They don’t look alike apart from the FRCC logo.
The three campuses are separated by cities, counties, and hours on highway.
Until the administration enacted a major change, it made the college feel like three distinct communities.
The One-College Model restructured departments to only one head college wide, streamlined financial accounting, and combined the resources for student life.
In a press interview, FRCC Vice President Rebecca Woulfe says, “At each one of the campuses we’ve done things differently.”
She said this is an attempt to bring them together.
Woulfe is deeply involved with the change.
Being from different community colleges around the state, she favors the One-College Model for its “streamlining of some duplication of efforts.
“Overall, I think the college has benefited from it,” she said.
However, she acknowledged, all campuses have their own cultures.
“There are projects that do need to be campus-based. But, by at least having conversations between different student groups, you can learn from them.”
Those involved with student organizations have complained about just that — the communication.
One of the largest difficulties with student life, they say, is figuring out to whom the students need to talk to.
Homogenizing the process to one campus makes the process of creating clubs and organizations or obtaining funding for an event is “agonizing,” said Drama Club organizer Owen Hallac.
People formerly in student government have categorized the staff in charge of giving them resources as “impossible to work with.”
Other problems with the One-College Model come from the faculty and instructors.
They say the restructuring of the deans has seen instructors, professors, and even the deans themselves becoming unfamiliar with their staff.
Critics say this has led to a lack of trust between new people and can stunt the progress of events and tasks from certain departments.
Some instructors feel disrespected by the lack of authority they have in these new relationships.
Woulfe, however, said both the communication issues with student organizations and the unfamiliarity of staff members will go away with time.
“We all sometimes get a change in who our supervisor is,” she said.
“No one lost their job in the One-College Model,” she said.
She said the communication barriers for student life are being worked out with students who may have concerns.
Overall, she said the One-College Model makes FRCC more “efficient” and the problems are being worked out.
