Burlington County College

In a continuing effort to bring its campus closer to the community, Burlington County College will begin offering classes at Rancocas Valley Regional High School in Mount Holly this fall. The Rancocas site is the college's 10th location for evening classes in addition to its three main campuses in Pemberton Township, Cinnaminson and Willingboro, said college spokesman Richard Pokrass. The classes at Rancocas will be available only evenings and are open to anyone who qualifies for admission to the college, according to Pokrass.

A retired Arizona college president has been named interim president of Burlington County College by the college's board of trustees. Joseph F. Russo, who served as president of Yavapai Community College in Prescott, Ariz., until his retirement in 1984, last week was named to replace Harmon B. Pierce, who resigned from the college on June 11. Pierce, who served at the college in numerous positions before assuming the presidency in 1976, left to take a position as chief executive officer of Pennsylvania State University's Hazleton campus in Luzerne County.

Four federal grants and two state grants totaling $372,642 have been awarded to Burlington County College for student services. The federal grants will go toward the instruction of students who have learning disabilities and those who are academically at risk. The two state grants will be used to build a cooking and baking program at the college and to expand its graphic arts technology program. "The new multifaceted programs will attract prospective students, but mostly they are to help currently enrolled students," said Richard J. Pokrass, director of college relations.

Officials at Burlington County College say they have completed the cleanup of toxic chemicals found in one of the college's main buildings and have repaired a section of the school damaged in a chemical fire last year. A college spokesman, Richard Pokrass, said Thursday that the college's main building, the Lewis M. Parker Center, would be reopened in time for the start of the fall semester on Sept. 4. The center was closed for two weeks after a fire on Aug. 25, 1985, which started in a storage vault of a chemistry laboratory in the college's A Wing.

Skydivers, a high school student culinary competition, a soccer shootout and an antique auto show are among the events planned this afternoon for Burlington County College's annual open house. Billed as a Fun Fest, today's events begin at noon and will be held, rain or shine, until 4 p.m. at the college's Pemberton campus. The Fun Fest marks the second time the college has sponsored a cultural arts and fun fair to highlight community activities and the college itself, said Richard Pokrass, director of college relations.

If Dennis Gallagher put stock in bad omens, he would not be surprised if the players on his Burlington County College golf team were shooting in the 100s and smacking drives off one another's heads. Instead, the 10th-year coach is presiding over "the best team I've ever had, by far. " "I always get one or two good players and build around them," Gallagher said. "But I've got five kids who can break 80 every day. " Which beats five kids who could have suffered broken bones in an automobile accident a week before the season started.

When Robert Messina Jr. took charge of Burlington County College 25 years ago, classes were taught in 17 barracks on a sleepy Pemberton campus. Most of the school's 2,000 students were part-timers in their late 20s. But as the popularity of two-year public colleges grew, so did BCC, now a more prestigious institution with four campuses, gleaming glass buildings, 14,000 students, and partnerships with universities that provide bachelor's and...

The term "pedal pushers" means more than just a fashion statement at Burlington County College's Pemberton Township campus. Since late spring, the college's security office has been sending out three employees on bicycles to patrol the 225-acre campus. The unit will continue its patrols from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. weekdays through December, said Hector Gonzalez, who became the college's security director in the spring after a 22-year career with the Pemberton Township Police Department.

When Robert Messina Jr. took charge of Burlington County College 25 years ago, classes were taught in 17 barracks on a sleepy Pemberton campus. Most of the school's 2,000 students were part-timers in their late 20s. But as the popularity of two-year public colleges grew, so did BCC, now a more prestigious institution with four campuses, gleaming glass buildings, 14,000 students, and partnerships with universities that provide bachelor's and...

When Robert Messina Jr. took charge of Burlington County College 25 years ago, classes were taught in 17 barracks on a sleepy Pemberton campus. Most of the school's 2,000 students were part-timers in their late 20s. But as the popularity of two-year public colleges grew, so did BCC, now a more prestigious institution with four campuses, gleaming glass buildings, 14,000 students, and partnerships with universities that provide bachelor's and...

For more than 100 years, Buttonwood Hospital has served Burlington County's aging poor and mentally ill. Formerly an alms house, the 200-bed facility in Pemberton has a policy of turning away no one. But despite angry protests by health-care advocates, employees, and patients' families and friends, the Board of Chosen Freeholders is putting the hospital up for auction. Though the sale was scheduled for Feb. 24, the freeholders now are considering pushing the date back to March 1. The three-story brick hospital is operating at a $4.5 million loss, which is expected to rise to $5.2 million by 2016, according to two studies the all-Republican board has commissioned.

Marker in hand, Al Brown looked like a natural jotting equations onto a whiteboard and explaining algebraic concepts to his class of fellow would-be teachers at Burlington County College. "Next, I want to get into the slope-intercept form of single-line equations," he said, sounding quite like the middle school instructor he aspires to be. But Brown, laid off from an information-technology management job last year after more than two decades in the field, is a man with concerns.

Joe Schramm didn't stay retired for long. Schramm, who retired in June as athletic director at Cherokee after 18 years, has been named athletic director at Burlington County College. He will take over as the AD on Aug. 2. "I'm excited about a new career in a field I've always been part of, both athletics and education," Schramm said in a news release from the college. "This is an exciting time for community colleges in general and BCC in particular. " Schramm will oversee seven sports ?

After five deployments and 20 years of military service, Army Sgt. First Class Marcel Pruner will realize a lifelong dream Saturday: earning a college degree. Pruner, who has served in Central America and Iraq, will earn his associate degree in criminal justice during Burlington County College's commencement for 1,011 students in Pemberton. Pruner, 38, an instructor at Fort Dix, began his military career directly out of high school at age 17. He started college in 1991. "Somewhere along the line I didn't feel like I could continue," he said.

After five deployments and 20 years of military service, Army Sgt. First Class Marcel Pruner will realize a lifelong dream Saturday: earning a college degree. Pruner, who has served in Central America and Iraq, will earn his associate degree in criminal justice during Burlington County College's commencement for 1,011 students in Pemberton. Pruner, 38, an instructor at Fort Dix, began his military career directly out of high school at age 17. He started college in 1991. "Somewhere along the line I didn't feel like I could continue," he said.

Eugene Black Jr., 78, of Mount Holly, a decorated Army veteran who rose through the ranks of Burlington County College to become director of admissions at the Cinnaminson branch, died Feb. 22 following surgery complications at Virtua Hospital in Mount Holly. After a 22-year military career, Mr. Black settled in South Jersey and started working for Burlington County College in the shipping and receiving department in the mid-1970s. While working full-time, Mr. Black took classes locally through Pepperdine University and a few years later received a bachelor's degree in human resource management.

"Oooooh!" said Donald Hudson. "I think I heard it click!" said Robert Messina. "Keep going," Ron Lalusis told Messina. A steel-encased bank vault at a 200-year-old Mount Holly building now owned by Burlington County College was being cranked open by Messina, the college president. Lalusis, the hired vault-cracker extraordinaire, had arranged in recent days to have an 18-inch-wide opening drilled through the side wall. A man had just entered the hole and was working combinations at the vault's 24-bolt, foot-thick steel door from within.

Professionals interested in a career change can explore an alternative route to becoming a teacher in New Jersey. Burlington County College will explain its 36-week New Pathways to Teaching program Tuesday evening at the Mount Laurel campus. The program is open to college graduates who earned a bachelor's degree with at least a 2.75 grade-point average. They will take a six-week intensive summer course and then receive weekly tutoring once they find a job, ideally by fall.