Rogue Community College was scheduled to close on a more than $3 million real estate deal to buy a White City industrial property last week, but RCC President Randy Weber says the immediate plans for an extra 10 acres near the Table Rock campus are yet to be determined.

“Those are discussions we’re beginning to have,” Weber said. “We’re buying this land because it became available.”

The college’s board of education on Dec. 5 authorized $3.35 million plus closing costs to buy a 20,000-square-foot industrial building on 10 acres at 7638 Pacific Ave., from Danfoss Power Solutions.

Funding for the real estate purchase comes from the $1.75 million RCC got selling its Medford property at 130 E. Eighth St. to Rogue Valley Transportation District on Dec. 30, 2021, and from Measure 17-69, a $20 million RCC bond passed by 55.6% of Jackson County voters on May 17, 2016, according to the resolution and Jackson County property records.

Weber said in a phone interview Friday, Dec. 8, that when the Danfoss property went on the market, it was an opportunity too perfect to pass up. The industrial building with acreage gives the college the ability to expand the White City campus beyond Avenue C.

“It’s essentially the property between us and Antelope Road,” Weber said. “It’s property the college has had interest in for a number of years.”

The deal includes the industrial warehouse built in 1967, along with two metal buildings and equipment including overhead jib cranes, air compressors, a Toledo scale and two ancillary metal buildings on the property, according to the meeting agenda.

Whether RCC will be able to utilize any of the building or equipment is yet to be determined. Weber said that after the factory shut down, RCC and Danfoss “came to an agreement.” Weber said that RCC jumped at the opportunity because it gives the college room to expand without the complexities of opening another campus.

The 10-acre property increases the Table Rock Campus’ footprint by about 50%. The campus houses RCC’s welding, manufacturing and state-of-the-art Health Professions Center.

“That’s where a lot of our growth as a college has occurred,” Weber said.

Earlier expansion plans centered around RCC adding another campus, but Weber said that expanding the Table Rock campus is more effective.

“Now that it’s adjacent we can leverage existing resources where they can be used more effectively,” Weber said.

Elsewhere in Jackson County, Weber said the college is considering ways to better utilize its Student Success Center at 227 E. Ninth St. in downtown Medford. RCC leadership and the board of education are discussing whether to improve and expand the building or to potentially demolish the building and rebuild.

Behind the new preliminary building discussions are rebounding and growing enrollment in the two years since the nadir of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Over the last two years our enrollment is rebounding strong,” Weber said, adding that this year’s enrollment is up nearly 25% from last year.

Weber said career technical education is up significantly over the past two years, but RCC is also seeing more “lower-division transfer” students taking math, science and humanities courses towards the general education requirements needed for an associate’s degree and then transferring to a four-year university.

The college prioritized stabilizing enrollment at the end of last year, and the college is “seeing the fruits of our labor,” according to Weber.

“The students that we have, we’re retaining at a higher rate,” Weber said. “It’s been a collective effort.”

Weber said the enrollment numbers allow the college to focus less on resources, and more on how the college can best serve the Rogue Valley and its workforce training needs.

“We’re transitioning from a scarcity to an innovation mindset,” Weber said.

RCC invites transfer students in January Rogue Community College will host ”Oregon Transfer Days” events in Medford and Grants Pass next month geared toward students considering transferring to a four-year university. The college transfer fairs will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26, in Room 129 of the SOU/RCC Higher Education Center, 101 S Bartlett St., in downtown Medford and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26, at the Redwood Campus Student Center, 3345 Redwood Highway, Grants Pass.

Rogue Community College will host “Oregon Transfer Days” events in Medford and Grants Pass next month geared toward students considering transferring to a four-year university.

The college transfer fairs will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26, in Room 129 of the SOU/RCC Higher Education Center, 101 S Bartlett St., in downtown Medford and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 26, at the Redwood Campus Student Center, 3345 Redwood Highway, Grants Pass.