June 24, 2008
For Immediate Release

RCCC Plans Associate Degree Program in Fine Arts

                SALISBURY, N.C.— Rowan-Cabarrus Community College is planning to offer an associate degree program in fine arts, pending the approval of the North Carolina Community College System and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

                The RCCC Board of Trustees approved plans for the associate in fine arts (AFA) program at its June 23 meeting. The college hopes to open the program with the fall 2009 semester.

                RCCC is designing the AFA program to be a college-transfer program. Students who complete the two-year program at RCCC will have the credits needed to transfer to a bachelor's degree program in fine arts at a four-year college or university. The program will focus on visual arts, including painting, drawing, photography and digital photography.

                The college also intends for the AFA program to become a platform for art education throughout Cabarrus and Rowan counties. At the same time, the program will give RCCC students not majoring in art more opportunities to take art classes and gain a greater appreciation for the arts.

                 RCCC anticipates graduates from the AFA program will matriculate to nearby bachelor's degree programs at UNC-Charlotte, UNC-Greensboro and Pfeiffer University.

                RCCC currently offers a wide range of arts courses, including drawing, painting, watercolor, photography, digital photography, design, art appreciation, and a survey of American art. For more information and course descriptions, see the RCCC website – www.rowancabarrus.edu.

           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.