April 13, 2022 – Today, Richland Community College held its State of the College luncheon in the Shilling Community Education Center. April is Community College Month, and this fall, Richland will celebrate its 50th anniversary. Those at the college felt it was a great opportunity to bring people together and show them the current state of Richland.
Richland has shifted and changed as a college over the last 50 years, but they remain an integral piece of this community. Many of those changes have come over the last couple of years due to the pandemic. Richland has pivoted heavily towards workforce training and providing their students with training for jobs available in the community.
“Through the pandemic, it really made us more nimble,” said Julie Melton, Assistant Vice President of Institutional Advancement. “Although we have seen a decrease in enrollment across Illinois, we’re still able to serve our community and bring students in through credit programs and non-credit programs, so we’re really trying to meet the needs of the community.” Melton said.
Cris Valdez, President of Richland Community College, gave a presentation on the State of the College, and talked about the school’s missions, attributes, and what they are doing to move forward.
“We’ve begun to talk about the what-ifs, that we’ve never planned for. The whole notion of having a ten, five, or three-year strategic plan is starting to move because there are all of these what-ifs. What if we can’t be on campus for two years? What if our students want to have more flexibility in their learning environment? Those are the kinds of things that we need to be aware of so that we know that we are being reactive and responsive to the needs of the community and serving not only our students but serving the community as well.” Valdez said.
If you would like to learn more about what Richland Community College has to offer, check out their website HERE.
