Montgomery College

Montgomery College (MC) is a public community college in Montgomery County, Maryland. The college has three campuses, the largest of which is in Rockville. Its other campuses are in Takoma Park/Silver Spring and Germantown. Its off-campus sites include the Business Training Center in Gaithersburg and Westfield South in Wheaton, which are operated by the college's Workforce Development and Continuing Education Division.

For the colleges in Pennsylvania and Texas, respectively, see Montgomery County Community College and Lone Star College–Montgomery.
Montgomery College
Former names
Montgomery Junior College
MottoMake Your Move
TypeCommunity College
Established1946 (1946)
PresidentDr. DeRionne P. Pollard
Studentsc. 55,000 credit and noncredit students
Location
Montgomery County
,
Maryland
,
United States

39°05′53″N 77°09′33″W
CampusCampuses in
ColorsPurple, Silver, Black, and White
   
MascotRaptors (2012—)
WebsiteMontgomeryCollege.edu

History
Bliss Electrical School Takoma Park, D.C. Drafted men from Washington, D.C., installing wires for electric lights and motors in the wiring laboratory. An intensive course of training for electricians in the army was given at this school.

This college was organized in 1946 as "Montgomery Junior College," with its campus located at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School.[1] Its first dean was Hugh G. Price.[2] The first day of class was held on September 16, 1946.[1] During its first school year, it had about 175 students.[1]

In 1950, the college moved to Takoma Park, absorbing the Bliss Electrical School, a private, for-profit institution formed in 1893 and that had occupied the site since 1908.[3][4] During World War II Bliss had the distinction of being selected by the U.S. Navy as one of six engineering schools to give Primary School in the Electronics Training Program and it graduated over 3,000 students.[5] Bliss Electrical School's building was sold to Montgomery County for $350,000.[4] Previously, Montgomery Junior College could only hold evening classes because the high school used the building for its classes during the day, but with the acquisition of Bliss Electrical School's building, Montgomery Junior College began holding daytime classes as well.[6] The first day of classes at the new location began on October 2, 1950.[6] At the time, it was segregated, with an enrollment of over 500 students. The newly-established Carver Junior College in Rockville was expected to have 40 African-Americans enrolled, but only 19 managed to show up, due both to problems in finding transportation to school and the cost of tuition.[7]

The Rockville campus of Montgomery College opened in September 1965,[8] and the Germantown campus opened in early 1970s, occupying its present permanent site since 1978. Montgomery College also offers learning opportunities through its extensive Workforce Development and Continuing education programs.

Campuses
Cafritz Arts Center, Silver Spring
Cultural Arts Center, Silver Spring

Takoma Park / Silver Spring

The Takoma Park campus began expanding into neighboring city of Silver Spring with the opening of a new Health Sciences Center in January 2004. The campus expansion in Silver Spring included the addition of The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Arts Center which opened in fall 2007. The building houses the campus visual arts programs and the School of Art + Design, formerly the Maryland College of Art and Design, which merged with Montgomery College in September 2004. To reflect the campus's expansion into Silver Spring, the Board of Trustees renamed the Takoma Park campus as the "Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus" in June 2005.[9] The Cultural Arts Center, which contains two theaters, opened in 2009.[10]

Rockville

In 2008, Montgomery College named its Rockville Campus gallery the Sarah Silberman Art Gallery. In addition to donating $500,000 for its complete renovation, Sarah Silberman funded two endowed scholarships in ceramics and sculpture.[11][12][13] In 2011, Montgomery College built its new Science Center on the Rockville Campus which features 29 new laboratories. In January 2017, the new North Garage with over 900 covered parking spaces was opened on the Rockville campus.

Germantown

In 2011, the Montgomery College Germantown Campus started to expand with the addition of the Life Sciences Park which features the new Holy Cross Germantown Hospital. In 2014, the Germantown Campus add a new Bioscience Education Center which features wet labs, a detached greenhouse complex, and a meeting/conference center.

Libraries

The Montgomery College Libraries system has a location at each campus.

Organization and administration

The Montgomery College Foundation is a 501(c)(3) (tax-exempt) charitable organization governed by business, alumni and community members.[14] The Foundation, with assets of $126,554,999, according to the 2017 IRS 990 form, also helps fund the college, placing it among the top five community colleges in the nation in private funding.

Montgomery College's fiscal year 2019 tax-supported operating budget is $262 million— a 2 percent increase over last year—with funding from Montgomery County, the state of Maryland, and student tuition and fees.[15]

Presidents

The president of Montgomery College manages the operations of three academic campuses of Montgomery College in Maryland.[16]

  • Unknown (1948–1953)
  • Donald E. Deyo (1953–1965)
  • George A. Hodson (1965–1966)
  • William C. Strasser (1966–1979)
  • Robert E. Parilla (1979–1998)
  • Charlene R. Nunley (1998–2007)
  • Brian K. Johnson (2007–2009)
  • Hercules Pinkney (2009–2010, acting)
  • DeRionne P. Pollard (2010–present)

Academics

Montgomery College has an enrollment of over 55,000 credit and noncredit students.[17] Of the Montgomery County Public Schools graduates who choose to stay in Maryland for college, 56% attend Montgomery College within the following academic year.[18] The college is noted as being one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse in the nation, with students from over 170 countries enrolled. The college also employs more than 1,500 faculty members.

Montgomery College is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.[19] It offers two-year associate degrees and a variety of professional certificates and letters of recognition. The degrees offered are Associate of Arts (A.A.), Associate of Science (A.S.), Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.), Associate of Arts in Teaching (A.A.T.), and Associate of Fine Arts (A.F.A.). Graduates of two-year degree programs typically transfer to four-year colleges and universities. Montgomery College also offers certificate programs.

