Adopted by the Administrative Council on May 5, 2003 upon a recommendation
from the 2003 Planning Retreat Team.
College
Profile
Cleveland Community College was established in 1965 as a member institution
of the North Carolina Community College System. The System is the
state's primary provider of workforce training and education, adult education
and basic literacy services.
The College offers the Associate in Arts degree in 14 programs, the Associate
in General Education degree in 1 program, the Associate in Science degree in 3
programs, the Associate in Applied Science degree in 27 programs, and 41 diploma
and certificate programs. The College employs 154 full-time
staff members, 75 of whom are curriculum instructors, and approximately
275 part-time employees.
In 2004-2005, the College served an unduplicated total of 4,372 students in curriculum
programs and nearly 6,230 in continuing education programs. The student
population includes a diverse mix by age, income, and academic ability.
Of the estimated head count credit enrollment of 4,372, 66 percent were
female and 34 percent were male. Seventy three percent of the students were
white, 24 percent were African American, 0.8 percent were Asian, 1 percent
were Hispanic, 0.3 percent were Native American, and 0.8 percent were “other.”
Many students are first generation college students. The typical curriculum
student is a 30 year-old female who attends the College part-time.
County
Profile
The College is located in Shelby, NC, in the southwestern Piedmont section
of North Carolina. Administered by a 13 member (one ex officio) Board
of Trustees, the College serves Cleveland County with a total population
of 98,808 and covers an area of approximately 465 square miles. South Carolina
borders the county on the south; the rapidly expanding (industry and population)
Charlotte-Mecklenburg area is to the east; and to the west is the conservative
Appalachian Mountain region. Geographically, as in other ways, the
county stands between progress and tradition. Small towns, rural
communities, and a lack of major public transportation systems characterize
the immediate College service area. The economy in the College service
area is predominantly diversified industry. According to the Cleveland
County Chamber of Commerce's most recent data (2004), retail and service comprise
about 54.5 percent of the workforce and diversified manufacturing comprises
about 14.6 percent of the work force. The per capita income (Chamber of Commerce,
2003)
for the county is $18,615. Unemployment in Cleveland County is approximately
6.8 percent (March 2005). About 13.3 percent of the total population
live in poverty (Census Bureau, 1999).
Educational disadvantage exists in the College's service area. According
to 1990 census data, over 52.6 percent of households with adults over 25
have a highest level of education below the 8th grade. Approximately 34
percent of the population 16 and older do not have a high school diploma.
Approximately 1/5 of high school students drop out before graduation. The
College has several programs—Adult High School Diploma Program, Adult Basic
Education Program, G.E.D. Preparatory Program and Examination, English
As A Second Language, and Compensatory Education Program—to combat these
problems. The College is the number one Literacy Agency in the county and
is the only institution of higher education that works with the educationally
disadvantaged in getting them into regular College programs after they
finish developmental programs.
College
History
For forty years, Cleveland Community College has been offering
high quality, low-cost educational opportunities to the citizens of Cleveland
County and surrounding counties. The origins of the College can be
traced to July of 1963 when the North Carolina General Assembly enacted
into law General Statute 115A, which provided for the establishment of
a community college system. In July 1965, public higher education
came to Cleveland County with the establishment of the Cleveland County
Industrial and Adult Education Center. This satellite of Gaston College
was renamed in a matter of months to the Cleveland County Industrial Center
and then later to the Cleveland County Unity of Gaston College. Cleveland
County native James B. Petty, principal of the Burns-Polkville High School
from 1963-1965, was named Director of the Center on July 11, 1965.
In September 1965, the instructional program began with a one year Practical
Nursing program of 24 students, two extension classes, and adult basic
education classes for adults who had not completed high school.
In October 1967, the institution officially became Cleveland County
Technical Institute. A board of trustees was appointed by the Cleveland
County Board of Commissioners and the three school systems. James
E. Herndon, Jr. was elected Chairman of the first board and provided the
leadership that set the future course for the College. The Cleveland County
Technical Institute moved from the rented North Morgan Street location
and the borrowed classrooms of churches, schools, banks and other available
spaces into the old county home buildings in 1969. That site, 137
South Post Road, serves as the location of today's modern facilities. In
1971, the County Commissioners granted land and $500,000 to be matched
with a state grant of the same amount. This money was used for the
construction of a new building to house vocational and occupational programs.
