This content was published: April 9, 2002. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
Month of April Designated Community College Month
Photos and story by James Hill
SALEM, Ore. – Recognizing community college’s valuable contribution to the state of Oregon, Governor John Kitzhaber declared April 2002 Community College Month. The governor encouraged all Oregonians to join in the observance.Portland Community College, Oregon’s largest post-secondary institution, is already quite popular with the community. After the first week of the spring term, the college is experiencing its 22nd straight term of enrollment growth, growing by 18.7 percent in total full-time equivalent students and 12.9 percent in total headcount.PCC will serve approximately 100,000 part- and full-time students annually in a wide variety of programs this year. The college boasts three comprehensive campuses, four workforce training centers and approximately 200 community locations throughout its five-county district."We are very pleased to have this recognition from the governor,"said Andrea Henderson, executive director of the Oregon Community College Association. "We appreciate that he understands the important contribution community colleges make in Oregon."The governor emphasized the broad array of educational services that community colleges provide the citizens of Oregon. Those services include professional technical education, transfer education, two-year degree programs, adult basic-skills education, and continuing community education for more than 400,000 Oregonians each year."I feel this proclamation to be particularly relevant because of all the efforts being made by colleges to help get Oregonians back to work during this recession,"added Henderson.In addition to a wide variety of services, more that 90 percent of Oregonians live in a community college district, and more that two-thirds of all students in public post-secondary education in Oregon are served by community colleges.
About James Hill
James G. Hill, an award-winning journalist and public relations writer, is the Director of Public Relations at Portland Community College. A graduate of Portland State University, James has worked as a section editor for the Newberg Graphic... more »