River Valley Community College Co-locates to Keene State College Campus
RVCC students begin fall semester with access to greater academic resources
Keene, NH – Students attending River Valley Community College (RVCC) in Keene began their semester on Monday, August 26 on the Keene State College campus. RVCC has entered into a co-location agreement with Keene State and now has space on campus for all administrative services and access to Keene State classrooms, the library, cafeterias and other resources that were not available in their previous Keene location.
The agreement allows RVCC to use the Cheshire House on the Keene State campus for all administrative and student support services, including advising, tutoring, financial aid and office space for faculty and staff. RVCC faculty will teach all courses and students who graduate from RVCC with an associate degree and want to pursue a four-year degree at Keene State will have a much better understanding of the campus and the educational offerings. The two colleges already have agreements in place for credit transfer, and hundreds of students have taken advantage of that over the years to continue their education.
“This is exciting news for current and future RVCC students,” said RVCC President Alfred Williams. “Our students will benefit by having access to higher quality facilities in a campus setting and additional resources that we could not provide in our previous location. The co-location model really provides benefits to everyone involved and we’re so pleased to have this in place for the fall semester.”
RVCC primarily serves Cheshire, Sullivan and Grafton Counties through its three campuses in Claremont, Lebanon and Keene. Until this fall, RVCC’s Keene campus was at 438 Washington Street, about a mile from the Keene State campus. Maintaining a single building as a campus was costly, and as a result of the agreement, RVCC will be selling the building and renting the Cheshire House space at 67 Winchester Street from Keene State.
“We clearly recognize the benefits of having very close ties with our community college system because it creates ongoing pathways for future education for students and efficiencies that improve student experiences,” said Keene State College President Melinda Treadwell. “We are so pleased to welcome RVCC students to the Keene State campus and believe this is a true win-win for both colleges.”
Discussions to co-locate have been taking place over the past year. RVCC was challenged with a space that lacked the configuration the college needed for growth and Keene State had additional space it was not currently using. Discussions picked up over the early summer and staff and faculty worked hard to make the transition as seamless as possible. This included coordinating class schedules, preparing the Cheshire House for use as RVCC’s hub and working out other administrative details such as students’ access to facilities and parking by the August 26 fall semester start date for more than 150 RVCC students in Keene.
“We are so excited about the new location and believe our students are as well. We held our first open house at the new location on August 20 and had 53 students attend. Keene State student ambassadors were on hand to meet with the students and they received a campus tour. It is clear that the co-location brings so much more to the student experience than we could offer at our facility in Washington Street and we are grateful for the hard work of many people at both colleges who made this become a reality,” said Associate Vice President of Strategy and Workforce Development at RVCC, Josh Lamoureux.
For the fall semester, RVCC will be offering all of the courses previously planned with the exception of the massage therapy program. An additional cohort for that program is being offered at the Lebanon campus.
To learn more contact Josh Lamoureux at 603-443-4200 x5829 or [email protected].
About River Valley Community College
River Valley Community College is one of seven colleges in the Community College System of New Hampshire, offering thirty-nine associate degree and certificate programs in Claremont, Keene, Lebanon, and Online. Financial Aid and Scholarships are available. The seven community colleges in the system are committed to working with businesses throughout the state to train and retain employees to develop a robust workforce across all sectors and embraces the “65 by 25 Initiative,” which calls for 65% of NH citizens to have some form of post-secondary education by 2025 to meet future workforce demands.
About Keene State College
Keene State College integrates academics with real-world application and active community and civic engagement, and prepares graduates to meet society’s challenges by thinking critically, acting creatively, and serving the greater good. To learn more about Keene State College, visit www.keene.edu.
Keene State College: Wisdom to make a difference.