The classroom building opened in 1974. In 1975, Cleveland County
Technical Institute was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges
and Schools.
The voters of Cleveland County demonstrated great confidence in the
future of the College with the approval of a five million dollar bond issue
on June 7, 1977. Those monies were used for the construction, over
a several year period, of additional classrooms and shops: the Campus
Center in 1981, a field house in 1987, the Student Activities Center in
1989, a maintenance building in 1990, and the James Broughton Petty Amphitheater
in 1991. In March 1980, the Cleveland County Board of Commissioners approved
the request of the Cleveland Technical Institute Board of Trustees to change
the name of the institution to Cleveland Technical College. This
action was in recognition of the quality and caliber of the College's programs.
In 1981, the College's accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges
and Schools was reaffirmed.
In 1983, the Cleveland Technical College Foundation (whose name was later
changed to the Cleveland Community College Foundation) was established.
A non-profit, tax exempt organization which provides financial support
for the educational goals of the College, the Foundation’s sole purpose
is to foster and promote the growth, progress, and well-being of the College.
The Foundation is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised
of local community and business leaders. Guidance is provided by
the College's Office of Development. In fact, a comprehensive
development program is a key component of the Foundation. Through
this program, the College receives gifts from the friends of the College,
corporations and businesses, private foundations, alumni, trustees, Foundation
directors, and the College's faculty and staff.
In July 1987, Cleveland Technical College was authorized by the state
legislature to become Cleveland Community College. This name change
signaled the addition of the two-year college transfer programs making
Cleveland a comprehensive community college with technical, vocational,
college transfer, and continuing education programs. Dr. James B. Petty,
the founding president of the College, was named president emeritus by
the Board of Trustees upon his retirement in July 1990. Cleveland's
second president, Dr. L. Steve Thornburg, assumed the presidency in August
1990. Dr. Thornburg had served as president of Eastern Maine Technical
College in Bangor, Maine.
In 1991, the College's accreditation was reaffirmed by the Southern
Association of Colleges and Schools. From 1995 to 1997, the College
was involved in an extensive reengineering process to completely redesign
every course and every program of study in order to accommodate converting
from a quarter hour system to a semester hour system with a common course
library. Cleveland, as well as the other community colleges in the
North Carolina Community College System, began offering semester credit
hours in the summer term of 1997.
On May 20, 1997, the voters of Cleveland County again expressed their
confidence in the College by approving a $3.1 million bond referendum to
construct a new classroom building and an emergency training center that
will provide job training and instructional space for the 21st Century.
On March 25, 1998, Cleveland Community College students and personnel were
joined by other citizens of Cleveland County and a number of representatives
from Raleigh, NC, at the ground breaking ceremony for the new classroom
building.
The new classroom building was placed in use for Fall Semester 1999.
On November 7, 2000, the voters of North Carolina approved a $3.1 billion
bond referendum for the North Carolina Community College System and the
University of North Carolina System. Cleveland Community College's share
is approximately $5 million-$3.8 million for new construction and $1.2 million
for repairs and renovation.
In December 2001, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools reaffirmed
the College's accreditation for the next ten years.
On December 12, 2002 the
Emergency Training Center was completed and dedicated. This facility is
one of the most advanced in the Southeast. The Emergency Training Center
provides a higher quality and variety of training for volunteer and
professional firefighters, rescue workers, EMS personnel and law enforcement
officers.
In 2003, the College's Foundation embarked on a Capital Campaign
for new construction.
In 40 years, the College has progressed from one vocational program
and 24 students to over 100 curriculum programs spanning technical, vocational,
and college transfer specialties serving approximately 4,300 students
annually. Continuing education enrollment has grown from 66 that
first year to numbers exceeding 10,000 citizens each year. From a
beginning staff of four, the College has grown to a full-time faculty and
staff of over 150 and several hundred part-time employees. Throughout its
history, Cleveland Community College's mission has been to serve the adult
educational goals of the people of Cleveland County with access and excellence
being the driving forces guiding the College in planning and development.
As
Cleveland Community College celebrates 40 Years of Building Futures in
2005-2006, the College looks to break ground on a state-of-the-art Allied
Health and Science Center. The future holds great promise with the
addition of yet another facility, new programs, and improved quality in the
next five years.