Camden County College (CCC) is a public community college in Camden County, New Jersey. Camden County College has its main campus in the Blackwood section of Gloucester Township, with satellite locations in Camden, Cherry Hill and Sicklerville. The college offers Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, and Associate in Applied Science degree programs and certificate programs.
History
In 1962, a New Jersey State law enabled the establishment of colleges by counties. Camden County created a college board in 1964 and a voter referendum, in 1965, approved the creation of a county college. In 1966, the Freeholders of Camden County charged Harry Benn, then secretary of the Camden County College Board, and a small commission to find land capable of maintaining a college in the central part of the county. The Salvatorian Fathers, who ran the Mother of the Savior Seminary, were looking to sell the land and close down the facility.Heinz, Elizabeth. "College Opens Doors in Answer to a Prayer," Courier-Post, October 29, 1987 Camden County College was established in 1967 on of land which had belonged to the Mother of the Savior Seminary.
The only surviving seminary building, Jefferson Hall, is used by Rutgers University's School of Health Professionals. Jefferson hall survived due its architecture, The Three buildings form a "U" shape with a small central courtyard. The 1969 graduation commencement took place in the courtyard of the three major buildings. Currently, a small memorial to the Mother of the Savior Seminary resides in that courtyard. In 1967, Wilson Hall served as an administrative center, library, cafeteria and activity room. Jefferson Hall served as the main Science Building. Originally, there was a pond and creek on campus which later included a series of waterfalls, lounge beaches, and pedestrian walks.Camden County College, Retrospective: A Chronicle of Camden County College 1967-1992, pg. 1-3.
Otto R. Mauke was chosen to be the first president of the college in March 1967 and his staff moved into Washington Hall in June 1967. First Day of classes for the college was on September 25, 1967, only six months from the founding of the college.
Development
Founded in 1967, Camden County College was composed of one campus with seven academic programs and a handful of buildings. Three original buildings are still in use. The original enrollment was less than 500 students. In 1969, the college opened its first campus in Camden City. In 1970, the college began its first multimillion-dollar expansion. The nine million dollar (1969 dollars) $58,857,302.45 in (2016 dollars) project constructed new buildings, all of which are still in use, including Madison Hall, Taft Hall, Wolverton Library, the Community Center, the Papiano Gymnasium, and Truman Hall.
During the 1970s, the Blackwood campus added several more buildings and programs. The Camden City campus moved several times to larger locations.
In 1989, the Blackwood campus underwent another round of expansion. The college added a manufacturing technology building, a Laser Institute building, and a Child Care center. Also in 1989 a new campus, a multistory tower, began construction in Camden City.
In 2000, the Rohrer Center was opened in Cherry Hill, NJ, creating the third campus for the college. In 2004, a second building was added to the Camden City Campus. In 2005, the county made an $83 million investment ($103,913,755 in 2016 dollars) known as the Freeholder Initiative, in order to update and renovate the college campuses, representing the largest investment in the college since its founding. Since 2005 renovation has modernized the Blackwood campus. A "ring road" was constructed to allow for better traffic flow and parking, Madison Hall was renovated to allow for modern technology and equipment, the Madison Connector was built as a public space, a new science building was constructed, Taft Hall was renovated, and new "green" initiatives were started in order to make the campus more energy efficient.
In 2011, The Technical Institute of Camden County and the Regional Emergency Training Center were incorporated into the college, bringing all of Camden County's educational services under one organization.
In the fall 2014 Taft Hall became the main student registration and advisement center and was named the Louis Cappelli Student One Stop.
In 1967 the college began with less than 500 students. The first graduating class was 172 students in 1969. Enrollment expanded, by 2011, to over 15,000 students and 1,800 graduates.
Presidents
Lovell Pugh-Bassett Dr. Lovell Pugh-Bassett is the current president of the college. She became the sixth president of Camden County College on July 1, 2022. Dr. Pugh-Bassett previously served as the Vice President of Institutional Effectiveness, Advancement, and Strategic Initiatives at the college since 2021. This marked her return to higher education after 20 years with the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE), having served in a number of capacities culminating in the role of Camden County Executive County Superintendent of Schools. Dr. Pugh-Bassett's professional introduction to education began in higher education where she served as an instructor and program coordinator for the Math/Science Upward Bound Program at Temple University. After years with Temple, she served as the program director for Upward Bound at the Community College of Philadelphia and transitioned to her work in K-12 at the NJDOE.
