Central Oregon Community College — Local services in Bend

Since there is no obvious place for me to give feedback to COCC on any of their websites, I'll do it here.

As a new student I have found the admissions and registration process infuriating. I have a master's degree, have worked in my current field for 10 years, and am in the process of changing careers. Despite sending over my transcripts, it seems my 1xx and 2xx level writing courses somehow did not satisfy the WR121 requirement, which means I am blocked from registering for, of all courses, Anatomy and Physiology I, which is an important prerequisite for me. As the seats for this course fill up, I am stuck having to petition to get my writing credit added when it is extremely obvious I have satisfied that requirement. I was also required to attend a two hour info session in order to register for classes. This is in addition to the very time consuming "Bobcat Welcome" online modules and "how to take online classes" modules. I thought this info session would be a one-on-one appointment with an advisor from the department I'm taking classes in. Which would have been great because I had some very program-specific questions that had not been answered in a series of previous emails. Nope. Instead I had to drive 45 minutes to Prineville on a work day to sit through a series of PowerPoint slides on how to choose my career, manage my time, and navigate a website because I'm totally not an adult who can figure out how to do those things and ask questions when I need help. The final cherry on top is that the paramedic program here requires a half dozen in-person only-during-the-day-on-a-weekday prerequisite courses be completed which are not required in other paramedic programs and would require a year of in-person attendance in addition to the core full-time paramedic program year. (I'm not even talking about the EMT-B courses, which I have already satisfied.) This would mean I would have to save up twice as much money to quit my job and do COCC's program. So instead I'll be taking a few core prerequisites online at COCC and transferring them to Oregon Institute of Technology which does not require a year's worth of in-person prerequisite courses to get into their paramedic program and I'll be getting my degree over there. That's right. I'd rather move to Portland for a year to get my paramedic cert with OIT than spend an extra year and all that money taking the unnecessary prereq classes at COCC. If you want my money, don't make me take classes I don't need, or at least offer them as night or weekend classes so I can have a job that will both pay me enough to live in Bend and allow me to schedule around said classes. Because right now the only jobs that will let me schedule time off every Tuesday and Wednesday from 1pm to 3pm involve getting paid less than a...

Not friendly for transfers or people with careers seeking to further education. “Bobcat welcome” a mandatory slide show about “we want you to succeed” it takes a half hour plus and is not friendly on many mobile devices including tablets. When I say mandatory I mean you cannot even talk to an advisor until after the program says you’ve completed it. Which is frustrating because the program itself doesn’t always acknowledge when you’ve completed a section resulting in having to listen to the same amateur video multiple times. Plus it’s about as useful as a pep rally with little to no useful information for experienced students. They go over resources available [at every community college] but not when or who to contact.

Next step you have to sit and wait during open advising hours (new students absolutely cannot schedule appointments.) which even if you show up early you’ll be waiting at least 2 hours. It’s on a first come first serve basis so even if you show up in the time frame you can be turned away. Then the advisor tells you they aren’t your advisor, the meeting isn’t to advise you, it’s to make sure you know how to register for courses. (Which could’ve easily been implemented into the Bobcat welcome making it more useful) But again it’s a mandatory meeting and you cannot sign up for courses until you meet with this person; there is a hold on registration until they lift it post “advising”

Then you have to take a course on how to take online classes before being eligible for online courses, even if you have taken online courses before.

I asked to sit in on a class and talk to instructors about teaching style and expectations, and that wasn’t something they offered.

If you’re just getting out of high school looking for cheap education to transfer later this is a viable option. If you already work full time and want to take flexible online courses; look elsewhere. If you want to be able to talk to instructors and have an idea of what expectations will be for you or talk about special needs/circumstances; look elsewhere.

There are better community colleges out there. If you live in the area, you may do alright, but it’s definitely not worth...

email back to me alerts me only to receipt and parking and mentions attachment. They promised to post mail hard copy of schedule of classes, and parking permit.

I receive parking permit, but not class schedule, II call to ask again for mailing my class schedule Monday Ap.13th. I am informed that II missed first class on Fri Ap10th. They won't refund money or give me credit to take class (not filled up) in the future. Rigid, unwavering, unsympathetic towards my reliance on promised mailing (having received other promised mailing. and mis-labeling email as receipt (and not mentioning schedule of classes)

will find other sources...