Rock Valley College
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Rock Valley College |
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| Established | 1964 |
| Type | Two-Year Community College |
| President | Dr. Jack Becherer |
| Students | 8,145 |
| Location | Rockford, Illinois, United States |
| Website | RVC homepage |
Rock Valley College (also known as RVC) is a two year community college with several campuses in the Rockford, Illinois area. Among the college's more notable features is the Bengt Sjostrom Theatre, which received critical attention in 2004 for its kinetic roof.
In 1985 the college opened its Technology Center (later renamed the Woodward Technology Center). It includes several electronics labs, a CNC lab, and many other engineering labs. The computer lab in WTC has many up to date software packages including Macromedia Studio and Microsoft Office 2003. RVC also has its own electronic learning environment called EdNet. EdNet provides students and faculty with email, class conferencing, electronic registration, course info, as well as info on other important dates.
RVC has a library with a computer lab that is accessible to students. RVC also has extensive classes focused on adult continuing education as well as distance learning via the internet. RVC is always updating the classes they offer to meet the needs of local employers. The college has a very successful Truck Driver Training class.
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[edit] History of the College
For more than 40 years, Rock Valley College has offered comprehensive educational opportunities in a broad range of subjects to tens of thousands of residents of its service district. The college was established in 1964 through a district-wide referendum after a two-year study established the need for a community college. RVC’s district is comprised of Winnebago and Boone counties and parts of Stephenson, Ogle, McHenry and DeKalb counties.
From 1968 to 1997, RVC earned a reputation for excellence under the leadership of Dr. Karl Jacobs. Dr. Jacobs was respected and liked for his fiscal responsibility and commitment to serving the needs of students, faculty, staff and the community. Although his critics, who argued Dr. Jacobs may have been too frugal with money, acknowledge they too had respect for his decisions, which were always supportive of what was best for students, faculty, staff and the community.
The college is located on a 217-acre tract of land at Mulford and Spring Brook roads in northeast Rockford. In addition to the main campus, RVC operates programs at owned facilities at the Stenstrom Center for Career Education on Samuelson Road, home to several health and technical programs, the Aviation Center at the Chicago-Rockford International Airport in Rockford, and the Bell School Road Center, which houses the college’s Center for Learning in Retirement.
Rock Valley College holds Continuing Education classes at more than 50 sites throughout its district, and operates employment and training programs at the Illinois Employment Training Center on 11th Street in Rockford.
RVC boasts one of the Midwest’s largest and most successful outdoor theaters. Starlight Theatre has a state-of-the-art, one of a kind open-air roof structure at the renovated and expanded Bengt Sjostrom Theatre on RVC’s campus.
The college is involved in workplace training programs, innovative cooperative programs with area high schools and state-of-the-market technology programs for business and industry.
Nine men’s and women’s intercollegiate sports are offered at RVC. The Golden Eagles compete in NJCAA Division III in football, volleyball, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball, men’s and women’s tennis and golf. Many of the teams have enjoyed national prominence in recent years. RVC’s rich athletic history includes more than 95 All-Americans and seven national championships.
Since opening for classes in 1965, RVC has grown from a small community college with 35 faculty members and 1,100 students to an institution of 140 faculty members, 500 part-time lecturers and more than 8,500 students.
For more information on Rock Valley College, visit the college’s Web site at www.rockvalleycollege.edu.
[edit] Change in Leadership
On Jan. 13, 2004, RVC President Dr. Roland "Chip" Chapdelaine was fired from the college nearly one year after Rockford-based, weekly newspaper, The Rock River Times, launched an award-winning, year-long series of news articles that spotlighted corruption at the college and Chapdelaine's mismanagement at RVC.
The news articles were authored by Jeff Havens, staff writer for The Rock River Times, who was illegally fired by Chapdelaine and the RVC Board of Trustees in 2002. Havens was Laboratory Manager in the Physical Science Department at RVC from 2000 to 2002. Havens employment was illegally terminated by RVC after Havens publicly criticized Chapdelaine and RVC Board Trustees in print and broadcast media. Havens also spearheaded a union organization effort for staff at RVC.
The RVC Board of Trustees voted unanimously to fire Chapdelaine after the newspaper launched its news series, which culminated with an article that detailed RVC Board Chairman Chris Johnson's wife's land sale to RVC during the time she was a real estate agent.
Although no specific reason was ever cited by the Board for terminating Chapdelaine, his tenure included the following:
1. Numerous complaints from the college's employee groups to RVC Trustess
2. Three "no-confidence" votes by all three employee groups that totaled 204-28
3. Downgrade of RVC recognition status by the Illinois Community College Board
4. Five consecutive and unprecedented years of deficit spending that totaled more than $7.3 million
5. Illegal use of taxpayer funds by Chapdelaine for two political contributions, which were allegedly reimbursed only after inquiries about the expenditures were made by The Rock River Times
6. Controversial awarding of a no-bid $5.6 million construction contract to Robert Stenstrom of Stenstrom Companies Ltd., for whom RVC named their Samuelson Road facility after he allegedly made a $1 million donation to the college. RVC never produced documentation the $1 million was ever received.
