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Academic
Calendar
College
Vision, Mission Statement, Institutional Goals
History
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Celebrating
its 40th anniversary this year, Southwestern Community
College takes pride in a history characterized by community
involvement and collaboration. Without fail, the people
who have served as trustees and foundation board members,
presidents, instructors, and staff members have never
wavered in their commitment to SCC, its students, and
the college’s service area. This singular commitment
has resulted in excellent educational opportunities
for the people of Jackson, Macon and Swain counties,
the Qualla Boundary and beyond. In turn, these educational
opportunities have brought economic, personal, and cultural
benefits to the region and its people.
For 40 years, SCC has responded to and anticipated the
educational needs of the community and region, offering
an ever-widening range of programs through which students
prepare for the job market, transfer to senior institutions,
and achieve professional and personal goals. Since 1964,
when the first class graduated, Southwestern has awarded
more than 7,000 degrees, diplomas and certificates and
has offered more than 5,000 different classes. During
this time, the college has also served as a community
gathering place and center for cultural events.
Over the years, SCC evolved from an industrial education
center to a technical institute to a technical college
and finally to a full-fledged community college. During
its history, the college has experienced steady growth
in its physical facilities, in the number of students
it serves and in its role in the region. Today the college
includes five buildings that house classrooms, administrative
offices, an auditorium, and a library in Sylva and a
center in Cashiers; the Public Safety Training Complex,
Business and Industry Training Center, and Small Business
Center in Macon County; the SCC Cherokee Center on the
Qualla Boundary; and the Swain County Center at Almond.
Ground is expected to be broken Spring 2005 on a 31-acre
site on Siler Road near the intersection of U.S. 64
and U.S. 441 for the new $4.9 million, 27,600 square-foot
Macon Center. The building will use the latest technology
to adapt to future needs and the college will partner
with the new Macon County Library, planned adjacent
to the campus, for resources and services.
In 2003 SCC became a community interest partner with
Drake Enterprises and the Eastern Band of Cherokee to
form BalsamWest Fiber Net. This partnership ensures
that the southwestern region participates fully in a
global economy by providing open and affordable access
to state-of-the-art infrastructure. BalsamWest Fiber
NET’s $10 million high-speed fiber optic network
will surround the new Macon Center linking it to Jackson
and Swain counties and the Qualla Boundary.
To plan for future growth at the Jackson campus, SCC
purchased 10 adjoining acres in 2001 that will allow
the college to construct a new entrance to N.C. 107
and eliminate traffic congestion at the busy intersection
with N.C. 116.
In the last academic year, the college hit a 40-year
record for the Fall 2004 semester with 2,012 students
registered for classes in the college’s curriculum
programs. Significantly, enrollment in SCC’s Distance
Learning programs has grown to more than 1,500 students
annually. Due to an increase in the number of graduates,
the college hosted two commencement ceremonies –
a first for SCC.
The college teamed with the N.C. National Guard to provide
an interactive classroom at SCC’s Public Safety
Training Complex in Franklin. Basic law enforcement
training students can interact with anyone, anywhere
in the world with similar networks, including the Office
of Homeland Security in Washington, D.C.
The college joined with the Jackson County Chamber of
Commerce to sponsor Leadership Jackson – a course
designed by community leaders to energize, inform, motivate
and connect people with issues facing Jackson County.
“Hispanic Americans – Making a Difference
in Our Communities and Our Nation” was the theme
for the first Hispanic heritage celebration held in
Jackson, Macon and Swain counties. Organized by SCC
Spanish instructor Patricia Hackett, the celebration
drew 400 people to events planned to promote friendly
awareness and understanding of the Hispanic historical
and cultural presence in Western North Carolina.
SCC was named the Western Regional Center for Teaching
Excellence. The distinction was bestowed on the college
through NC-NET, a project established by the N.C. Community
College System to design a statewide infrastructure
for the development and delivery of faculty professional
development activities.
With the Don and Bertha Craig Memorial Scholarship,
SCC received the largest cash endowment ever made to
the college. The endowment will provide financial assistance
for students in Jackson and Swain counties, with preference
given to students from the Qualla Boundary, enrolled
in a business administration program with plans to pursue
a career in local tourism.
The following pages highlight SCC’s birth, growth,
and prosperity:
The institution was founded to help residents of this
region maximize their employment potential, and that
is at the very core of what the college strives to do
today. The college's programs and services have changed
and adapted, but all the changes have been attempts
to keep up with the constantly evolving needs of the
world of work. While Southwestern's mission has remained
constant, the college has the flexibility to adjust
programs and services to meet those ever-changing needs.
Today SCC is a leader in bringing the latest in technology
and training to this rural region.
