HAMLET — Richmond Community College President Dr. Dale McInnis was on hand for Hamlet’s February City Council meeting to campaign for the $2 billion Connect N.C. bond referendum.
McInnis said the primary date to vote was moved up from May to March 15, and with the sale of bonds under the Connect N.C. banner, RCC would be a huge benefactor. According to the referendum, $350 million has been allocated for the community college system with RCC seeing $7,229,000 of that if voters approve the measure.
“So the question becomes: Why should our voters pick the right spot on the ballots, pass for the bonds and invest in your college?” McInnis said. “So, $350 million for our community colleges, $7.22 million for your college. Now the allocation is based on our enrollment growth, the economic condition of the counties we’re located in and the age of our facilities.”
It’s because of substantial growth that RCC would receive a larger amount than many of the neighboring colleges.
“After a period of rapid growth over the last two or three years, we have reached the plateau,” he said. “In order for us to continue to grow and meets the needs of the people in our community, we’re going to need additional space. So this investment is going to allow us to bring new programs, new growth and new opportunities and save the taxpayers of Richmond County.”
On a PowerPoint presentation, McInnis pointed out that in the 2007-08 school year, RCC served 2,284 students. In 2013-14, that number was almost 50 percent higher at 3,334 students. The Workforce and Economic Development enrollment also saw a drastic improvement and growth since 2009-10 with a student number in the 6,700 range.
Another area of increase is seen in the number of high school students taking advantage of the college’s dual enrollment program — taking free college classes while still in high school.
“And as a result of this, we expect to grow even more now that we have the RichmondCC Guarantee program promising two years of free college for students that take two of these classes and have a 3.0 GPA,” said the RCC president. “That kicks off with this year’s graduates. Our early college on the main campus has been a tremendous success. These programs have shown that students can earn a high school diploma simultaneously while earning a free college degree. Their success rate has been phenomenal.
“With our growth in the last five or six years, not just in attendance, but also in completion, we’ve awarded a record number the last two years of degree certificates and diplomas. Here’s the challenge we’re facing. The blessings of that enrollment growth with the new programs has led to overcrowding. We’re having to adapt and having to grow around that.”
McInnis said there would be several uses for the bond money should the referendum pass in March. The first item on the agenda would be to hire an architect to help turn the college’s building needs into actual plans. A facility master plan is the focus, McInnis said, which identifies new and expanded classrooms, labs and shops as the first priority.
Second would be a new student career and transfer center to help students come up with a career plan early and better achieve success. Expansion of the Richmond Early College High School would join the list so that no student would ever have to be turned away, and the expansion of student testing space. McInnis said right now, the school only has room to test eight people at a time.
Two other uses for bond proceeds are the building of a new cafeteria and expansion of the college’s bookstore.
“Right now, we’re lucky to have a food truck on-site. We didn’t have that two or three years ago. Right now the students are standing in the cold trying to get hot food. Or they’re having to settle for vending,” McInnis said. “One of the things we’ve identified as a need is a new cafeteria that will be attached to the existing student lounge with additional student dining space. We need to expand the bookstore because right now during registration, we can’t allow more than 10 or 12 people in there.”
New and repaired parking lots to better utilize Cole Auditorium to its full capacity are needed as well as faculty office space in order to expand programs and bring in more personnel. Finally, replacing some of the chillers and boilers to make the buildings more efficient and comfortable is a priority.
The biggest selling point of the bond, McInnis reiterated, is that there will be no requirements of money from taxpayers.
“Right now we’re landlocked and can’t develop any new programs. We don’t have any space,” McInnis explained. “I believe it will improve our student retention so students will be able to graduate sooner because we’ll have the space for better and improved services. We’re going to have cost savings through improved utility efficiencies.
“We’ll be saving county taxpayer money because these are the needs that we would normally be going to our county government to fund. Now we’ll be able to fund them through this. It’ll allow for the expected growth that we think will come from the new RichmondCC Guarantee, and all this equates to economic and job development opportunities.
“So the bottom line is this is the first state bond that’s been on the ballot since 2000. There will be no state or county tax increase required. The General Assembly tells us the money is budgeted. Tax dollars won’t have to be increased to pay for it. It’s going to be a major return on our investment. Every dollar that’s spent is going toward our students’ needs and instructional needs. So it’s a great deal for our college, a great deal for our students and a great deal for our counties.”
Hamlet Mayor Bill Bayless read aloud a resolution endorsing the Connect N.C. Bond, and the council unanimously voted to approve it.
Reach reporter Matt Harrelson at 910-817-2674, follow him on Twitter @mattyharrelson and listen to him at 12:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays on G104.3 FM.