RRCC Blog | News

Rainy River Community College will be open and ready to welcome students for the start of fall semester, and will adapt as necessary to safely serve our students and continue to provide an extraordinary education. The safety, security, and health of our students, faculty and staff continues to be our top priority. As a response to Governor Walz’s decision, beginning Saturday July 24^th, Rainy River Community College will require all students, faculty, staff and visitors to wear facemasks/coverings at all times on campus in public settings (e.g., common work spaces, hallways, stairwells, meeting rooms, classrooms, labs, break rooms, restrooms, etc.).

Face coverings are also required in outdoor settings on campus if social distancing cannot be observed.

Facemasks/coverings are NOT required in some situations such as when you are eating or drinking, or when you are alone.

As you know, we can all further protect ourselves by:

• Washing your hands often with soap and water; covering your cough and sneeze; avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Practicing self-care by eating a healthy diet and taking time to rest.
• Frequently cleaning all commonly touched surfaces.
• Avoiding large gatherings.
• Wear cloth face coverings in public setting where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.
• Stay home if you are sick.

Employees and students will be provided face coverings and other personal protective equipment as appropriate. Individuals may choose to supply their own face masks. Individuals should always have a mask on their person and may wish to have more than one mask to allow for adequate laundering.

As always, we will continue to follow guidelines and best practices as outlined by the Center for Disease (CDC) and Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).

Rainy River Community College, located in International Falls, is a member of the Northeast Higher Education District (NHED) and the Minnesota State system. We are an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer and educator.

Rainy River Community College (RRCC) is pleased to announce three award winners of $2,500 Workforce Development scholarships interested in pre-nursing, Hannah Earnest, Kelsea Manning and Jessica Scholler from International Falls, MN.

Students begin their pre-nursing work a year before applying to the actual nursing program. Nursing is an ever-expanding profession, and will grow even faster as the population ages. The number of registered nurses, for example, is expected to increase by 439,300 people by 2024 (source, salary.com) while practical nursing positions will grow by 22%.

RRCC Nursing Instructor/Healthcare Program Director, Donita Ettestad said, “This is a great scholarship award for Hannah, Kelsea and Jessica! Nursing school requires a deep commitment from the students. This award will allow them to pursue their education while minimizing the financial stress they might experience. They are to be commended for choosing a future career that will help take care of their community for the years to come.”

The nursing program at RRCC is through a partnership with Itasca Community College (PN) and Hibbing Community College (RN). RRCC advisors can guide students through course selections and the application process. Once accepted to the nursing program, students will attend their nursing theory lecture classes via telepresence in the nursing classroom at RRCC. The skills lab experiences are in RRCC’s state of the art nursing lab with a number of fully functioning nurse simulators. Patient clinical rotations are conducted at local healthcare facilities. Ettestad teaches both skills lab and clinical rotations.

Rainy River Community College, located in International Falls, is a member of the Northeast Higher Education District (NHED) and the Minnesota State system. We are an affirmative action, equal opportunity employer and educator.