Gary Heigel, EMS Department Chair

RCC teaching innovations benefit students

Simulation exercises play a major role in preparing RCC Emergency Services students to become paramedics and emergency medical technicians. An ambulance crew typically consists of one para-medic and an EMT, meaning from day one recent graduates must be fully prepared to handle the range of real-life emergencies they will experience on the job. “They may be the only para-medic on the scene,” says Gary Heigel,...

Are You Ready to Choose Happiness?

If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands. If you’re not sure what it means to be “happy,” or would like to increase your own happiness, consider the Happiness Project. A handful of RCC students are studying the concept of happiness and what it means to be happy, as well as methods for increasing their own happiness, thanks to a support group offered...

Sarah Villagran is a Medical Assistant at Asante

Allied Health: A Pathway to Many Careers

Jobs in the health care field are projected to grow 18 percent between 2016 and 2026, according to the US Bureau of Labor and Statistics. That’s more anticipated growth than any other occupational group, resulting in about 2.4 million new health care jobs over a decade. “Health care is a great field. It has a lot of avenues of opportunity for growth,” says Karline Kleker, practice manager for Asante’s primary care clinic in White City, Oregon. “It’s...

Ossie participates at the ground-breaking ceremony for the Technical Center

RCC at Work on the Future

Rogue Community College broke ground on the new $4.6 million Career Technical Training Center in White City on January 16.  “Our mission is to provide quality learning experiences that help students achieve their dreams,” RCC President Cathy Kemper-Pelle, Ed.D., said to the gathering of RCC leadership and community, business and education leaders. “And when they do, it supports the economic vitality of the region.”  The...

Ossie needs your help!

RCC mascot Ossie Osprey is competing in the 2018 NWAC Mascot Challenge, a social media competition with a $1,000 scholarship awarded to the winning school. Each week of the challenge, the 11 participating colleges post a photo of their campus mascot on their social media sites and rally their community to “like” the image. To vote for Ossie, “like” our posts on Facebook, Twitter and...

Paving Pathways for Adult Education

In Jackson and Josephine counties, where 20 percent of residents live in poverty and more than one in 10 adults doesn’t have a high school diploma, the Rogue Community College Adult Basic Skills program helps people ages 16 to 60+ overcome obstacles to continue their education and improve their work skills. The program itself faced a major challenge in early 2017 when state budget cuts...

Fire Science: ‘One of the Best in Oregon’

Community partnerships and hands-on experience are key to many Rogue Community College career technical programs, including the fire science program where student firefighters often work alongside career firefighters as members of an engine crew while completing their degree. That on-the-job experience helps set RCC graduates apart, according to Capt. Ben Kennedy with Jackson County Fire District 3. RCC has “one of the best fire science...

Education: A Good Investment

Rogue Community College is an economic engine for Southern Oregon that generates more than $239 million annually for the region’s economy, according to an economic impact study released earlier this year. The analysis by Economic Modeling Specialists International (EMSI) of Moscow, Idaho, examined data from fiscal year 2015-16 to calculate the impact of RCC’s operations and student spending as well as the higher earnings of...

Veterans Week Speaker Advocates Hope

Victims advocate and inspirational speaker Timothy Jones visited Rogue Community College’s three campuses with a message of hope in overcoming adversity as part of this week’s Veterans Appreciation Week activities. Jones, a U.S. Navy veteran, was sexually assaulted in 1999 while serving on active duty at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan. The experience of being stalked, raped and then outcast by his peers sent...

Auto Technology: ‘It’s Not Just Wrenching’

Anyone who owns a vehicle needs a good mechanic, and RCC’s auto tech graduates are in high demand, according to Pete Ridgeway, co-chair of the RCC Automotive Technology department. “There’s more demand than I have graduates to fill,” Ridgeway said. “The need for entry-level technicians in the auto industry is enormous.” People may not realize college is a path to becoming an auto technician, but...