The idea of a county vocational school for Jackson County
was first planted in April 1961 when V.C. Outland of
the state Trade and Industrial Education Department
met with the Jackson County Board of Commissioners and
the Jackson County Board of Education to discuss training
workers in the "needle trades." A new textile
plant, Harn Manufacturing Company, had just opened on
the old Asheville Highway and was in dire need of skilled
workers.
County leaders quickly responded by setting up training
classes in schools and in other locations around the
county, and the Board of Education assumed responsibility
for acquiring the necessary equipment, scheduling classes
and hiring instructors. Both the state and county pledged
funding for the classes. The Board of Education appointed
an advisory panel made up of local residents to oversee
the project.
Within that advisory group, the idea of building a technical
school in Jackson County evolved. The timing was propitious
because the North Carolina Board of Education had begun
negotiations with the General Assembly to have funds
designated for a system of technical schools throughout
the state. These schools would offer two-year technical,
vocational and adult education programs.
The county furnished a site for the school - a 17-acre
tract on Webster Road known as the County Home property.
The site was approved in September 1963, but construction
could not officially begin until the building plans
were approved. Paul Buchanan, superintendent of public
schools in Jackson County representing the Board of
Education, and William B. Dillard, owner of the area's
largest construction company and a member of County
Board of Commissioners, went to Raleigh to see if they
could speed up the approval process.
Meanwhile, work on the building had already begun. Dillard
took the preliminary architectural drawings and began
work on the building's foundation, using a group of
federally funded Manpower Development Training Act masonry
students. Dillard also had hired James Searcy of Sylva
to teach the class. The group, primarily residents of
the area, had been taking introductory classes at Scotts
Creek School and were ready for hands-on experience.
By the time the class graduated in early May 1964, it
had completed 90 percent of the block work for the building.
The twelve men who completed the course were called
"pioneers" at a graduation banquet on May
3, 1964 at the Parkway Restaurant.
From the outset, the Industrial Education Center was
perceived as an independent school, and all planning
was geared in that direction. When Jackson County officials
went to the state for funds to operate the school, however,
they found still another barrier.
"In order to get funds of any kind to operate,
we had to have the approval of the director of operational
funds," Buchanan said." He advised us that
we would have a much better chance of getting the funds
if we became a satellite of
Asheville-Buncombe Technical Institute."
On June 1, 1964, Edward E. Bryson was appointed resident
director of the Jackson County Industrial Education
Center and was given an office in the Jackson County
Courthouse. Until that time, Bryson's salary had been
paid by the Jackson County Board of Education.
On December 1, 1964, the Jackson County Industrial Education
Center officially opened with 60 students enrolled in
full-time classes and 133 students signed up for short-term
courses.
The first graduating class received diplomas on February
25, 1966, in commencement ceremonies at the National
Guard Armory adjacent to the campus. The class of 1966
had 23 members.
Work continued on the first building which was originally
called the Vocational Building (now called Founder's
Hall) until late 1965. The one-story structure contained
two administrative offices, five offices for instructors,
five classrooms, three shop areas, four laboratory areas,
a boiler room, and a coal storage area, all in 18,000
square feet. The building was constructed at a cost
of $70,000, mainly because student labor helped keep
expenses down. The building was appraised at $120,000.
The Industrial Education Center became a satellite of
Asheville-Buncombe Technical Institute because it could
not obtain funds to operate. It became an independent
unit of the state's community college system when it
couldn't get expansion funds without becoming an independent
entity.
Every inch of space in the Founders Hall was in use,
there was no room to expand and enrollment was increasing.
School officials applied for funds to build a second
building and were turned down. Capital outlay funds,
they were told, were not available to satellite units.
On Sept. 5, 1967, with the blessing of Asheville-Buncombe
Technical Institute officials, the County Board of Education
and County Board of Commissioners met and approved action
necessary to become an independent school. Action also
was taken at that meeting to hire an architect to draw
up plans for a second building, which was originally
called the Technical Building (now Oaks Hall).
It was also decided to include Macon and Swain counties
as part of the area that the school served. Officials
chose a new name that would be more descriptive of the
area the school served.
Since the school would serve the southwestern area of
the state, the Jackson County Industrial Education Center
was renamed Southwestern Technical Institute. Application
for independent status was quickly approved by Governor
Dan Moore, and the school began classes on January 2,
1968 as an independent unit of the North Carolina Department
of Community Colleges. The first Student Government
Association was formed, and student elections were held.
The first meeting of the school's Board of Trustees
was held on January 22, 1968. William B. Dillard was
unanimously elected chairman. Odell Shuler, chairman
of the Swain County Board of Commissioners, was elected
vice-chairman.