The Rockville campus offers more than 600 courses in more than 40 curricula. The Takoma Park/Silver Spring campus is known for its nursing and allied health science career programs, and the Germantown campus is known for its science programs including computer science and biotechnology.

Montgomery College offers study abroad to over 25 countries. In 2018, Montgomery College students transferred to 375 four-year colleges and universities in 48 states and Puerto Rico.

Honors programs

Some of Montgomery College's most accomplished honors programs are:

  • General Honors Program
  • Macklin Business Institute
  • Montgomery Scholars Program (at Rockville)
  • Renaissance Scholars Program (at Germantown and Takoma Park/Silver Spring)
  • Southern Management Leadership Program

Other programs and services

Student life

The Student Excellence Expo is a one-day event scheduled to showcase for the entire college and the community what Montgomery College students are learning. It includes presentations from students throughout the college, including transfer, career, credit, non-credit, curricular, co-curricular, honors, developmental, and American English Language Program students. The exposition started in 2008 with 25 groups at the Takoma Park campus.[20] The second expo took place in the Goldenrod building of the Germantown campus.[21] The 3rd expo was held on April 9, 2010 at the Rockville campus.[22]

Athletics

The Montgomery College athletics teams are collectively known as the Raptors. During the Spring 2012 semester the college rebranded the mascot to be representative of all campuses. Sports teams are divided among campuses and compete in the NJCAA. Prior to the Spring 2012 semester each Montgomery College campus had its own athletic teams. The athletic teams are formally known as the Knights of the Rockville Campus, the Falcons of the Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus, and the Gryphons of the Germantown Campus.

The basketball/volleyball arena, Knights Arena in Rockville, was home to the Maryland Nighthawks of the Premier Basketball League for the 2007 season, before the team moved to Georgetown Preparatory School Field House.

The baseball field, Knights Field, is the home field of the Rockville Express, a member of the Cal Ripken, Sr. Collegiate Baseball League.[23]

In the Fall 2018, Montgomery College elevated to Division I and Division II levels. The Montgomery College teams elevated to the Division I level are men’s soccer, women’s soccer, men’s outdoor track and field, and women’s outdoor track and field. The Montgomery College volleyball, men’s basketball, women’s basketball, baseball, and softball teams are competing in NJCAA Division II.

National championships

The Knights (Rockville Campus) women's tennis team won the NJCAA Division III National Championship in 2001 and again in 2006.[24] Montgomery College-Rockville golfer Brent Davis won the NJCAA Division III Individual Championship in 2005 with a score of 288.[25]

The Raptors women's track and field team won back to back NJCAA Division III National Championships in 2015 and 2016.[26] The Raptors men's track and field team won back to back to back NJCAA Division III National Championships in 2014, 2015, and 2016.[27]

Notable people

Montgomery College has served over 450,000 credit students since its founding in 1946[18] including :

References
  1. Donnell, Thomas J. O. (September 11, 1946). "6 New Junior Colleges in State to Open: Tuition Fee Presents Problem In Establishing Any In City". The Baltimore Sun. p. 28.
  2. "Ex-Teacher Made Dean Of Junior College". The Baltimore Sun. May 31, 1946. p. 8.
  3. "Bliss Electrical School Reunion". YouTube.
  4. "Experts Meet To Revise Junior College". The Washington Post. August 15, 1950. p. 8.
  5. Raymond C Watson, Jr. (2007). Solving the Naval Radar Crisis: The Eddy Test – Admission to the Most Unusual Training Program of World War II. pp. 205–207. ISBN 978-1-4251-6173-6.
  6. "Montgomery Junior College Coming of Age". The Washington Post. August 27, 1950. p. L3.
  7. "Lack of Transit Hampers Negro Junior College". Washington Evening Star. October 3, 1950. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  8. Filson, Susan (December 10, 1965). "1550 'Make Do' on MJC's New Campus". The Washington Post. p. B13.
  9. Montgomery College. Montgomery College Announcement of Campus Name Change Archived December 5, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center". Silver Spring Arts & Entertainment District. Silver Spring Urban District. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
  11. Holly, Joe (June 2, 2008). "Sarah Silberman; Sculptor, College Benefactor". The Washington Post.
  12. Crisostomo, Contessa (February 27, 2008). "Montgomery College Dedicates Art Gallery to Alumna". The Gazette. Rockville, MD. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
  13. Jewish Women's Archive Archived June 1, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  14. Montgomery College. "Montgomery College Foundation." Archived June 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  15. Montgomery College Budget Office
  16. http://cms.montgomerycollege.edu/EDU/Plain.aspx?id=4549
  17. Montgomery College. Montgomery College Fall 2006 Enrollment Report Archived March 7, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  18. Montgomery College. "Montgomery College At a Glance." Accessed July 13, 2010. Archived April 12, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  19. Middle States Commission on Higher Education. Philadelphia, PA. "Institution Directory." Accessed July 13, 2010.
  20. Montgomery College. "Student Excellence Expo: SEE 2008." Archived May 29, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  21. "SEE 2009 Photo Gallery"
  22. "SEE 2010 Archived June 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  23. Rockville Express official web site
  24. NJCAA Division III Women's Tennis Record Book Archived July 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  25. NJCAA Division III Men's Golf Record Book Archived July 16, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  26. "MC Women's Track and Field Team Brings Home Three National Championships" (18 May 2015). Inside MC. Montgomery College. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  27. "NJCAA Division III Outdoor Championships". USTFCCCA. U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Retrieved May 3, 2020.
  28. The artist's website
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