Sprinkle Inauguration WCC

History of Wytheville Community College In 1962, a steering committee composed of area citizens was organized to obtain support for a college in Wytheville. After approval by the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia and the General Assembly, the Wythe County-owned Simmerman Building was chosen as the first site of the college. Wytheville Community College welcomed its first students in September 1963, as a two-year branch of Virginia Tech. During its first year of operation, the college enrolled 107 students and employed five full-time faculty members. The Virginia Community College System was established during the 1966 session of the General Assembly. WCC became a member of the system on July 1, 1967. In the first year of its operation, the college’s enrollment rose to 837 and the number of full-time faculty members increased to 21. The college’s enrollment for 2015-16 was 3,900, with more than 40 full-time and 140 adjunct faculty. WCC also employs 26 administrators, 36 full-time support staff, and 46 part-time employees. Acquisition of property for the permanent site began in 1965, when a tract of 103 acres was purchased. The site, acquired from the Wytheville Knitting Mill Corporation, was purchased by the County of Wythe and the Town of Wytheville. Approximately three additional acres adjoining the campus on the east were purchased by the college in 1975. In 1979, the State Board for Community Colleges approved a gift of land (approximately 42 acres). The first building on the permanent site, Fincastle Hall, was occupied in September of 1968. Bland Hall, which now houses primarily the college’s administrative offices, and Carroll Hall, a classroom building, were occupied during the 1970-71 academic year. A nursing and allied health building, Galax Hall, was completed in the spring of 1973. An occupational-technical building, Grayson Hall, was dedicated in the spring of 1985. Smyth Hall, the college’s learning resource center, was completed and dedicated in the spring of 1998. To increase access to college programs and services, WCC opened the Smyth County Education Center in Atkins, VA, in January 1991, and the Galax Education Center in Galax, VA, in December 1992. Following enrollment growth in the Twin County region, WCC transitioned operations from the Galax Education Center to leased space in the Crossroads Institute in Galax in March 2005. Through a partnership with Virginia Highlands Community College designed to expand services to residents of Smyth County, in August 2015 WCC transitioned operations from the Smyth County Education Center to the Summit Center for Higher Education. The Summitt Center is housed in the recently-renovated 1908 Marion Schoolhouse in downtown Marion, VA.