Wenatchee Valley College

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Wenatchee Valley College
Established	1939
Type	Community college
President	Jim Richardson
Students	3,353
Location	Wenatchee, WA, United States
Campus	Rural
Colors	Black and White
Mascot	Knights
Affiliations	NWAACC
Website	http://www.wvc.edu/

Wenatchee Valley College, or WVC, is a two-year Community College located in Wenatchee, Washington. The college provides students with adult education classes, certifications, and 2-year Associates Degree. WVC's primary service district is one of the largest in the state, serving an area larger than the state of Massachusetts, at more than 10,000 miles. The school consists of three campuses, the main campus located in central Wenatchee, a Downtown Learning Center in downtown Wenatchee, and a separate campus in Omak, Washington. Because of the close proximity to area high schools, WVC maintains a sizeable Running Start student population, with students attending college during the Junior and Senior years in High School.^[1]

Contents 1 History 1.1 Current Expansion 2 Accreditation 3 Campuses 4 References 5 See Also

[edit] History

Wenatchee Valley College originally opened as a private college in 1939, from donations from 51 area citizens. In 1941, Wenatchee Valley College was adopted into the state public education system. Originally, classes were held on the third floor of the original Wenatchee High School situated at King and Idaho streets.

In 1949, the college moved to the home of A.Z. Wells home on a 5-acres of land along Fifth Street. The home was hand-built, consisting of stones from the Columbia River, and was modeled with castle style turrets. Wells House held all classrooms and offices, until additonal buildings could be constructed allowing the Wells House to become a dormatory.

WVC was able to purchase land from neighboring land owners, expanding the campus to its current 56 acres. Wells House still stands on the WVC Main Campus, although the building is owned by the Wells House Committee, which currently maintains the mansion. The local Camp Fire organization uses Wells House at present time.

Community College District #15 was formed in 1967, expanding WVC's service area to include Chelan, Douglas, and Okanogan counties. A sattelite campus was setup in Omak in a former hospital building, until the Omak campus was built in the mid-1970s near downtown Omak.^[2]

[edit] Current Expansion

Currently a large section of the WVC Main Campus in Wenatchee is undergoing expansion. The college has been expanding parking to accomidate additonal students. In additon to this, a new Central Washington University extension building is going up west of Batjer Hall and north of Sexton Hall. Anderson Hall has been demolished to make way for a new 82,000 square foot Allied Health and Safety building, which is scheduled to be completed in 2007. The new building replaces an aging Anderson Hall, provides expanded room for Allied Health and Safety programs, science and other courses. ^[3][4]

[edit] Accreditation

Wenatchee Valley College is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. The Nursing Program and other Clinical programs are accredited through either the National League for Nursing or the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Sciences.^[1]

[edit] Campuses

Campus	Location	City
Main	1300 Fifth Street	Wenatchee
Downtown Learning Center		Wenatchee
Omak	116 West Apple Ave.	Omak
Grady and Lillie Auvil Teaching and Demonstration Orchard	North Wenatchee/Sunnyslope	Wenatchee

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} http://wvc.edu/about/default.asp about Wenatchee Valley College
2. ^ http://wvc.edu/about/history.asp WVC History
3. ^ http://wvc.edu/events/releases.asp?relID=78 Construction Projects at Wenatchee Valley College Press Release from 2005
4. ^ http://wvc.edu/events/releases.asp?relID=76 WVC Allied Health Building Groundbreaking Ceremony set for Aug. 24 Press Release from 2005

[edit] See Also

Wenatchee, Washington
Omak, Washington
Central Washington University
Wenatchee School District