Howard Community College

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Howard Community College

Motto	You can get there from here
Type	Publiccommunity college
Established	1966
President	Daria Willis
Academic staff	196 Full-Time and 454 Part-Time (Fall 2022)[1]
Students	8,080 (all undergraduate)(Fall 2022)[2]
Undergraduates	8,080 (all undergraduate)(Fall 2022)[3]
Location	Columbia , Maryland , United States 39°12′45″N76°52′40″W / 39.21250°N 76.87778°W /39.21250; -76.87778
Campus	120 acres (0.49 km2)
Mascot	Dragon
Website	www.howardcc.edu

Howard Community College(HCCorHoward CC) is apubliccommunity collegeinColumbia, Maryland. It offers classes for credit in more than 100 programs,^[4]non-credit classes, and workforce development programs. In addition to the main campus in Columbia, courses are also held at two satellite campuses.

In 1966, Howard Community College was founded by theBoard of EducationinHoward Countyand formally authorized by the Howard County CommissionersCharles E. Miller, J. Hubert Black, and David W. Force. The board recommended that the college would operate under a separate budget than the school system.^[5]The first HCC board would be drawn from the current state appointed county school board.^[6]HCC was approved as the State of Maryland's 14th community college^[7]in late 1967.

The school was built on a prehistoric Native American settlement which became the site of the Dieker farm, which was later inherited by Gustave Basler's (1858-1938) wife Dora Dieker.^[8]Alfred Christian Bassler sold his share of his father's 400 acre Cedar Lane farm to Community Research and Development to be the site of the project; the sale included a trade of land in Clarksville off of Shepherd Lane.^[9]His family home, barn, granaries and silos were demolished in 1969. A groundbreaking ceremony in June 1969 began construction on 119 acres (0.48 km²) in the heart of theplanned communityof Columbia that, at the time, was just beginning to take shape. In October 1970, the first classes took place in a new structure called the Learning Resources Center, now theJames Clark Jr.Library Building, with 10 full-time faculty and just over 600 full-time students attending classes in HCC's nine credit programs.^[10]

HCCs first president was Dr. Alfred J. Smith Jr, former dean of faculty atCorning Community College, hired in June 1969. In 1973, he signed a five-year contract to remain as president. In 1976, Smith faced scrutiny for accounting expense allowances from the County which funded 35% of operational costs.^[11]Dwight Burrill took the role of dean in 1981, serving for seventeen years.^[12]In 1980, the Columbia Film Society moved to the HCC performing arts center for weekend movies.^[13]

Dr. Mary Ellen Duncan became president of the college in 1998, followed byDr. Kathleen Hetheringtonin 2007.^[14]In September 2015, then-First LadyMichelle Obamavisited HCC and attended a panel hosted by the magazineEssenceto kick off its second annual college tour, that encouraged high school students to continue their education when they graduate, as part of Obama's education initiative Reach Higher.^[15][16]In 2019 HCC won theMalcolm Baldrige National Quality Awardin the category of education.^[17]That same year, the original ST and Nursing buildings were remodeled and renamed Academic Commons and Howard Hall, respectively^[18]

The HCC main campus is located in Columbia, MD and is made up of 14 buildings, including a Welcome Center,^[19]located 35 minutes south of Baltimore and 50 minutes north of Washington, D.C. There are satellite campuses inLaurelat the Laurel College Center (LCC) and Training & Development Solutions Center.^[20]

In 2003, a new instructional building was completed, the Mary Ellen Duncan Hall for English, Languages & Business, which includes a landscaped area now known as The Quad. The Student Services Building, completed in spring 2007, is the most recent building added to The Quad. It was later renamedThe Rouse CompanyFoundation Student Services Hall. In 2013, the Health Sciences Building (now Kathleen Herrington Hall) opened, and the HCC Men's Track and Field team won the 2013 NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field.

The Peter and Elizabeth Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center opened in the fall of 2006. The center is home to three performance venues, two art galleries, two dance studios and multiple instructional facilities for HCC's Arts and Humanities Programs. Performance venues include the 250-seat Horowitz Center Studio Theatre, the 119-seat Monteabaro Recital Hall and the 424-seat Smith Theatre.^[21]The center caters to numerous community events in addition to home of the Howard County Community Dance Festival, HCC Music Guest Artist in Residence Series, HCC Jazz Festival and Rep Stage.

In November 2014, a groundbreaking was held for a 145,300 sq ft four-story Science Engineering and Technology (SET) building. The facility replaces 260 parking spots to provide labs focused on Howard County Economic Development Agency initiatives including3D printingandcybersecurity.^[22]The SET Building opened for classes in the summer of 2017, providing dedicated laboratories, a rooftop telescope observation area, and more than 1,000 total classroom seats.^[23]

There are eight academic divisions at Howard Community College. They include:^[24]

• Arts & Humanities: encourages students to exercise and grow their talents and creativity through the Arts and Humanities
• Business & Computer Systems: presents innovative and up-to-date curricula for beginning baccalaureate programs or for business careers
• Continuing Education & Workforce Development: noncredit courses for home, work, and life
• English & World Languages: mastery of essential academic skills in reading, writing, critical thinking, cultural and global competencies, and world languages proficiency
• Health Sciences: career programs in a range of specialties and transfer programs
• Mathematics: curricula for pure mathematics disciplines and applied mathematics areas
• Science, Engineering & Technology: transfer programs to prepare students as well as career programs
• Social Sciences & Teacher Education: focus on the relationships between people and within their environments

• Official website