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| Type | Publiccommunity college |
|---|---|
| Established | 1959; 66 years ago (1959) |
Parent institution | State University of New York |
| President | William P. Mullaney |
| Provost | Victoria Ukachukwu |
Academic staff | 525[1] |
| Undergraduates | 5,763[2] |
| Location | ,, United States 41°08′00″N74°05′11″W / 41.13333°N 74.08639°W /41.13333; -74.08639 |
| Campus | 175 acres (0.71 km2) |
| Colors | Killarney, Gunsmoke, Cream Can, Tangerine & White |
| Nickname | Fighting Hawks |
| Affiliations | State University of New York,NJCAA Region 15,Mid Hudson Conference[3] |
| Mascot | Rocky the Hawk |
| Website | www |
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Rockland Community College (RCC) is apubliccommunity college inRockland County, New York. It is part of theState University of New York. The college, established in 1959, became the 18th community college to join the SUNY system. The college offers 51 programs and offersassociate degrees and certificates. The current enrollment is 6,859 students.
The main campus is inSuffern, New York, but classes are also offered at an extension sites inNyack andOrangeburg.
The college has more than 525 full and part-time faculty members, including severalSUNY Chancellor's Award winners, and published authors and artists.[4] The faculty-student ratio is 22:1. Rockland has the third highest transfer rate in the SUNY system and has aContinuing Education programs which served about 3,500 each year.
An institution calledRockland College, chartered by the stateBoard of Regents in 1878, existed for sixteen years inNyack, New York but is not related to the current institution.
Rockland Junior College, supported by federal funds disbursed through New York State, and sponsored byNyack High School was established in 1932 as one of severaldepression-era two-year schools. Rockland Junior College shut down in 1935.
The current Rockland Community College was founded in 1959. It was planned that it would raise taxes by only $4 a year. Between 1956 and 1970, Rockland's population was one of the fastest growing in the state, expected to double from 107,000 to 215,000 and the number of high school graduates was projected to rise from 700 to 2,463.
Large local industries likeAvon Products in Suffern andLederle Laboratories inPearl River required more skilled workers, and the growth of Rockland County hospitals,Nyack Hospital andGood Samaritan Hospital in Suffern warranted the creation of a nursing program.
Sixty-nine percent of parents polled expressed interest in their children attending a community college in Rockland County.
The Spring Valley satellite campus, sold for $4.2 million, has been discontinued. It was located in the historicNorth Main Street School.[5] Instructions were discontinued at the Haverstraw Extension Center in 2020.
Rockland Community College offers 40 associate degrees and 11 one-year certificate programs.[6]
Rockland Community College has four schools: Business & Professional Studies; Arts, Education, Humanities, and Social Sciences; Nursing, Health, and Wellness; and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The college also offerscommunity educational, high school,microcredential, andworkforce development programs.
In 2017 Rockland Community College was ranked the best community college in New York for adult learners inWashington Monthly's recent annual ranking of American colleges and universities. Rockland Community College rated twenty-eighth nationwide out of nearly 1,500 two-year colleges.[7] The following year, the college was named the fifth Campus Pride's 2018 Best of the Best LGBTQ-Friendly Colleges & Universities[8]
In 2021, Rockland Community College received the Insight into Diversity Higher Education Excellence in Diversity (HEED) Award[9]
In 2022, Economic Mobility Workforce Innovation (EMWI) Division of Rockland Community College was introduced focusing onWorkforce development that provides employment prospects in work markets by offering comprehensivecertificate programs, includingEmergency Medical Services (EMS),Medical credentials,Commercial Driver's License (CDL),Google IT, "stack-able"credentials and community educational programs such asComputer literacy andScholastic Aptitude Test review courses. Afterward,manufacturing certification programs were offered.
The Rockland Community College High School Program began in 2010. Rockland Community College academic departments have oversight of the curriculum, textbooks, and student assessments offered at the high schools. High school teachers who are college adjuncts teach the courses at the high schools. Rockland Community College participates in the New York Concurrent Enrollment Partnerships (NYCEP),[10] which enables the college to network and share strategies of concurrent enrollment programs offered throughout SUNY community colleges.
