COCC has big plans for the next decade

Central Oregon Community College is working to make its facilities top-notch for its students, and is out with a 10-year draft facilities master plan on how it plans to do just that.

About every 10 years, the college decides what its future goals are, and what it wants to accomplish. The goals are all laid out in a master plan that outlines proposed goals for the years 2018 through 2028.

“The facilities master plan is an important document, because over the course of history at COCC, the college generally follows the guidance of the facilities master plan,” Vice President of Administration Matt McCoy said Thursday.

“So if projects show up in the facilities master plan, we intentionally work towards accomplishing that,” he said, “It’s something that’s very, very important to the future of the college.”

This time around, officials propose a focus on renovating existing spaces, sustainability and implementing technology. Each campus has its own set of needs, and COCC is taking that into consideration.

For example, in Madras, it’s proposing using solar power to create a ‘zero-energy’ campus, similar to the solar energy systems the college already uses on its Redmond campus.

Speaking of campuses, college officials told Deschutes County commissioners on Wednesday that they are looking for suitable property for a facility in La Pine.

As for the Bend campus, one big idea being weighed is converting College Way into a pedestrian mall.

Right now, the city of Bend has control over the street. The college is considering making that street part of its property, and using it to help connect the two sides of its community and make the campus more accessible. College officials said the way Bend’s campus is designed now, that street splits the grounds in half.

“I could envision where there might be food carts, weekend markets, music festivals, things like that,” McCoy said. “Where people would get out of their car and remain on campus. — a heart of the campus, if you will.”

The plans are still in a draft phase, and need to be approved by the COCC Board. Once that happens, the college can figure out what funds can go toward which projects.

The source of funding for many of these projects is still up in the air.

“There’s a possibility for some of the cost being carried by the students,” McCoy said. “But we have a number of sources of revenue, so we’re trying not to over-burden the students. But we’re also trying to make sure they have the technology that they want available to them.”

One student NewsChannel 21 spoke with Thursday said she’s okay with possibly paying out of her own pocket for some of the improvements.

“I think it’s fine,” sophomore Kimberly Elder said. “I mean, for the whole college just to be getting better, I wouldn’t mind them taking just a little bit more of my tuition just to make it be easier to get to class, and that kind of thing.”

You can find the full draft of COCC’s 2018 – 2028 Master Facilities Plan here: https://www.cocc.edu/news/fmp-comments.aspx