A new era for higher education begins

Board approves Community College consolidation, name change

COMBINED REPORTS
Posted 12/23/16

BAY MINETTE, Alabama — 2017 begins a new era for higher education in South Alabama. Effective Jan. 11, Baldwin County’s Faulkner State Community College will consolidate with Jefferson …

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A new era for higher education begins

Board approves Community College consolidation, name change

Posted

BAY MINETTE, Alabama — 2017 begins a new era for higher education in South Alabama. Effective Jan. 11, Baldwin County’s Faulkner State Community College will consolidate with Jefferson Davis Community College, based in Atmore, and Alabama Southern Community College, based in Monroeville, under a new name, Coastal Alabama Community College.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges Board of Trustees approved the Substantive Change Request for final approval of the consolidation at the SACSCOC’s Annual Meeting Dec. 3-6 in Atlanta, according to a release issued by the Alabama Community College System last week.
“The approval of SACSCOC Commission and … approval of our Board of Trustees is the result of hard work from staff as well as communities coming together for the betterment of the System as a whole,” said Jimmy Baker, acting chancellor of the Alabama Community College System. “Our goal is to meet our students’ needs to the best of our ability and in the most efficient manner possible.”
Faulkner State’s current Bay Minette campus will serve as the regional main campus for the newly consolidated college.
“We each have been around for more than 50 years,” said Gary Branch, president of Faulkner State Community College and soon to be regional president of Coastal Alabama Community College. “This is not a new mission for our colleges; however, it is a new beginning for Coastal Alabama Community College.”

According to its website, faulknerstate.edu, Faulkner State was one of the 13 original two-year colleges created by an act of the Alabama Legislature in 1963.
Beginning life as Bay Minette State Junior College, the name was changed to the William Lowndes Yancey State Junior College in 1966 to honor a pre-Civil War statesman and educator. In 1970, the name changed to James H. Faulkner State Junior College to honor James H. “Jimmy” Faulkner, owner and publisher of the Baldwin Times newspaper and a former Bay Minette mayor and state senator.
The name Faulkner State Community College was adopted by the State Board of Education in August 1992 to more accurately reflect its mission and purpose.
In addition to its main administrative campus in Bay Minette, the college maintains campuses in Fairhope (opened at its present location in 1987) and Gulf Shores (opened in 1993). From an initial enrollment of 401 students and one campus in 1965, the college has grown to more than 5,000 students on its three campuses.
Reid State Technical College is not included in this consolidation, according to the release.
The Alabama Community College System consists of 25 comprehensive community and technical colleges, Marion Military Institute and the Alabama Technology Network. ACCS is committed to providing a unified system of institutions delivering excellence in academic education, adult education and workforce development. ACCS serves approximately 185,000 people annually through all of its entities, with over 83,000 of those served enrolled in credit courses.
Onlooker co-editor John Underwood contributed to this report.