The English Skills Academy (ESA) have IntensiveEnglish Programs (IEP) forimmigrant and non-immigrantstudents who need to improve their academicEnglish skills prior to starting theirdegree (credit),Workforce development or community education (non-credit) programs at Rockland Community College.
Students must be at least 18 years of age and meet the requirement of a minimum 3.0 GPA and two faculty recommendations when classes begin atCambridge University in July or August. Students can be from any college but must apply through the RCC Sam Draper M/TS Honors Program Office in Spring to be eligible.[11]
Rockland Community College offers the nation's first Maritime Studies Program works with aUS Coast Guard-approved partner featuring online training with hands-on classroom instruction at the college's campuses. Through the RCC/Learn America program,Mariners seeking work on board anyvessel are required to complete a Coast Guard-approved Basic Training course. Students also are able to sign up for any of the individual elements of the Basic Training course.[12]
in 2023, Rockland Community College (RCC).Skill Up Rockland, part of RCC's strategic initiative to close skills gaps, meet employer talent needs, and increase economic mobility has partnered with Rockland Rockland County Industrial Development Agency (IDA), in advancing the economic welfare and general prosperity of Rockland County by promoting the development of various facilities, industries, and businesses within the region actively supporting the growth of commerce and industry in Rockland County.[13]
The college is accredited by theMiddle States Commission on Higher Education.[14] Some specific programs are also programmatically accredited:
RCC is sponsored by the County of Rockland and operating and administered by a ten-member Rockland Community College Board of Trustees that is appointed pursuant to New York State Education Law § 6306.[18] Nine of the Trustees serve seven-year terms, with five of those appointed by the county and four by the Governor. The tenth trustee is a voting, student representative.[19] The board in turn appoints a President who hires and supervises the staff. RCC is a community college unit of theState University of New York and is also subject to regulation and visitation by the Regents of theUniversity of the State of New York.
In June 2024, Rockland Community College appointed County Legislator Dana G. Stilley and Legislative Fiscal Director Moshe Gruber as its unanimous choices of the Rockland County Legislature’s bipartisan Multi-Services Committee[27] after Rockland Community College and Lester Edgardo Sandres Rápalo parted ways after uncovering an $8 million deficit.
On Wednesday, June 26, 2024 the SUNY Rockland Community College Board of Trustees met and approved "Phase 3" which included a total of $2.6 million dollars in jobs, positions, or roles at the college approved for termination to reduce the widely reported $5 million dollar deficit that the college has faced. Several key positions were immediately eliminated, as well as 30-day notices given to at least one other longtime employee.[28]
The main campus and main entrance on Almshouse Road is located on the crest of a sloping rise in a former farm community known as Mechanicsville, renamedViola when a post office was established in 1882. The original property included:
In 2016 Rockland Community College opened The 211 Connection Center which connects students to off-campus resources regarding health and human services such as housing, childcare, food, utilities, and legal.[29]
A cemetery was established on the property for almshouse residents, and shortly after the property was designated for the college's campus, the county designated a tract to serve as a veterans cemetery. The Korean War Monument is large granite rock at the Gary Onderdonk Rockland Veterans Cemetery on Rockland Community College's campus with a plaque bearing the names of all 27 Rocklanders killed in action during theKorean War, with the inscription: "They gave their today for your tomorrow."
On October 3, 2013, theUnited States Department of Veterans Affairs hosted the first induction of RCC students who are veterans into SALUTE - Veterans National Honors Society. SALUTE, established in 2008 is headquartered out ofColorado State University has over 90 chapters incolleges and universities across the country. RCC is the first community college to have a chapter of this organization.
In the 1970, concerts and big-ticket events were held in theEugene Levy Field house. Several major artist included,Billy Joel,Earth, Wind & Fire,Genesis,Meat Loaf,Styx andThe Monkees.[30]
The Rockland Hawks compete in theMid Hudson Conference and belong to Region XV of theNational Junior College Athletic Association. Many RCC alumni advance to competing atNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) orNational Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) sponsored colleges or universities and several have gone on to professional sports careers asplayers,coaches,scouts andtrainers.
Rockland Community College was the training camp site in 2011 for the Rockland Boulders (now theNew York Boulders of theFrontier League) during the construction of their ballpark,Clover Stadium inPomona, New York.
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