Community college celebrating growth in River Parishes

Published 12:00 am Friday, January 14, 2000

ANNA MONICA / L’Observateur / January 14, 2000

At first there was no facility and appropriations were marginal.

Nonetheless, much of 1998-99 was spent gearing up to start classes for the River Parishes Community College in the fall of 1999.

In existence since August 1998, the first classes were held in borrowed facilities – the technical college in Ascension Parish, the Sorrento fire station and St. Ann Catholic Church’s education building.The task of engaging a staff, establishing a curriculum and finding a location was handed to Dr. Joe Ben Welch, hired by the college to be itspresident and now its chancellor. Welch, a native of Zachary, lives inGonzales. He first he taught in East Baton Rouge and East Felicianaparishes with moves to Texas and Georgia. After five years in publicschools he has been part of the community college system.

His baccalaureate degree is in math and science from Louisiana Tech, and he has a master’s degree from Lamar University and a doctorate from McNeese State University.

When Louisiana put in a community college system Welch came back to his roots to continue his profession and to initiate a mammoth campaign to acquaint people throughout the River Parishes with the benefits of a community college and the fact that it is there.

Debra Holden, an Amite native, serves as public information officer. Agraduate of LSU, she has a background in broadcast and journalism in newspapers, radio and television and was a free-lance journalist before teaching in the Mass Communications department at Southern University.

Debbie Lambert, a Gramercy native now from Sorrento, is executive assistant.

Dean of Students and Enrollment Management is Theresa Hay, and Dr. BillMartin is executive vice chancellor and dean of Academic Studies.

Director of Counseling Services is Tommy Powell, son of Gene and Mary Powell of LaPlace, and he heads the department that enables the college to provide personal and mental health counseling.

The school first opened with 184 students taking credit and non-credit courses, and this was encouraging considering there was no real facility.

Soon, about five new continuing education classes will be offered and other programs will be determined as dictated by the needs of the community. Determined to meet the needs of the students, the school wasable to add a day class. Service and addressing the students’ needs are aprimary concern and one administrators feel can help ensure the success of the college.

There is now a new facility located in Sorrento on Conway Bayou, which runs in the back and affords a picturesque view. Easily accessible fromthe interstate, the property is rented from the Robert family, with an option to buy, and is state-funded. An antebellum house under renovation,perhaps someday to be part of the college buildings, stands at the front approach to the college and as a welcome in the southern tradition. TheSouthern University landscaping class plans to landscape the area.

Appropriation has been received through the Legislature for capital equipment; desks, chairs, computers, chemistry and computer labs, etc.

Part of this expenditure is for the library and the school will use an electronic library as well as the local library in Gonzales.

Instructors and faculty members feel good about what they can offer students. Six are full time and four part time, and Welch believes that canchange by next fall, according to enrollment.

This semester may have about 200 students with the potential of doubling by next fall. Courses offered are for the first two years of a baccalaureateprogram, and tuition and fees are about a third that of a four-year institution.

This is a community college where one can get a two-year associate’s degree, and there is an articulation agreement with the four-year receiving institutions that these courses would be accepted and applied toward a four-year degree.

Seventeen-year-old Nicol Entremont of Garyville, daughter of Gwen and Glenn Entremont, has just completed her first semester and will start the next semester in the new facility. She first learned about the collegewhen representatives came to Riverside to speak. It was Nicole’s decisionduring the following summer to break into college gradually. She goeshome every day and combines her schoolwork with her 15-hours-a-week job in LaPlace.

“It’s been a fun experience,” she said about the college. “Everybody isfriendly, and everybody knows you. The teachers care whether you pass orfail. They are always there to help, better than a regular college where allyou are is a number.”Nicole said she will probably pursue a four-year degree but will stay at the community college for as long as she can.

The school continues to reach for its goal of impacting and having personal interaction with the students to help them grow. The faculty andinstructors are unanimous in wanting to help them recognize and realize what they want. All students must take an academic seminar where timemanagement and studying skills are stressed. Personal assessments areoffered to find out what interests them and what they want to do for the rest of their lives with the school aiming to provide the necessary skills.

Any future staff will be required to have the same philosophy.

Interest in the college is picking up since it now has its own facility.

Some faculty offices are still located away from the main facility until the new facility can be expanded.

Study groups, a student government association, seminars, workshops, job and career fairs are planned. Also, for people working in industry, theschool has created a shift schedule so students can attend class at alternating times. So far, the response has been very positive.The administrators of the college are totally committed to its ideals and success in bringing new opportunity for education in the River Parishes.

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