For some at RVCC, road leads to Franklin

By Wedieu Cole

Located at an intersection of flashing street lights and your favorite fast-food restaurants lies a building of God, money and higher education.

Over the past 25 years, Raritan Valley Community College has attempted to evolve as an educational leader by cultivating relations with community agencies, businesses and other higher-education programs. The college’s Franklin Center is a prime example of those efforts.

The Franklin Center is a satellite campus of RVCC, at the intersection of Franklin Boulevard and Hamilton Street in Somerset, N.J. It is based on the second floor of the Bank of America building. The building is owned by a church, which is located on the side of the bank.

Coming from the parking lot, you first notice security surrounding the automatic door to the Bank of America section of the building, which is straight ahead. As you continue your journey, you have the choice of making a sharp left turn up two flights of stairs or taking that student favorite, the elevator. If you walk up the stairway, there are long stripes of RVCC colors green and gold and a large sign that you can’t miss: “Take These Steps to Higher Education.”

Reaching the second floor, you will see the well-mannered security guard at his desk, in the middle of a narrow hallway. Those gold-and-green stripes lead through the hall to your respective classrooms. This hallway has seven rooms, including an administrative office, which is the first room on your left when you enter the hallway. It’s also the location of the dean’s office. Across the hall from the office are four rooms in one, with a student lounge, a supply room for materials, academic adviser office and a classroom. In two of the seven rooms is a computer lab that consists of about 25 computers plus a nursing lab to assist students.

As you hit the end of the hallway, on your right is an extra classroom, a men’s room and women’s room, and a vending machine to quench your thirst or give you something to snack on during a break, if you choose not to go to the Subway across the street and grab a piece of chicken from KFC.

The Franklin Center Advisory Board’s Main Objective is to provide at the center RVCC courses that are accessible to the rapidly growing, largest township in Somerset County.

“The idea was to bring the college to the community,” said the dean of the Franklin Center, Myar Dubar-Swanson. “The convenience of the school is not only beneficial to the students who live in the area, but also for the people who work in the area and live far from the center.”

The Franklin Center serves local businessmen and –women, homemakers, parents, first-time students and older, returning students. It consists of about 350 students. Since the school was established in fall of 2000, Dubar-Swanson explained, the number of students has grown about 20% (excluding the 2005 spring semester to now).

It offers credited, professional development courses at times convenient for students, day or evening. Still, not many students attend the Franklin location. About 5.8% of the approximate 6,000 RVCC students attend there, paying the tuition price of $78 a credit.

At the Franklin Center, students have much of the same access to things the main campus has. Students have access to computer labs, can meet with an academic counselor to discuss careers goals or transfers, and the opportunity to register for classes, buy books and take the placement test. A Hispanic institute for research and development is held there every Saturday.

“Our hope is to increase our morning/day courses, which may benefit some of our younger students,” stated Tarana Baldwin, academic adviser.

The lack of student awareness of internship opportunities, library information sessions and the Academic Success Fair can be considered one of the primary reasons more students from the area aren’t coming to the center. “We need to increase student participation. The more students participate, it will help with other students’ awareness,” Baldwin confirmed.

One student, Benjamin Baker, said: “I have to work, and the main campus is very far from my house. If I could take all my courses at the Franklin Center, I would. … But the courses required for my major, like chemistry, I just can’t take there.”

Over the last couple of semesters, the center has handed out surveys that ask the students what classes they would like to see offered, with the goal of perhaps expanding the course options. The center’s student adviser spoke of bringing some form of tutoring to students there in need of help who can’t make it to the main campus’ Academic Support Center.

Since this semester, there has been a walk-in tutoring center in the student lounge every Tuesday evening from 5 to 8:30. The function would be similar to that of the Academic Support Center at the main campus: to give students relief and support for problems they have on assignments that they find abstract or confusing.If you ask some of the center’s faculty, they will tell you how much they embrace the atmosphere of this satellite campus. “I enjoy the opportunity to serve the students,” said administrative assistant Anna Moore. The outlook is shared by security guard Martin McLane, who said: “I like talking to the people, especially since they have the desire to learn and better themselves. It’s good to see.”

RVCC has made attempts to light a spark within the community by establishing the Franklin Center. Whether transportation is a problem or they can’t ordinarily fit classes into their work schedule, the center provides an opportunity to fill their need to be successful.