Chesapeake College


Chesapeake College is a public community college with its main campus in Wye Mills, Maryland and a satellite campus in Cambridge. It was the first regional community college in the state and serves the five Mid-Shore counties: Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne's, and Talbot.

History

Nestled between corn fields and Route 50 in the Eastern Shore's tiny town of Wye Mills on December 22, 1965 the State Board of Education in Maryland adopted the Resolution 1965-66 and created Maryland's first regional community college, Chesapeake College. This college served four mid-shore counties of Caroline, Kent, Queen Anne's, and Talbot county. The college's mission was to help those who might not otherwise have the opportunity to earn a college degree.
On January 13, 1966, Chesapeake College had its first meeting of the Board of Trustees to elect officers and to discuss the name of the college. The Board voted William Sylvester for chair, Robert F. Irwin for vice chair of the board and chair of the college site committee, John T. Harrison for secretary, and A. Orrell Saulsbury Jr. for treasurer. After electing officers, the Board of Trustees voted to name the college "Chesapeake College" after considering "Eastern Shore Community College," "Mid-Shore Community College," and "Chesapeake Community College." On March 30, 1966, the Board of Trustees offered Dr. George Silver the presidency of Chesapeake College. Silver took the offer and told the Wilmington Morning News, "It'll be my job to take the dream of the four counties and put it into brick and mortar."
Finally, in January 1966 Chesapeake College's first four students, each from a different county, were officially admitted to the college. All were graduating high school seniors. On September 1, 1967, Chesapeake College opened its doors to a class of 258 evening students. These classes were operated out of Queen Anne's County High School after the high school students had finished their school day. September 10, 1967 marked the ground breaking ceremonies for the new campus. By May 11, 1969 Chesapeake College had its first graduating class.

Facilities and buildings

Chesapeake College's main campus sits on 170-acres. The main campus has 14 buildings. The Cambridge Campus is housed in one building in downtown Cambridge, Maryland. The main buildings on the main campus are named after the five upper Eastern Shore counties.

Caroline College Center

The Caroline College Center houses the Bookstore, the Skipjack Cafe, the Student Government office, Student Life offices, Career Services offices, and faculty offices.
The Center was completely renovated in 2006 to better serve the growing needs of the college.

Dorchester Administration Building

The Dorchester Administration Building houses the offices of Academic Advising, Admissions, the Alumni Association, the Business Office, Financial Aid, Human Resources, Institutional Advancement, Research and Planning, Public Information, Registration, and Student Retention Services. The building also houses the offices of the President and Vice Presidents of the College.
Original construction of the Dorchester Building began in 1966, and the building was completely renovated in 2003.

Early Childhood Development Center

The Chesapeake College Early Childhood Development Center is a licensed childcare center with the purpose of serving those parents of children 3 through 7 years of age who are students, staff, faculty at the college as well as parents throughout the community.
In addition to functioning as a licensed childcare facility, the center also serves as a learning site for students enrolled in the Early Childhood Development program.
Also located in the ECDC building is the Chesapeake Child Care Resource Center, which is one of the 12 child care resource centers in Maryland that make up the Maryland Child Care Resource Network and began start-up operations on June 1, 1999. Funding for the center is through a grant from the Maryland Department of Human Resources.
Core Services
The sole focus of the Chesapeake Child Care Resource Center is to foster and provide an array of supports to the local community, which includes the college's five service-area counties Caroline, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne, and Talbot.
Services provided to the Upper Shore Community from Chesapeake Child Care Resource Center include:
The Eastern Shore Higher Education Center Building was added to the campus in 2003. The facilities are utilized not only by Chesapeake College but also by other local universities and colleges for undergraduate and graduate programs. The Center provides space for business functions and Continuing Education courses and programs. The Eastern Shore Higher Education Center is currently the home to Wye River Upper School, a private school that "serves bright students challenged by ADHD, dyslexia, and other unique learning styles, as well as students who may benefit from structure, low student/teacher ratios and creative teaching strategies."
The participating higher education institutions offering courses at the center are Salisbury University, Gratz College, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, University of Maryland University College, Stevenson University, and Notre Dame of Maryland University.

