RRCC offers degree in water quality management - #lakewoodnews

This fall, Red Rocks Community College makes Colorado history by offering a bachelor of applied science degree in water quality management technology.Red Rocks is the first community college in the state to offer a BAS degree, the result oftwo years of work by college faculty."The accreditation to offer a BAS will expand the learning opportunities for the students," said Chelsea Campbell, faculty lead of the Water Quality program, in an email interview. "This accreditation gives us the ability to offer more hands-on training for students and help them become better prepared for a career in the water industry."The water quality management technology program focuses on applications, regulations and technologies of water, and has been around since the 1970s, Campbell said. The campus' water quality building contains a hard, wet lab for the two water and wastewater analytical classes, and an outdoor distribution lab. The outdoor distribution lab is a live lab where students are able to experience all of the elements seen within the distribution system. The curriculum is directed in a specific way to increase likelihood of employment in the industry."The BAS allows us to be pioneers in creating educational pathways that perhaps have not yet existed in this industry," said Linda F. Comeaux, vice president of instructional services at the college. "Our students will get, what I believe, is the best learning experience, the elevated/upper division knowledge and hands-on, applicable experience to go right into the workforce and secure in-demand jobs."The road to accreditation began in February 2014, when Senate Bill 4 was passed. The bill allowed community colleges to offer a Bachelor of Applied Science Degree, and the Water Quality Management program was chosen as one of the first programs in the state to offer this degree.Red Rocks' team held a variety of industry summits to help develop a curriculum and classes, Campbell explained. At the end of 2014 and beginning of 2015, the BAS degree was approved by the Community College System Office and the Colorado Department of Higher Education. Then, in May 2016, the Higher Learning Commission approved the BAS degree."I am most looking forward to the growth of opportunities for students, especially since the water industry has very few degrees that are specific to water," Campbell wrote. "Most degrees are focused around the environment or more generic sciences. This degree provides students courses that match their specific interests. Employers can now hire graduates that match their specific needs and the graduates can get the degree they really want."As with most programs at Red Rocks, Water Quality is designed to be affordable and flexible -- classes are offered in a variety of modalities including online, traditional classroom and hybrid."We already have Ph.D. and qualified faculty on staff that will be able to teach some of these upper division courses," Comeaux wrote. "I am looking forward to the faculty having the opportunity to utilize additional parts of their spectrum of knowledge and do what they do best -- give our students exceptional experiences."

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