The Broadside has spoken to faculty and alumni who highlight memorable, personable experiences during their time here that have shaped COCC into what it is now.
Central Oregon Community College will commemorate its 75th anniversary this May. The college plans to spend approximately $2,500 on this event, funded through COCC’s budget for special events. There will be a formal presentation, food, drinks, cake, and an interactive walk featuring 15 programs COCC offers. The event is open to the community.
The nursing program will have the mannequins out, and the automotive department will display its Tesla in the aviation department. And, of course, our Bobcat will be running around.
COCC started humbly. In 1949, its first class was held in the basement of the old Bend High School in downtown Bend. The building is now the Bend-La Pine School District Administration Building, across the street from the downtown library. Classes then started with 109 students and just seven professors.
COCC was known at this time as Central Oregon College. It remains the longest-established community college in Oregon. Wendy Patton, COCC’s charitable giving officer in the Boyle Education Center and the head of the committee for the 75th celebration, said, “Compared to all 17 community colleges in Oregon, our presidents stay much longer. We have had six, compared to most colleges, which could be on their 13th, 14th, or 15th president. I think that strong leadership adds to this place’s rich history.”
“One thing that is very unique about this college is my personal value because this is the third community college I’ve worked for; that strong leadership and not a lot of turnovers at the leadership level, I think, gives you and this college that grounded feeling.”
Patton stated, “It’s not common for community colleges to take the GI bill and work with our veterans. We have the highest population of veteran students then any other school. That’s partly because we partner and will work with them getting their GI bill, meaning our veterans in the area can come here and have an easier time than they can in other schools.”
One of COCC’s math instructors for the last twenty years, Michelle Butcher, attended COCC from 1994 to 1997 and obtained her two-year transfer degree, originally in psychology, eventually transferring to mathematics. Butcher mentioned that Modoc was the library when she was a student here, and the current library didn’t exist.
Butcher added, “COCC offers support and services for students and the community.”
A retired math instructor who started teaching high school in Arizona and spent two years at Arizona State University, Charlie Nazzifiger taught with COCC from 1996 to 2017 and volunteered as the department chair for the COCC Foundation as a board member. He stated, “When I first started, there were a lot of expectations, especially on faculty.”
Nazzifiger wanted to leave this to students: “I encourage you to talk to your teachers. If you have any issues, talk about them and own it. Your professors will help you find a way!”
Nazzifiger said, “When I first started, the math department had only two female instructors and seven males, and now it’s flopped. There are different perspectives now, and it feels better. Having better diversity in leadership roles.”
Alissa Locke is full-time faculty member in licensed massage therapy. Locke started her journey here at COCC as a student in 2003. Locke earned her degree in massage therapy in 2006. Locke mentioned, “All of our program classes were in Boyle, and we did everything in one classroom; we had two classrooms, but it was nowhere near as awesome as this building is.” (Health Careers Center)
Locke said, “I came here because it’s the only college in the state where you can get an associate’s degree in massage and have it count as college credit.”
Locke lived in Eugene and originally attended Lane College. She had found out that massage therapy classes wouldn’t count towards her transcript and would be considered continuing education or community education.
In 2010, Locke became a teacher’s assistant. In 2019, Locke moved into an instructor role part-time with benefits, and for 5 years as an adjunct, and now a full-time instructor in massage therapy.
Locke highlighted, “All of the resources that are available for the students are amazing. From transportation to helping with housing, food, clothes, and all of it, it’s pretty cool.”
Locke stated, “Our community is lucky to have COCC. I mean, there are so many things offered to the community and the students that I think are invaluable.”
Locke went further and said, “We’ve had students that drive from Madras, Warm Springs, La Pine, one lives in Prineville, one drives from Silverton. People come in to be here, invest their time, and are committed to it. I think that speaks to what a great institution it is. And as an employee, too, it’s an amazing place to work.”
Eric Magidson is a professor in the computer information systems department. Magidson stated, “I went to school here in 1999 and 2000. I worked full-time as a full-time student and got a CIS degree.”
Magidson said, “I had some previous college experience; the flexibility of classes here made me be able to come to class. The instructors that were teaching at the time, as well as now, had a pulse on the industry, so they were not just teaching theory; they were teaching what I needed to take into the job, and since I was working in the field, I was able to apply what I learned yesterday in class at the job.”
Magidson mentioned, “one of the challenges now is all of the classes online, it’s more of a challenge to build that community that existed inside the classroom. Developing community within a class is much more challenging online.”
Alan Nunes is an associate professor of and chair of allied health who resides in the massage therapy department at COCC. Nunes came to school here in 2007, needing a few additional massage therapy and business classes to get licensed in Oregon.