Kent Humanities Building

The Kent Humanities Building houses the Cadby Theatre and Lobby, lecture classrooms, and faculty offices.
The building is named after Kent County, which was established on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in 1642. The Kent Humanities Building was originally built in 1969 and was renovated in 2010. Per renovation, the building now houses the Cadby Theatre, which can seat 100 occupants and is equipped with lighting, sound, and audio/visual equipment. This smaller of two campus theatres was named after Louise Cadby, who served as the College's first drama instructor from 1968-1985.

Learning Resource Center

Chesapeake College's Learning Resource Center provides various resources for faculty, students, and members of the community, including the campus's Academic Support Services.
Library
Academic Support Center
Tutoring
Supplemental Instruction
Project Mainstay
Testing Center

Health Professions and Athletics Center

The Physical Education Building houses the gym, fitness center, pool, locker rooms, and faculty and staff offices. The Physical Education Building renovated as part of a 2012-2014 project to move health professions instruction to the main campus in a new Health Professions and Athletics Center.
The five counties the college serves—Caroline, Talbot, Queen Anne's, Kent, and Dorchester—share a $9 million contribution to the new Health Professions and Athletics Center. In a 3-2 vote to approve funding, Caroline County and Dorchester County voted against the contribution. The state awarded the college $27 million to fund the project, or 75% of the cost, towards construction, leaving the other counties to pay 25%. Each county pays a debt of about $120,000 a year for the next 20 years to fund the project.
As a result of the controversial vote, Caroline County administrators have said that they will no longer support funding to Chesapeake College, which causes the other Mid-Shore counties that also make contributions to have to make a permanent increase in their budget. Jeff Ghrist, Vice President and spokesperson for Caroline County at the last budget meeting, argued that the county would be unable to contribute $200,000 to the $1 million expense for an emergency roof replacement to another campus building.

Queen Anne's Technical Building

The Queen Anne's Technical Building features computer lab classrooms, a large instruction classroom, and faculty and staff offices.
The building was originally constructed in 1969. Although the building has not been officially renovated, it does house up-to-date computers, software, and a distance learning classroom.
The Queen Anne's County Technical Building was named after Queen Anne's County, which was founded in 1706 in honor of Queen Anne who ruled Great Britain and Ireland from 1702-1714. Queen Anne's was the first English settlement in Maryland under a 1631 patent from the king of England.

Talbot Science Building

The Talbot Sciences Building houses the office of the Dean of Liberal Arts and Science, faculty offices, science lab classrooms, and large instruction classrooms.
The Talbot Sciences Building was one of the original buildings on campus and was renovated in 2009.
The Talbot Science Building is named after Talbot County, which was established in 1661 in honor of Lady Grace Talbot.

Todd Performing Arts Center

The Todd Performing Arts Center building houses Todd Performing Arts Center Theatre and Lobby, box offices, the office of the Executive Director, faculty offices, and a training/catering kitchen.

Cambridge Center

The Cambridge campus of Chesapeake College provides educational opportunities to those who live or work in the mid or lower Eastern Shore area. The Cambridge Center provides most of the services a student would need on a daily basis from a higher learning institution. The location of the Cambridge Center in downtown Cambridge gives students an alternative to having to travel to Wye Mills to attend a Chesapeake College course.
The Cambridge Center houses a main office with full service staff, where students can apply for admission, register for or drop classes, make payments, learn about financial aid, and meet with advisors. The Cambridge Center facilities include a computer lab, testing center, tutoring center, multiple classrooms, and bookstore. The Cambridge Center offers a wide array of required courses and electives for students in many different majors.

Chinese Pavilion

Representatives from Suzhou, China joined Queen Anne's County officials for the dedication of a pavilion on the campus of Chesapeake College on Monday, May 16, 2011.
A gift from the people of Suzhou to the people of Queen Anne's County, the Canglang Pavilion was constructed by Chinese artisans. It is located between the college's main buildings and athletic fields.

