2016 Annual Report Whatcom Community College Celebrates Mission Dear Friends, Whatcom Community College contributes to the vitality of its communities by providing quality education in academic transfer, professional-technical and lifelong learning, preparing students for active citizenship in a global society. Fifty years ago – at the behest of the Washington state legislature – community leaders partnered with educators, business people and non-profit organizations to establish Whatcom Community College. In the early days, there Vision was no budget. There were no buildings. But as the need for higher education grew in our community, the College Whatcom will be an innovative college, engaged with our diverse and changing communities. grew to meet it. Today, Whatcom has a beautiful 72-acre campus, serves 11,000 students, and is recognized as one of the top two-year colleges in the state and in the nation. (Aspen Institute) Promise Statement This growth was possible thanks to community partners who encouraged the College, to bold leaders who served We transform lives through education. We accomplish this by: Supporting student growth as Whatcom’s trustees, and to faculty and staff who each and every day arrive at work thinking: How can I help Respecting student investment students today? Embracing diversity Today, Whatcom’s reputation for excellence and innovation reaches beyond Whatcom County. We are recognized Promoting excellence as a national leader in academic programs such as cybersecurity, health care and science, technology, engineering Creating opportunities and math. We’re also a leader in student services, guiding them to success through personalized advising, math Core Themes and English tutoring and programs that encourage first-generation college students. It is our students’ ability to Creating opportunities. Building community. Achieving success. discover and achieve their dreams at Whatcom that is the best measure of our success. We dedicate this special 50th anniversary annual report to everyone who has helped the College to thrive and, especially, to our current students and graduates. It is our honor and our mission to serve you. Thank you for your support, Kathi Hiyane-Brown, Ed.D. President, Whatcom Community College Join us for 50th anniversary celebrations. Calendar: whatcom.edu/50 Whatcom Community College does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, honorably discharged veteran or military status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender presentation, ancestry, ethnicity, family status, immigration status, socioeconomic status, genetic information or age in its programs and activities. WCC publications are available in alternate formats upon request. WCC Board of Trustees Contributors: Bob Winters, WCC Advancement staff. Pictured from left to right: Tim Douglas, Back cover: In the early years, Whatcom on Wheels roamed the county, connecting the “college without walls” with its community. John Pedlow, Barbara Rofkar, Steve Adelstein, President Kathi Hiyane-Brown WHATCOM CELEBRATES 50 YEARS -3- THE COMMUNITY COLLEGE Act OF 1967 BROKE THROUGH THE WALLS AROUND HIGHER EDUcatION. Its aim was to “offer an open door to every citizen regardless of his academic background or experience.” From its inception as a “college without walls,” Whatcom Community College was committed to removing barriers in the path of students. Everett Sanders, the College’s first coordinator, said “…we can serve people, not buildings.” Our promise to students was to “never say no.” We offered independent study, “open classrooms” and credit for prior learning. We called our curriculum “Alternative Learning Experiences” (ALE), and we earned recognition as radical innovators. We improvised outposts all over Whatcom County that brought us close to students. Without a campus, we took pride in our purpose. We succeeded as a college with a spirit we called “The President Kathi Hiyane-Brown Whatcom Way.” “I would love to go back in time 50 years ago to meet the visionary leaders who built this institution.” Stan Brunner, Trustee, Ron Leatherbarrow, vice president for instruction, 2008-2015 1969-1976 “What I want to say to the community and especially students “Between the liquor store and who think they’re not academic quality and the parents who think the gas company and the 20 Keri Parriera, started as administrative staff at Lynden that their child is not qualified academically, I want to say to them: Doug McKeever, hired fall 1971 wheelbarrow loads of bat crap Instructional Center in 1984 and retired as president’s You can get there from here. Whatcom Community College can (first year academic classes (hauled out of the Third Street office assistant, 2014. help you realize your