Riverside Community College District (RCCD) looks towards the future in the Board of Trustees meeting. With the previous five year plan (2021-2025) coming to a close, RCCD hopes for a bright future in the coming years.
“We want to add into it (five year plan) aspects of efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability.” Wolde-Ab Isaac, RCCD Chancellor on the next five year plan.
On Sept. 26, Chancellor Isaac will meet with the superintendents of surrounding school districts, as well as presidents of nearby colleges to develop strategies for getting more students out of high school into college. RCCD is also working with Mt San Jacinto Community College in establishing a government relations unit, coinciding with RCCD’s goal to support and develop college education.
The Norco College Senate presented its experiential collaborative art project. The project focuses on allowing students to engage in co-curricular and cross campus projects that would emulate a typical workplace. Megan Lindeman said, “This (project) mirrored the collaboration and exchanges that take place within the work of professional artists.”
The project allows students at Norco College to collaborate across campuses and take on more ambitious projects. The project is supported by California State University, San Bernardino via the Title V grant.
Norco College is also developing a comic book to help students develop information literacy. Cheryl Cox, assistant professor of library services at Norco College views the comic book as a way to teach students how to find trustworthy sources of information. Misinformation and disinformation was identified as a global risk in the coming years in the 2024 Global Risks Report.
Chancellor Isaac met with student leadership from Norco College and Moreno Valley College as well as faculty to discuss ways to increase student voting at the colleges. Student leadership from Riverside City College (RCC) was absent during this meeting.
“We had representatives from student leadership to discuss the role they can play in raising awareness and cultivating a culture of voting on our campuses as a part of our civic duty,” Chancellor Isaac said.
RCCD’s 2026-2030 construction plan was approved at the meeting. The construction plans focus on revamping RCCD’s colleges to become more efficient and effective for its students. New classrooms and labs are being added to each college to meet the needs of an increasing student enrollment. RCC’s tech buildings are going to be torn down and rebuilt to utilize space more effectively, as well as adding new technology that will help student success.
The RCCD Board of Trustees recognized the economic hardships that many people living in the Inland Empire are facing and will set its sights on developing an environment where students from all backgrounds can excel. The percentage of Californians living in poverty increased from 11.7% in 2021 to 13.2% in 2023, the percentage of Californians who were poor or near poor increased from 2021 to 2023 as well.
Undergraduate enrollment across the United States has been steadily declining since 2010. With updated facilities and RCCD’s commitment to putting education first, students and faculty can look towards a bright future in education.