Nunes said, “This was my first community college experience. I was just blown away by the kindness from instructors, fellow students, and all the different clubs and programs on campus, the willingness of people to give you your time. No matter who I talked to, if it was staff or faculty, it was such a positive place to be. At a time when there was a lot of uncertainty for me professionally, that was a big support.”
Nunes returned to COCC in 2009 as a teaching assistant in the massage therapy program. Then, became a part-time instructor, adjunct, program director, and department chair.
Magidson said he learned how to teach with enthusiasm from math professor Sean Rule. “That guy has so much energy, bringing it to the classroom and how he teaches math. When he teaches his students, he’s not just trying to help them pass a test. It’s about critically thinking your way through a problem, and that’s how he structures the way he teaches math, you know, which makes it pretty cool. He’s been inspiring for sure.”
Magidson currently works with three colleagues who taught him as a student. When Haury was board chair, he contacted Magidson and asked if he would like to teach a class. Magidson replied, “Yeah, that’d be cool. And here I am, 17, . Well, if you were 16, I’m 18, I guess, years later.” Magidson said this to Nunes, and Nunes replied:
“I think that’s the wild part of it. Thirty years ago, if someone told me I’d be a school teacher and a professor at a college, I would have laughed. There’s no way; that’s not my life path, that’s not my personality. I don’t know what I would have to share with people in that way, no way… And here I am, working an incredible job, having the time of my life, sharing my knowledge and trying to, you know, pass down that gift of enthusiasm and passion for what you do. And it’s so much fun.”
With Nunes’s position as department chair, he stated, “There is so much work that goes into just making it seem like it’s here, and you just gotta show up as a student, and to make it an incredible experience for a student.”
Nunes expressed for the students he has worked with, “They’re just so grateful for the college and their experience that they get here with how much instructors care; they’re not just a butt in a seat. I hear that all the time. They’ve been to other schools, and it’s not like how it is here.”
Tina Hovecamp came to COCC in 1997 as a faculty member teaching in the library. Hovecamp taught library courses and other credit courses and oversaw the circulation of library load and early reference services up in Modoc before the renovation.
Hovecamp shared, “I arrived here on the fourth of July when we arrived here in Bend. The fireworks were up in the sky; they were saying like this is the beginning of one of the most beautiful times in your life, celebrating you walking in. At this point, I had a 20-month-old baby and my husband and I with our baby walked out of the hotel room, it felt like it was a celebration, perhaps of a beautiful beginning and a beautiful new chapter in my life. I started working here in July of 97’, and so it’s been now, what, 20, almost 28 years, which is amazing to think about. It just went so freaking fast.”
Hovecamp came from Northern Greece with her bachelor’s degree in English and went for her Master’s in library science at Kent State University in Ohio in 1986. Hovecamp then got her Ph.D. in her field in North Carolina. Hovecamp expressed, “In the spring of 1998, just a few months after I arrived, not even a year after I arrived, we moved to this beautiful library.” Referring to what we know now as the Barber Library.
Hovecamp said, “The old library was really old cement and a dark building. At the time, with the new library being built, the library director said, welcome, Tina. You are going to be coordinating the move of the library to the new building. It was like, oh my gosh, I’ve never done that before. It was so exciting to pick our new offices. And it was a time when the library profession was also changing.”
At this time, the Internet had become prevalent, and Hovecamp explained, “The Internet started having a huge impact on libraries, really huge impacts. So imagine your life with no internet, no Google, no Firefox, none of that. Life, you know, was different in many ways in our daily lives, but how we approached information was also different.”
“When I started teaching, we were teaching students how to use print collections and how to look for information using volumes of paper indexes. I mean, the process of doing research was quite difficult and it required a lot of time and steps. The internet comes along and all of a sudden it’s like, wow, I can type keywords or a question and I’m getting results instantaneously. It was unbelievable. It was incredible. In the early 1990s, we didn’t know the real significance of the impact of the internet on the profession.”
Hovecamp explained, “So in 2000, our community college library joined this big network that is still a crucial part of our operations here, as we joined the Orbby network of libraries. About 15 libraries or so collaborated to join their collections so that students can do a catalog search on the screen and request items.”
In her journey, Hovecamp witnessed the internet’s coming of age. She replied, “It was incredible.” She shared, “I feel so fortunate that I was part of the before and after.”
Hovecamp was part of the 50th-anniversary celebration here, and she mentioned they made a time capsule that Kiersten Hostetler put together. The capsule will be reopened at the 100th anniversary in 2065. It includes information about different programs, COCC T-shirts, notecards of what students thought 2065 would look like, a signed rugby ball, and lots more. There’s a sneak peek photo collection on The Broadside website.
More information regarding COCC’s history can be found in the library, specifically in the book “Blazing a Trail.” Memories hide within professors’ memories and the bones of the buildings, hiding within its trails and pathways to classes
