Atlantic Cape Profs’ Give Insiders’ Views of Campus’ Growth

COURT HOUSE — In light of today’s fifth-year anniversary celebration of the Cape May County campus of Atlantic Cape Community College, the Herald interviewed two of its professors, one veteran and one rookie, to get their impressions of the campus on this auspicious occasion.
Atlantic Cape Community College began educating students in this county in 1973. The college opened an extension center in Rio Grande in the 1980s to meet increased demand. Construction began in March 2004 on the three-story, 68,000-square-foot, winged, brick facility, where local students can complete an associate degree without leaving the county.
Regina Van Epps teaches writing and literature courses. She’s been a full-time professor at Atlantic Cape for 15 years and was one of the first instructors to be dedicated to this campus. In 2002, she was named the college’s first recipient of the prestigious Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award.
She’s the veteran.
Dr. Jolie Master, a podiatrist and the newest member of the Science faculty at Atlantic Cape, just started at the Cape May County Campus this semester.
She’s the rookie.
Both teachers are impressed with the campus’s facilities, which include 19 state-of-the-art classrooms and labs, a 7,000-volume library, a 100-seat lecture hall, conference room, enrollment center, cafeteria, as well as faculty and administrative offices.
Van Epps has taught in Mays Landing, but always pushed for a dedicated campus in Cape May County. She noted that this county was overlooked for too long.
“In 1964, it was state-mandated that every county should have a college,” she noted. This county’s was 40 years in the making.
“We were overdue for a permanent county campus,” she told the Herald. But she agreed that it was a mixed blessing that Cape May had to wait so long for its own campus, because now it is such a new and modern facility.
“I remember teaching in a storefront in Rio Grande,” she said, noting that the building was a little decrepit.
Van Epps grew up in Central New Jersey, but now lives in Palermo.
“That’s one of the reasons I dedicated myself to this county,” she said, noting that a student in North Wildwood would have to take buses for two hours to get to the Mays Landing campus. “Now one bus goes directly here,” she said.
One of the first few teachers assigned to Cape May, Van Epps is obviously very proud of the new campus. She took this reporter on a tour of the facilities.
Beaming with pride, she pointed out the new technology including SMART boards, (a high-tech version of a blackboard) projectors and computers in the classrooms. She also noted the expansive library known as an “information commons.” The library is open to all county residents, she said.
“We have so much technical support that we can really enhance our teaching,” she said, noting that she uses poetry readings on YouTube for literature classes; and she can put essays on the projector and edit them for increased student interaction.
She said the building was designed in an “open concept” that is meant to draw students into a comfortable social community. It’s “really bumping” at night when students hang out in the student lounge, socialize together and work on their laptops.
Master received her doctorate from Temple University and did her residency in the Virtua Health System. She gave up her podiatry practice and began teaching over two years ago.
Master said she discovered a calling for teaching while assisting with training and lectures during her residency. After serving as an adjunct professor at a few classes at Salem and Burlington county colleges, she was hooked on teaching.
Facilities in Salem and Burlington were a little older than those in Cape May County, she said.
“The newer facility here is very inviting and cheery. It’s very conducive to learning,” she said. “Everything is state-of-the-art. All of my classrooms are Smart-rooms.
Despite never seeing the campus before she was hired, Master had a feeling she would like it because the area is similar to her home in Woodstown.
She doesn’t mind the hour-plus commute, because she likes being here.
“The atmosphere at the county campus is nice. I mean it overlooks the 4-H Fairgrounds and is right near the county park and zoo, which I visit with my family often,” she said. “Despite its relaxed atmosphere, there is still a serious academic requirement and the students want to be here.”
Both teachers also have many good things to say about their students.
Master explained that most of the pupils taking biology, anatomy and physiology in her six classes this semester are nursing, physician assistant or radiology students. About 30 percent come right from high school; the rest are more experienced “returning” students.
“Teaching is kind of like medicine, you never know what students or patients will show up,” she said.
“It’s fun here. The students are wonderful; truly interested because of their career paths,” she said. “They study a lot and ask plenty of questions. They want to be clear on everything because it relates to their jobs.”
She loves it when someone finally “gets it.”
“I thrive on that ‘ah-ha’ moment,” she said.
She believes in group learning.
“I try to get the groups to work cohesively together; to feed off each other,” she said. “They need to because of the sheer volume of information they receive.”
Van Epps agreed.
“My students here have been excellent,” Van Epps told the Herald. “They really want to learn. They like to read and like to write.”
She teaches over 100 students in five classes per semester. She pushes herself to remember everybody’s name by the second week. She gets students of every age in her classes but most are right out of high school; only a few are returning students.
“The returning students are wonderfully dedicated to their studies,” she said. “They bring their life experiences to the class. It really enriches the discussion.”
In her writing classes, she tries to prepare students for writing their bigger papers at the university level. “I help them learn how to become an acedemic writer,” she said, noting that her program is quite intensive.
After they graduate, Van Epps sees her former students all over the county.
“I run into my students wherever I go,” she said. “They thank me for preparing them.”
Van Epps noted that the enrollment at this campus continues to increase.
“We’re growing and growing,” she said. “Enrollment is up 40 percent since we opened. We’re very excited about that.”
It’s teachers like Van Epps and Master that keep growing Atlantic Cape’s enrollment in Cape May County. They are a big reason for celebration.
As part of that celebration, Atlantic Cape invites local residents to Community Day, a celebration of the five-year anniversary of the opening of the Cape May County Campus, 2-6 p.m., Wed., Oct. 13, at 341 Court House-South Dennis Road.
Community Day offerings include campus tours, music by students, refreshments, a larger-than-life anniversary card for guests to sign, a chance to meet the campus dean, a live radio broadcast, and the opportunity to visit a class in session.