It seems like 2021 has flown by. And much like 2020, it was another year for the books.
We saw many shifts in schedules and how we deliver classes and hold events. But nothing stopped or hindered the workload or how we at Wilson Community College operate.
Here’s a recap of calendar year 2021 for WCC.
- Since Jan. 1, WCC has served 5,795 individuals.
- Of the 5,795 people served this year, 615 of them were high school students in our Career and College Promise program, or CCP for short. These students are taking free college courses for credit while still in high school. That’s pretty incredible!
- We just completed our 118th Basic Law Enforcement Training Academy, with six cadets graduating to become officers. Back in May, five cadets graduated from the academy. And we trained 872 sworn law enforcement officers this year at our Coastal Plain Law Enforcement Training Center. These officers travel to our facility from all over the state.
- Our 47th Fire/Rescue Training Academy, which has four fire cadets, will finish up in a few weeks. And earlier this year, we graduated nine fire cadets.
- We held our May commencement ceremony, but with a twist. Instead of all graduates gathering in one location at one time, individual graduates and their families and friends celebrated in the Eagles Center as each student’s name was called, posed for a few pictures, shouted congratulations and turned tassels. Once finished, the next graduate marched in.
- And our graduation rate was 34%. Every year, we are asked to report how many first-time, full-time students graduated with 150% of the expected time. A graduation rate at 34% may not seem like a lot to most, but for a community college, it’s pretty strong — it’s right in line with the state’s average. And we’re so proud of our students.
- We offered 31 online courses during the five-week winter semester — and saw registrations skyrocket because of the offerings.
- We started a new two-year degree program, Associate in Fine Arts in music.
- We awarded more scholarships than ever before, totaling more than $154,000. Not only that, but we also gave out 47 BlueCross BlueShield firefighter stipends for a total of $23,500, and 57 students qualified for the Governor’s Longleaf Commitment Grant.
- We also awarded $1,889,975 to 1,741 students in Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds, or HEERF. These are funds provided by the federal government to ensure students are able to continue their education during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- We trained employees from seven companies — a total of 224 individuals — through our customized training program. In a normal, non-pandemic year, we would serve eight or nine businesses and hundreds of their employees.
- Our Small Business Center helped start 29 new businesses in Wilson.
- We held a Car & Truck Show in September and a golf tournament in October, raising thousands of dollars for student scholarships.
- And in response to a very generous donation, we renamed our campus library the A. Dwight Johnson Learning Resource Center. This is the first naming of a building with the college’s newly approved naming policy. A very nice ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Dec. 14.
For more information about WCC, give us a call at 252-291-1195. Of course, you’re always welcome to tour the campus. Give me a call to line up a tour. At #WilsonCC, we make Wilson work.
WHAT’S HAPPENING
- Jan. 4-5 — Spring registration.
- Jan. 6 — First day of classes.
- Jan. 6-10 — Spring late registration.
- Jan. 17 — College closed for Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
- Jan. 20 — Fire Academy graduation.