KANNAPOLIS, N.C. — The Rowan-Cabarrus Community College Board of Trustees met today in Kannapolis, at the college’s new adult career development center, where unemployed and under-employed Rowan and Cabarrus county residents will get assistance in re-starting their careers. Board members also heard an update on the progress of the North Carolina Research Campus, being built in Kannapolis.

            Jeanie Moore, RCCC vice president of continuing education, gave a presentation explaining the mission of the “R3 Center.” The center’s purpose is built on three Rs – a refocus on individual skills and interests, retraining and further education based on those skills and interests, and partnering with other workforce development agencies to secure career-oriented re-employment. The R3 Center will help displaced workers assess and profile their skills, aptitudes, training and academic credentials, and future career interests, and develop a plan for career growth.

            “The R3 Center will bridge the gap many citizens in Rowan and Cabarrus counties now feel as they attempt to re-start and re-direct their careers in an economy that has shifted from the traditional manufacturing sectors,” Moore said. “In addition to providing the job-training and education programs needed by displaced workers, RCCC, through the R3 Center, will better assist workers in becoming more sophisticated in their job-searching skills.”

            Among the programs offered by the R3 Center are resume writing, how to discuss one’s skills and experiences with confidence and sharpening job-interviewing skills. In addition, the center will provide Work Keys® assessment and instruction. Completion of this program will give clients Career Readiness Certification, a nationally recognized credential, validating preparedness for specific career fields.

            The R3 Center will partner with other workforce development agencies, including the Centralina Workforce Development Board, the Local JobLink Career Centers, N.C. Employment Security Commission and other area community colleges.

            Two officers of Atlantic American Properties Inc., and Castle & Cooke Inc., Lynne Scott Safrit, president; and Clyde Higgs, vice president of business development; provided a report on construction work at the North Carolina Research Campus.     
  
            “We are excited about the role Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and the North Carolina Community College System will play with the North Carolina Research Campus,” Safrit said. “The community college is critical in the development of the local workforce for the jobs that will be created from this economic transformation.”
RCCC will have a significant presence on the research campus. Architectural plans are being completed on a 60,000 square-foot teaching facility RCCC will use to provide much of the workforce training biotechnology companies on the research campus and elsewhere in the region will require.

RCCC already has a number of biotechnology program and course offerings, including its continuing education BioWork course and a biotechnology option in its associate degree program in industrial engineering technology. With the recent start of the 2007 spring semester, RCCC began offering courses in a new degree program in biotechnology. RCCC is offering associate degree program in biotechnology in collaboration with Gaston College and Forsyth Technical Community College.

            In other business, RCCC President Richard Brownell announced the college is accepting letters of interest and proposals for architectural design services for two projects. The first project is the design and master planning of a new classroom building on North Campus. The second project involves renovations of two buildings on South Campus. The two buildings will be renovated upon the completion of Building 3000, which is now under construction.

            Brownell also reported that the North Carolina Motorsports Association (NCMA) has selected Rowan-Cabarrus Community College’s Motorsports Management Technology program as a finalist for an N.C. Motorsports Industry Award. RCCC’s Motorsports Management Technology program is one of three finalists in the education category for two-year and trade school programs. NCMA is presenting awards in eight categories, including marketing, economic development, safety innovation and event facilities. According to the NCMA, the awards serve to honor “the best in North Carolina motorsports.”

            The next meeting of the RCCC Board of Trustees is scheduled for Feb. 26 at North Campus in Salisbury.

           Rowan-Cabarrus Community College is a comprehensive, community-based institution of higher learning, serving the citizens of Rowan and Cabarrus Counties. RCCC offers approximately 40 programs of study in business, health and human services and engineering technologies at multiple campus locations. RCCC annually provides more than 2,000 course offerings, serving an enrollment of approximately 20,000 adult students. RCCC programs include an associate degree in arts and sciences, an associate degree in applied science, and diploma and certificate programs focusing on workforce training, continuing education and basic skills education.

           In addition, RCCC provides the education and job-training programs needed to meet many of the workforce demands of the North Carolina Research Campus, under construction in Kannapolis, N.C.

           For complete details, see the RCCC website at www.rowancabarrus.edu.