recently experienced a positive four-day visit from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC), the body for the accreditation of degree-granting higher education institutions in the Southern states. At the visit’s conclusion, members of the team commented on the friendly and courteous faculty, staff, and students at R-CCC. They were impressed that we led the state with a 41% enrollment percentage increase and complimented the knowledgeable faculty and staff, outstanding curriculum, and quality improvement plans. The official accreditation process will continue into next year at the annual SACSCOC meeting in June of 2023.

I am also pleased that our college was selected by NC State University College of Education Belk Center for Community College Leadership and Research for an ‘equity study’ on our campus. Researchers conducted individual interviews and five focus group interviews during a site visit to R-CCC. The purpose of the Belk Center’s equity case studies is to learn about practices that lead to successful outcomes for historically underserved populations including American Indian, Black, and Latin student in a rural area. The study concludes that Roanoke-Chowan Community College is ‘an educational institution positively changing the lives of families and communities in northeastern North Carolina’. Interviews found that the relatively ‘small size and community environment’ creates a ‘culture of care’.

At R-CCC we intend to continue to build a familial learning and working environment to assist in meeting the complex needs of the area.

There has never been a more exciting time to discover R-CCC and earn your degree, diploma, or certificate for the career of your dreams.

For more information about associate degrees at R-CCC, call 252.862.1200 or visit www.roanokechowan.edu . R-CCC Where Community and Careers Connect #DiscoverRCCC