Other members of that first board were: W. Paul Holt
Jr., a Sylva attorney; Charles S. Slagle of Franklin,
a member of the Macon County Board of Commissioners;
Walter Jackson of Cherokee, Principal Chief of the Eastern
Band of the Cherokee Indians; Oscar Ledford of Franklin,
chairman of the Macon County Board of Commissioners;
R. Paul Buchanan of Sylva, superintendent of Jackson
County Schools; Bruce McMurray of Franklin, a broadcast
executive; George J. Stewart of Sylva, chairman of the
Jackson County Board of Education; John Wikle of Bryson
City, a guidance counselor for Swain County Schools;
Paul Ellis of Sylva, manager of the Mead Corporation;
and James B. Childress of Sylva, a broadcast executive.
Edward Bryson, who had served as resident director,
was named president of the school.
The school's budget for its first year of independent
operations was $131,000.
While the second building was under construction, classes
were held wherever space was available, including in
an abandoned prison camp in Whittier. The Technical
Building (now Oaks Hall) was completed on September
1, 1970, and contained 27,000 square feet of space,
doubling the space of the initial building. Administrative
offices were moved into the new building. The new building
also contained classrooms, the library and learning
center, and a commercial art laboratory with darkroom.
Another milestone for Southwestern in 1970 was the college's
initial movement to become accredited by the Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools. After two visits
by the accreditation agency, Southwestern received a
five-year accreditation in December 1971. A 10-year
accreditation followed in 1976. In January 1972, Southwestern
was also accredited by the North Carolina Board of Education.
The school was one of only 11 in the state to receive
accreditation from both the State Board and the Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools.
Meanwhile, growth continued at a rapid pace. The Services
Building (now Bradford Hall) and Carpentry Building
(now Maintenance Building) were completed in 1974. The
three-story Services Building, with 19,366 square feet,
contained a multi-purpose room/ gymnasium, kitchen and
dining room, offices, and classrooms. The Maintenance
Building, was built entirely by students. The addition
of this building enabled the school to finally hold
all its regular activities on campus. Most activities
that required use of an auditorium, including commencement
exercises, had been held at Sylva-Webster High School.
The first on-campus commencement ceremony was conducted
May 30, 1974.
Founders Hall was extensively renovated in 1976. The
first floor was enlarged and a second floor added. In
1981, contracts were awarded for two more campus buildings:
the Learning Resources Center (now The Pines) and the
Trades Center (now The Summit). Construction began in
1982. The Pines, containing 11,319 square feet, was
dedicated April 30, 1983, with Governor James B. Hunt
delivering the address. The Pines contains the Public
Information Office, library and an open computer lab.
The library section has space for 40,000 volumes and
seating for 120 people.
The Summit was completed and occupied in October 1984.
Initially, the building housed the carpentry, masonry,
plumbing, welding, light construction and alternative
energy programs.
One of the newest and largest additions to the campus
was the Western North Carolina Regional Allied Health
and Geriatric Training Building (now the Balsam Center).
Work on the building began in 1984 and was completed
in 1987 as the college entered its 25th year of operation.
Built at a cost of $3.5 million, the center contains
74,000 square feet on three floors and has an auditorium
with a seating capacity of 1,153. The building was dedicated
on October 1, 1988, to Liston B. Ramsey, speaker of
the House of Representatives.
Also in 1988, Southwestern Technical College became
Southwestern Community College to better reflect its
educational role in the community. Dr. Norman Myers,
who served from 1981-91, was president during this transition.
In April 1989, the college opened a Child Care Center
in Oaks Hall. Three years later, the Gazebo/Outdoor
Student Activity Center was completed, constructed entirely
by the college's maintenance staff. The Gazebo is part
of the Services Building.
When the college first opened in December 1964, it offered
only four curriculum courses: automotive mechanics,
carpentry and cabinet making, block and brick masonry,
and radio and television servicing. These courses were
taught by six instructors.
Today, SCC offers more than 60 curriculum programs.
In addition, the college offers a variety of Continuing
Education courses at various locations throughout Jackson,
Macon, and Swain counties. Most of these courses are
designed to prepare students for entry into an occupation,
upgrade skills of employed individuals, and provide
opportunities for self-improvement. Southwestern became
the regional GED testing center in 1969.
The Cherokee Center was established in 1976 in a building
owned by the Cherokee Boys' Club on Acquoni Road in
Cherokee. In 1979, a new two-story building was constructed
on the Boys Club complex. The Macon County Center on
Armory Road in Franklin opened in the spring of 1987.