The $1 million was to be derived from construction services offered by Stenstrom,and sale of Stenstrom's personal jet. Part of the $1 million Stenstrom proposed was for "in-kind" construction management services. But the services were tied to a condition in which the services would only be offered if his company received the building contract for the Support Services Building. The Support Services Building was originally slated at $4.2 million, but ultimately cost $7.9 million.
The other half of the $1 million "gift" was contingent upon the sale of an aircraft owned by Stenstrom. However, at the time of the awarding the contract, and the alleged donation, the aircraft was being flown around Illinois for a political campaign. The campaign involved former Winnebago County Board Chairman Kris Cohn's failed bid for Illinois Secretary of State's office in 2002.
After RVC hired Stenstrom under terms of Illinois construction management law, Stenstrom awarded the contract to costruct the Support Services Building to himself. However, Illinois law prohibits construction managers from awarding contracts to themselves. Trustees, Chapdelaine and Stenstron also linked the hiring to Stenstrom's proclaimed $1 million donation to the college.
Despite the obvious abuse, and likely breaking of construction management law, Winnebago County State's Attorney Paul Logli refused to investigate the issue because he claimed the statute was "undeveloped."
7. Double payments to Chapdelaine in 1997 for airline expenses for his recruitment to RVC. Prior to that time, Chapdelaine was president of Cumberland County College in New Jersey.
In 1997, Chapdelaine charged $770 to his Cumberland County College credit card for three round-trip airline tickets from Philadelphia to O’Hare Airport at the same time he was being considered for his RVC position.
RVC also issued Chapdelaine two checks during the same period totaling $2,107.53 for his recruitment to RVC.
Cumberland County College documents show Chapdelaine charged Cumberland County College for two July 17, 1997, airline tickets to O’Hare, the day after he secured the RVC presidency on July 16,1997. Chapdelaine charged $612 to Cumberland County College for tickets and flight insurance for himself and his wife on July 17, 1997.
8. At least $9.6 million in construction cost overruns, which included the Stenstrom-named facility on Samuelson Road, and the Support Services Building that Stenstrom constructed on RVC's main campus.
Chapdelaine's supporters argued he was a "change agent" who ushered RVC into a bold era of needed construction projects.
RVC later hired Dr. Jack Becherer as its new president, who has connections to the same network that gave rise to Chapdelaine. The college now operates with a balanced budget, although still in debt from the Chapdelaine administration. The Illinois Community College Board restored RVC's status less than two weeks after Chapdelaine's termination.
After a two-year presidency at Cuyahoga Community College's Eastern Campus in Cleveland, Ohio in which Chapdelaine proposed changing the institution into a center for "holistic medicine," he was hired in late 2006 as president of Los Angeles Trade Tech College. According to a Jan. 26, 2007 press release from the Los Angeles Community College District, Chapdelaine is presiding over $230 million in construction projects at the college.
[edit] New and Improved
Since the change of leadership, RVC has done a number of improvements (meaning monetary additions/alterations) to its campus. The college has greatly expanded its nurse training facilities, as well as made many cosmetic improvements to the grounds and buildings. Currently the RVC library is being renovated, so the library has been moved to "The Barn" until 2008 due to asbestos being found within the library walls. "The Barn" is one of the few remaining structures left from when the campus was a farmstead that stood there prior to 1964. However, the books have been placed at an off-campus location where students must request books through paperwork or the college computer system, thus leaving many students with no place to study and do active research except the Woodward Technology Center or Rockford College.
[edit] Clubs and Organizations
- Association of Latin American Students
- Black Student Alliance
- Ceramic Arts Organization
- Chess Club
- Circle K
- College Democrats
- Spirit Squad Club
- Future Educator's Society
- Gay-Straight Alliance
- Geocachers Club
- Human Services Club
- InterVarsity Christian Fellowship
- Japanese Multimedia Club (previously known as Japanese Animation Club)
- Model United Nations
- Music Educator's Club
- Multicultural Club
- Phi Theta Kappa
- Rock Valley GOP
- SHAPE Club
- Society of Manufacturing Engineers
- SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise)
- The Valley Forge
- Voices
[edit] Rock Valley College Trivia
- The college mascot is the golden eagle.
- The college's student newspaper, The Valley Forge, is one of the top award-winning two-year college newspapers in Illinois.
- RVC's colors are Navy Blue and Gold
- Rock Valley College has an award winning Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team. At the 2005 RadioShack SIFE USA National Championship Awards, The RVC chapter of SIFE was a finalist for the two year college division. This was especially significant because 2005 was the RVC SIFE teams rookie year.
- The RVC chapter of Phi Theta Kappa is called Omicron Eta and has about 500 members.
- Carol Tuck, co-discoverer of Burpee Museum of Natural History's juvenile T-Rex "Jane", is the wife of RVC faculty member Hazen Tuck.
- There is also The Rugby Club and the Film Club.
- There is a shack instead of a library, but people can still study in small, dark corners of the campus.
