Baltimore City Community College

History

Baltimore City Community College dates its origins to the Baltimore Junior College, founded as part of the Baltimore City Public School System in 1947 to provide post-high school education for returning World War II veterans and was the inspiration of Dr. Harry Bard. It was one of the earliest examples of the growing "junior college" movement which began at the beginning of the century and has resulted in the growth of present-day "community colleges" all across America, serving the intermediate needs between high schools and large colleges and universities. It was located on the third floor of the Baltimore City College, third oldest public high school in America located at 33rd Street and The Alameda in the northeast city which was a specialized academic magnet school for the arts, humanities and social sciences.

By 1959 it had relocated to a park-like campus in the northwest city along Liberty Heights Avenue. In 1967, the College was renamed the Community College of Baltimore and restructured as an independent institution of the City of Baltimore government. By the middle of the 1970s, Dr. Bard's ideal of an additional campus in the revitalized downtown Inner Harbor was realized with the construction of two buildings along East Lombard Street named the Bard and Lockwood Buildings.

In the 1980s City and State leaders recognized that shrinking City resources made it difficult for the City to operate a quality institution of higher education. On July 1, 1990, the Maryland General Assembly created a new institution, New Community College of Baltimore, funded by the State of Maryland. The College was granted permanent status in 1992 and renamed Baltimore City Community College. In 1997, BCCC celebrated its 50th anniversary.

In the 2000s, BCCC began to experience significant difficulties. Problems began to surface in 2004 when faculty held a public protest over issues related to remedial courses and governance. In 2010, faculty gave BCCC president Williams a vote of no-confidence and the state legislature held back funding. These troubles worsened in 2011. BCCC's regional accreditor, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, placed BCCC on probation because of "concerns about the school's ability to evaluate student learning." To address these problems, Maryland governor Martin O'Malley replaced the majority of BCCC's board of trustees with new members. In 2012, two years after the faculty's initial vote of no confidence, the board of trustees removed Carolane Williams as president of the college. The interim president was Dr Carolyn Hull Anderson, followed by the current president and CEO, Gordon F. May, PhD.

In the summer of 2014 BCCC was warned by the Middle States Commission that the college's accreditation was in jeopardy. MSCHE reaffirmed its accreditation on June 25, 2015.

In 2015 NASA selected BCCC and four other higher education institutions to share in $6 million as part of its Minority University Research and Education Project (MUREP), an initiative that aims to provide educator training and expand science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) course offerings.

Campuses

BCCC has five major locations.

Liberty Heights Campus

The main campus of BCCC is on Liberty Heights Avenue, located west of the The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. In addition to classes and student services, the Liberty Main Campus provides services including childcare, a library, and a fitness center.

Downtown Harbor Campus

The Downtown Harbor campus is located on Market Place in the Inner Harbor. This campus holds the Business and Continuing Education division.

Reisterstown Plaza Campus

The Reisterstown Road Plaza Campus houses additional classroom space.

Life Sciences Institute

The Life Sciences Institute started in 1987, is one of the nation's oldest and foremost community college biotechnology training programs. In 2009, it was moved to one of the nation's top research campuses at University of Maryland's BioPark.

National Weatherization Training Center

There is also a National Weatherization Training Center is located in East Baltimore on East Preston Street. The center is one of only 26 U.S. Department of Energy National Weatherization Training Centers and the only one in Maryland.

Radio station

Since 1951, the college has operated WBJC radio station. It is a FM, non-commercial, station at 91.5 MHz that broadcasts classical music and arts information programming nearly 24 hours daily all week. The station studios and office is located in northwest Baltimore, Maryland and the antenna is near the junction of I-695 and Reisterstown Road. The station's 50,000 watt signal reaches more than 180,000 listeners weekly across Maryland, Washington, DC and portions of the surrounding states.

Community Outreach

Since 2003, the Refugee Youth Project (RYP) has been providing quality after-school programming for refugee youth pre-K through 12th grades in the Baltimore metropolitan area. The RYP is committed to its mission of creating a safe environment for refugee children to improve their literacy skills, enhance their knowledge of American culture, engage in enriching extracurricular activities, and grow to be confident, caring children.

BCCC joined forces with the Year Up program, a one-year intensive technical and professional skills development experience serving predominantly low-income 18- to 24-year-olds who have a high school diploma or GED. These young adults will receive six months of college credited skills at BCCC and a six-month internship with a major corporation (including Johns Hopkins, T. Rowe Price, Morgan Stanley, Constellation Energy and Bechtel). The program, founded in Boston, is running in eight urban areas across the nation. Baltimore’s is the first college-based Year Up pilot.

Athletics

BCCC is a member of the Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference which belongs to Region XX (20) of the National Junior College Athletic Association. BCCC athletes compete in men's and women's basketball, men's cross country and women's volleyball.

Notable alumni