Rowan College at Gloucester County, entering its fifth decade, is rethinking itself. A plan unveiled by its president Tuesday would expand the community college’s campus with seven new buildings, including student apartments to make the school a residential college.
“Community colleges are commuter schools. What we’re proposing is to change that paradigm,” Frederick Keating, the college’s president, said. He emphasized that the plan was in its earliest stages, and a feasibility study will run through June. Information on cost will not be available until the study is complete, but Keating said funding would not come from students or taxpayers.
The first phase of development would expand the school’s health programs, working with a local hospital system to bring an urgent-care center to Deptford Township and increase student enrollment in nursing and allied health disciplines. Construction would include a two-story, 40,000-square-foot medical office building; a two-story, 28,000-square-foot building; and parking for 232 cars.