May 5, 2008
For Immediate Release

Almost 700 Will Graduate From RCCC May 10
Scott Ralls is Commencement Speaker

          SALISBURY, N.C. -- Almost 700 graduates will receive associate degrees, diplomas and certificates at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College's 45th graduation ceremony Saturday, May 10.

          The ceremony will take place at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center, beginning at 10:30 a.m. with the procession of graduates. Guests are encouraged to arrive at the arena between 9 and 10 a.m. to ensure they are seated in time to see the procession.

           The 698 graduates range in age from 16 to 69, with 67 percent female and 33 percent male. Fifty-four percent of the graduates live in Rowan County, with 36 percent from Cabarrus County and 10 percent from surrounding counties. More than 60 percent of the graduates are employed, and 232 of them have graduated from RCCC previously in other programs.

           Scott Ralls, Ph.D., will serve as the commencement speaker. Ralls is the new president of the North Carolina Community College System. With 58 colleges serving more than 800,000 students each year, the N.C. Community College System is the third largest in the United States.

           When he assumed the presidency on May 1, Ralls became only the second system president, and the first in 30 years, to have served as a local North Carolina community college president. Between 2002 and 2008, Ralls worked as president of Craven Community College with campuses in New Bern and Havelock. During his tenure, the college achieved record enrollment growth and gained recognition for innovations in technology-based workforce development.

           Ralls has been actively involved in North Carolina's early college and high school transformation initiatives, receiving an appointment to the North Carolina New Schools Board by Gov. Mike Easley.  Ralls also has worked with the British government in their review of community college-equivalent Further Education colleges in England, and in 2007 was named the 10th honorary fellow of Warwickshire College.

           Ralls holds a bachelor's degree with highest distinction from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and master's and doctoral degrees in industrial and organizational psychology from the University of Maryland. He is married to Lisa Rowe Ralls, and they have two sons.

           John Cox, president and CEO of the Cabarrus Regional Chamber of Commerce, will provide the invocation and benediction. Richard Brownell, RCCC president, will officiate. Brownell also will present RCCC's 2008 Distinguished Service Award to retiring board of trustees member and former Rowan County commissioner George C. Knox.

          Graduation marshals will include Olivia Ackerman, Janie Aldrich, Amanda Barthell, Michelle Bethea, James Carter, Kristy Cloutier, James Hinson, Troy Lundgren, Tammy Lunsford, Ann Padilla, Sharday Pavone, Julie Scott, Mark Taylor, James Washer and Jessica Wilson.

           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.