Wallace Community College coming to Demopolis
In a ceremony at the Demopolis Higher Education Center Thursday, Wallace Community College Selma announced it will begin offering academic and technical courses in Demopolis in August.
Speaker after speaker praised WCCS, its administration and staff for expanding its area to Demopolis after Shelton State Community College opted to leave.
Dr. Tammy Briggs, dean of instruction, said classes will start August 14 both at the industrial technology center and at the Higher Education Center located at the SportsPlex.
Briggs said hybrid courses, with both on-line and classroom study, will be offered for the technology programs in welding, industrial maintenance and HVAC. Basic academic courses will be given for both adults and dual-enrollment high school students at the Center.
“We’re here to celebrate and welcome Wallace Community College to west Alabama,” Demopolis Mayor John Laney said to the large crowd assembled for the ceremony.
WCCS will help destroy the myth that west Alabama can’t provide a workforce, he continued. The objective is to train students and adults to reach the Silver Key qualification level to be able to handle 66 percent of the jobs that industry needs.
Chuck Smith, a member of the Alabama Community College Board of Trustees for District 7 since the board’s beginning, was a driving force in building the Higher Education Center in 2004 “before workforce was cool,” he told the audience.
“Right now, we’re in the best position we’ve ever been,” he said, but added regional involvement is needed.
Jimmy Baker, chancellor of the Community College System, added to Smith’s comments. “I feel good about where we are,” he said.
It’s easy to distinguish the areas of production in the state, said Baker, but only a small percentage of the population benefit from those pockets of prosperity.
“We’ve got to reach everyone,” he stressed. “We are dedicated to find ways to expand what we’re doing.”
He announced that an extra $1 million has been added to WCCS’s budget to help with the expansion into west Alabama. “It’s not going to just happen overnight,” he said, “and it’s not going to be easy.”
Dr. James Mitchell, president of WCCS for 18 years, said education provides “the opportunity to transform people.” He encouraged forming a ”seamless education” system that has “everybody at the table as we develop a top-notch educational system.”
Alabama District 24 Sen. Bobby Singleton said he “fell in love” with WCCS at his first visit, impressed with the campus and the enthusiasm of the students, faculty and staff. His focus is to develop and retain small businesses and stop thinking about drawing mega-industries.
Originally from Selma, District 23 Sen. Malika Sanders-Fortier has “known of the greatness” of WCCS for some time.
“You know someone is special when they want to take on more work,” she said.
She decried the prevailing attitude in Alabama that “we don’t seem to want to fund the things that we need in this state. We’re going to have to invest” with money, time and energy.
District 71 Rep. A.J. McCampbell thanked WCCS for the “idea that you want to be here” since there have been problems with past partners at the Higher Education Center.
Jo Ellen Martin, executive director of the Marengo County Economic Development Authority, told the group, “I feel like we have a partner. WCCS here is a game-changer,” she said, and “change starts at the grass-roots level.
Robert Stewart, representing U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, is a graduate of WCCS. He told the audience that the college “changed the trajectory of my life.” Stewart stressed the importance of access to quality education and collaboration among all the stakeholders in the area.