dream. I believe that.” offered), geology professor, in Ferndale), we started a college.” “In those early days, the instructional centers in the county retired 2014 allowed people in outlying areas to access college classes. “Every morning as I eagerly biked to That wouldn’t have been possible otherwise.” work, I would ponder, question and challenge myself: How can I best serve my students today?” THE BEGINNING 1970s 1967 1970 1972 1977 Community College Act of 1967 establishes 22 community college March: Board hires first full-time July: Dr. Robert Hamill becomes the first president of WCC. Ferndale Instructional Center districts. Whatcom is District 21. The first Board of Trustees meeting is employee. Former Ferndale Schools September: Modular buildings on Northwest Road serve as opens on Third Street (right). held May 29 at the Leopold Hotel in Bellingham. Superintendent Everett Sanders’ title is administrative offices and the Learning Resources Center. Blaine Instructional Center opens coordinator (pictured left, with assistant on Peace Portal Drive. 1974 coordinator Lynn Blackwell, left, and Dr. William J. Laidlaw is appointed secretary, Ora Enbom). First full- June: College leases an abandoned Thriftway grocery store as the president. Marine Drive Instructional Center. time faculty member joins the next 1979 month. Floyd Sandell teaches farm December: Lynden Instructional Center opens in a remodeled Midtown Center (photo spread, management. The College’s first office Safeway store at Sixth and Grover streets. The center offers farm management and art for seniors. above) opens in downtown is on Third Street in Ferndale. Bellingham on Magnolia and May: Board minutes report the 1976 Commercial. College has no name and no crest. The December: WCC receives accreditation from the Northwest The College’s first commencement two most frequently suggested names Association of Schools and Colleges. ceremony and presidential are Whatcom Community College and inauguration of Bill Laidlaw Kulshan Community College. (right) is held June 14, 1979. June: College is formally named The ceremony, which honored Whatcom Community College. graduates from 1972 to 1979, was Sanders says, “Since capital funds are not available, it seems District 21 held at the American Legion Post will operate without a campus… We can serve people, not buildings.” No. 7 and included dinner and September: Tuition for first quarter of courses is $6 per credit. Offerings dancing. “Affirming the past and 1969 Board of Trustees, from left: Stan Brunner, Elizabeth Bay, James McKellar, include psychology, American history, literature, typing, woodcarving, welcoming the future” was the Catharine (Kitty) Stimpson and Sam Kelly tax preparation, art and reading. focus of the opening remarks. -4- WHATCOM CELEBRATES 50 YEARS WHATCOM CELEBRATES 50 YEARS -5- Sally Bakken, Typing pool, instruction office, Susan Mancuso, faculty/dean for student personnel office, 1975 - 2001. services, 1973-1995 “… went from wild west where you could wear The “facility change that was most dramatic … whatever you wanted and pretty much do what was really when we had the converted grocery you wanted to a much more formal setting, which store on Marine Drive because there were like four it needed to be.” classrooms. And the counselors and advisors were so excited that they could meet in the meat locker “We were winging it—basically—in 1975.” with students because they could close the door and have a private conversation with students. We had no place to do that before.” Doug Mooers, math professor, 1986 - 2015 Trish Onion, dean, vice president for student services, 1996 - 2014 Regarding classes at former Thriftway on Marine Drive: “The room in which classes were taught had a very high “Times were tough. There were tiny ceiling, so there was a lot of echoing going on … I approached budgets because most of the money (head of maintenance) Bill (Cochran), and we brainstormed a was going toward building this beautiful way to knock down the sound. Bill went to a storage area and Bernie Thomas, Board of Trustees, campus. And, yet, even so, there was this found this old stage curtain that we then rigged up inside this 1985-1995 comraderie. We were in this together. open space and it made it look like an Arabian tent.” “I do recall seeing the Whatcom We were building this together.” Community College trailer in the Ferndale High School parking lot. And thought: “What a very odd beginning.” 1980s 1990-2000s Today 1980 1986 1992 Lead institution of CyberWatch West, one of only four NSF-funded WCC leases pottery studio from Groundbreaking for new core Running Start program starts with 117 high school students. Today, centers in the nation dedicated to cybersecurity education. The College