Howard Community College, also commonly referred to as HCC and Howard CC, is a community college in Columbia, Howard County, Maryland. It offers classes for credit in more than 100 programs, and non-credit classes through its Division of Continuing Education and Workforce Development
HCC is located at 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway in Columbia, MD. There are also satellite campuses in Laurel and East Columbia (Columbia Gateway Business Center).
Academics
There are seven academic divisions at Howard Community College. They include:
- Arts and Humanities
- Business and Computer Systems
- Continuing Education and Workforce Development
- English and World Languages
- Health Sciences
- Mathematics
- Science Engineering and Technology
- Social Sciences and Teacher Education
History
In 1966, Howard Community College was founded by the Board of Education in Howard County and formally authorized by the Howard County Commissioners Charles E. Miller, J. Hubert Black, and David W. Force. The board recommended that the College would operate under a separate budget than the school system. The first HCC board would be drawn from the current state appointed county school board. HCC was approved as the State of Maryland's 14th community college in late 1967.
The school was built on a prehistoric Native American settlement which became the site of the Dieker farm, which was later inherited by Gustave Basler's (1858-1938) wife Dora Dieker. Alfred Christian Bassler sold his share of his father's 400 acre Cedar Lane farm to Community Research and Development to be the site of the project; the sale included a trade of land in Clarksville off of Shepherd Lane. His family home, barn, granaries and silos were demolished in 1969. A groundbreaking ceremony in June 1969 began construction on 119 acres (0.48Â km2) in the heart of the planned community of Columbia that, at the time, was just beginning to take shape. In October 1970, the first classes took place in a new structure called the Learning Resources Center, now the James Clark Jr. Library Building, with 10 full-time faculty and just over 600 full-time students attending classes in HCC's nine credit programs.
HCCs first president was Dr. Alfred J. Smith Jr, former dean of faculty at Corning Community College, hired in June 1969. In 1973, he signed a five-year contract to remain as president. In 1976, Smith faced scrutiny for accounting expense allowances from the County which funded 35% of operational costs. Dwight Burrill took the role of dean in 1981, serving for seventeen years. In 1980, the Columbia Film Society moves to the HCC performing arts center for weekend movies.
In 2003, a new instructional building was completed, the Mary Ellen Duncan Hall for English, Languages & Business, which includes a landscaped area now known as The Quad. The Peter and Elizabeth Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center opened in the fall of 2006. The Student Services Building, completed spring 2007, is the most recent building added to The Quad. The Student Services Building was renamed The Rouse Company Foundation Student Services Hall in March 2007. In 2013, the Health Sciences Building opened and the HCC Men's Track and Field team won the 2013 NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field.
In November 2014, a groundbreaking was held for a 145,300 sq ft four-story Science Engineering and Technology building. The facility replaces 260 parking spots to provide labs focused on Howard County Economic Development Agency initiatives including 3D printing and cybersecurity.
References
External links
- Official website
- Laurel College Center
- Athletics
- Library
- Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center
- Student Life