Donald Borden Donald Borden served as president of the college from 2016 to 2022. He previously served as superintendent of the Audubon Public School District in Camden County from 2006 to 2013. During his tenure, the district solidified their financial footing while increasing diversity through the implementation of the school-choice program. In addition, his entrepreneurial approach to leadership led to creating partnerships with a number of organizations that increased the district's revenue. He also reorganized the district which led to greater fiscal efficiency and improvement of the delivery of support services while maintaining research based class sizes. During his time as superintendent, Mr. Borden served as an officer of the Camden County Superintendent's Roundtable.
Raymond Yannuzzi Raymond Yannuzzi served as president of the college from 2006 to 2016. He was hired as Vice President of Academic Affairs in 2000 and became president of the college in 2006. The New Jersey Council of County Colleges honored Dr. Yannuzzi with a 2005 Community College Spirit Award in recognition of his exemplary service to the state's community colleges. He was cited for his leadership in developing the New Jersey Pathways Leading Apprentices to College Education Program, which connects registered apprenticeships in building/construction trades to college degree programs. Also acknowledged were his instrumental role in forming the Shipyard College Consortium of Philadelphia-area colleges, which helped bring commercial shipbuilding and other economic development activities to the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. During his presidency the school has expanded its online classes and partnered with WHYY Public Television Philadelphia in order to share content. Dr. Yannuzzi has also served on the advisory councils of the Rowan University College of Education and the New Jersey Italian and Italian American Heritage Commission.
Phyllis Della Vecchia Phyllis Della Vecchia served as president of the college from 1993 to 2006. During her presidency Camden County College built a third campus in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The Camden city campus was expanded to include the Camden Technology Center. During her tenure the campus attained rankings as one of the larger community colleges in the country being in the top 100 in growth, enrollment and degrees granted.
Robert W. Ramsay Robert W. Ramsay served as president of Camden County College from 1987 to 1993. During his tenure the college built a new campus in Camden city at Cooper and Broadway. He also expanded the technical facilities at the main campus located in Blackwood, New Jersey. A dedicated Criminal Justice Center was built as was the Laser Institute of Technology and the Helen Fuld School of Nursing.
Otto R. Mauke The first president of Camden County College was Otto R. Mauke who served from 1967 until 1987. He was named President Emeritus and, in 2009, the college union was renamed the Otto R. Mauke Community Center. During his tenure the college grew from 500 students in 1967 to 8,000 students. He was an important part in expanding Camden County College into Camden City and extending college credit classes to pre-college students. He died in 2009. Currently, there are two display cases of personal-professional affects including a poem writing by a student, two gift pen sets (the first given in 1967 with the opening of the school the second presented on his final day and set to May 8, 1987) and a diorama of his office designed by Camden County College employee Sharon Yancey.
In 2010, Leah Mauke contributed $50,000 to start a scholarship endowment in honor of Dr. Mauke. The endowment represents the largest individual donation to Camden County College.
Campuses
Main campus in Blackwood
The Main Academic Campus of Camden County College is located in Blackwood, New Jersey. It was founded in 1967 on land formerly belonging to the Mother of the Savior Seminary. The campus currently contains about twenty (20) academic buildings.
The main academic buildings include: Madison Hall for liberal arts, cafeteria and community center Taft Hall for academic advisement, registration, computer lab and ESL and basic skills classes The Gabriel E. Danch CIM Center for engineering, fabrication, computer graphics and film production Lincoln Hall (which contains the Dennis Flyer Theater) for fine, performing and communication arts Jefferson Hall closed for renovations, bought by Rutgers in late 2016/early 2017 Roosevelt Hall for administration Truman Hall for automotive studies, speech and basic math Adams Hall for wrestling
Wolverton Library The Wolverton Library is a mixed-use four-story building. It consists of the traditional library facility and a computerized testing center, student study areas including quiet rooms for group study, ERIC has hold of the third and some of the second-floor space. The facility also hosts several areas for committee and conference discussions.
The Wolverton Library contains over 40,000 volumes and print journals covering three floors of the building. Students and staff have access to the county library system, which allows access to any volume in the Camden County public library system. The Wolverton Library also provides access to an extensive online e-book collection of over 100,000 volumes and research journals. Through the CollegeAnywhere system students also have access to hundreds of hours of educational video services including PBS documentaries. The library also maintains subscriptions to over thirty five popular and academic magazines.
Recent additions Madison Connector Building