In 1988, the Swain County Center opened in Bryson City
and in 1996, because of monies made available through
the Community College Bond Referendum, the newly renovated
Swain Center was dedicated. The Swain Center is now
located in the old Almond School Building just five
miles west of Bryson City. In 1998, a center opened
in Cashiers. And in 1999, the center in Macon County's
Industrial Park became the Public Safety Training Center
(PSTC). The Macon Center moved to downtown Franklin.
The Regional Fire and Rescue Training Center opened
on April 8, 1990, in the Macon County Industrial Park
near the modern-day PSTC. The Regional Law Enforcement
Center was established in September 1994 in Macon County.
To better assist its graduates, Southwestern established
a Job Placement Office in 1976. This office keeps student
records, and staff members assist students in finding
work. The Job Placement officer maintains close contact
with area and regional businesses and industries and
encourages them to list their job openings with the
college.
During the past decade, SCC has received more than $10
million in grant money which includes federal construction
grants, Appalachian Regional Commission grants, Title
III grants, basic education grants, the Kellogg Foundation
Grants, and a variety of other sources. More than $5
million of that came in 1999 when the college secured
Federal Grant funding to start Upward Bound, Gear Up
and Title III programs.
In order to gain public financial support for the college,
the Southwestern Technical College Foundation (now the
SCC Foundation) was incorporated in 1973. Over the years,
the foundation has made significant contributions to
the college in student scholarships, equipment donations
and in capital improvements.
The community college bond referendum of 1994 not only
allowed the college to renovate the old Almond School
as the Swain Center, but provided funds to make further
renovations of the Jackson Campus and plan a driver's
training facility in Macon County. An additional $10.4
million was allotted to the College when the state bond
referendum passed in November, 2000.
Community Link, a fully interactive television system
linking 13 educational sites in western North Carolina
became operational on February 26, 1994 during Dr. Barry
Russell's term as president. Russell served from 1991-96.
The college is a partner with local school systems in
New Century Scholars, an innovative program that awards
SCC scholarships to elementary school students who need
extra incentives to stay in school.
Southwestern was involved in a collaborative educational
effort with Haywood Community College in Clyde, and
Tri-County Community College in Murphy. This partnership,
known as WC3, allows the colleges to save money and
increase learning opportunities through shared programs,
services, and employees.
Computer support for students and employees is also
an area in which the College excels. There are more
than 8,000 square feet of student computer labs. During
the '97-'98 school year, SCC updated all its computer
labs – equipping them with cutting edge computers
that have MMX technology. In 1999, Cisco Systems, Inc.,
named SCC a regional training academy. The college now
has a Cisco training lab on its Jackson Campus, as well
as its Swain and Macon centers. Southwestern has 25
computer labs and over 1,000 computers available to
students. The college is currently developing more distance
learning opportunities through a college-owned infrastructure
to the public schools and other community partners.
In 2000, the SCC Board of Trustees officially renamed
all the buildings on campus. The Allied Health Building
was renamed the Balsam Center; the Technical Building,
Oaks Hall; the Services Building, Bradford Hall; the
Vocational Building, Founders Hall; the LRC, The Pines;
and the Trades Center, The Summit.
In 1999, SCC partnered with the Institute at Biltmore
to form Appalachian Access, a grassroots initiative
focused on lowering the cost of access to and increasing
the availability of high-speed telecommunications services
for rural Appalachian communities. In the end, the Appalachian
Access study recommended an important strategy for western
North Carolina—to build its own alternative fiber
optic middle mile telecommunications infrastructure.
This strategy was adopted first by the Western North
Carolina Knowledge Coalition and then by the Education
and Research Consortium of the Western Carolinas and
its consultant, Callisma. The Appalachian Access strategy
brought more than $1 million in funding for AdvantageWest
from the NC Rural Internet Access Authority, now called
“e-NC.” The Appalachian Access strategy
formed the foundation for the formation of the public
private partnership established among Drake Enterprises,
the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and Southwestern
Community College—known as BalsamWest FiberNET.
Formed in 2003, BalsamWest FiberNET will give the region
the tools it needs to educate and train the work force
of the future, support advances in health care, improve
the ability of local businesses to succeed, and create
opportunities to generate good jobs for the future.
Under the leadership of its fourth President, Dr. Cecil
Groves, Southwestern Community College continues its
proactive approach of "looking at the big picture"
in managing its expansion to match the growth and needs
of the region and its people.
Academic
Programs
Southwestern
Community College offers over 40 degree, diploma or
certificate programs that are designed to suit a wide
range of interests. Southwestern is committed to quality
programs that prepare students for employment or transfer
to four-year institutions. (see
list) .pdf format - Adobe Acrobat
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Campus Map / Tour |