Academics

Chesapeake College offers certificate programs and associate degrees. It also has an honors program.

Athletics

Sports

Skipjack Athletics honors outstanding athletes in its Hall of Fame each year.
Men's Baseball
The Chesapeake College men's baseball team won their conference, region and district to get to the national championship in 2005 to finish 5th place overall in the Nation. Coach Frank Szymanski has been leading the skipjacks since 1996 to current 2016.
Men's Basketball
The Chesapeake College men's basketball team won their first NJCAA Region XX championship on March 2, 2008, when head coach John Mappas led the Skipjacks to a 27-4 season. The 2007-2008 Skipjacks basketball team had four major contributors to their team. Sophomore center Andrew Lee was MVP of the NJCAA Division I Region XX tournament and all-Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference first team. Sophomore shooting guard Preston Faulk was named to the all-Region XX Division I second team and all-Maryland JuCo second team. Freshman point guard Aubin Reeves and Ty Newman made all-Tournament team in the Skipjacks' success.
The men's basketball team has been coached by Joel Dearring since the 2009-2010 season. Chesapeake was the 2nd highest scoring team among Maryland junior colleges in the 2012-13 season, averaging 88.7 points per game. The 2012-13 men's basketball team faced several non-conference opponents at the start of the seasons to compete against Division 2 level teams like the University of the District of Columbia and Bowie State University.
The school records for most three-pointers in a single game and for most points in a single game were set in the 2012-13 season by Akanni Salako, who scored a 47 points with 11 3-pointers against the U.S. Naval Academy's junior varsity team.
Several of Chesapeake College's men's basketball players were honored as NCJAA All-Americans:
Women's basketball
Damon Nichols, hired in 2009 after Chesapeake failed to field a team the previous season, led the Skipjacks to a first-round state tournament win in his third season. That resurgence set the stage for this year's record-breaking campaign, which included a 14-game winning streak. Nichols led the women's basketball team to their first state title, first region title, and first trip to nationals in 2012. Nichols had a repeat the following year with a record of.
Records set by 2011-2012 Women's Team
Softball
The Skipjack softball team was first introduced in 1992 when the college expanded the athletic program to include intercollegiate sports.
Durie Hayes is the head coach of Skipjacks softball team. Hayes is a former Chesapeake College student and former softball coach at Easton High School, credited locally as “a softball powerhouse.” Since assuming the coaching role at Chesapeake College, Hayes has led his team to many victories and championship competitions. Under Hayes's leadership, the Skipjacks competed in the 2009 NJCAA Division II Region XX championship, the 2009 Division II World Series, the 2010 Maryland Junior College Athletic Conference title, and 2010 NJCAA Division II Region XX championship.
The 2012-2013 team currently composed of 10 freshmen and 2 sophomores, who have been credited with 31 wins and 5 losses. The team competed in the NJCAA Division II Region XX championship in May 2013 and finished in 3rd place.

Stuart M. Bounds Fitness Center

Chesapeake College opened the Stuart M. Bounds Fitness Center in August 2008 after a major expansion and renovation of the College's fitness facilities. State-of-the-art cardio and weight-training options are available for current credit students, college faculty and staff, and Continuing Education students.

Additional athletic facilities

In August 2009, Cap’n Jack was introduced as the official Chesapeake College Skipjacks mascot. Cap’n Jack is a green parrot pirate who proudly wears the white and blue school colors on his pirate attire and sports a grand pirate hat and an eye patch. Cap’n Jack is known for his appearances at community and college events and also has his own fan following on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter where he keeps students, faculty, and the community aware of upcoming events at Chesapeake College.

Notable alumni

Maryland Association of Community Colleges (MACC)

Maryland's 16 community colleges provide early college access programs for high school students, giving them the opportunity to accelerate their pursuit of a college degree or certificate.
According to the Maryland Association of Community Colleges 2013 Databook, for the Fall semester of 2012 Chesapeake College had a total of 1,075 credited transfer students, 552 were enrolled full-time and 523 were enrolled part-time. For the fiscal year 2012, Chesapeake College awarded a total of 272 degrees, of which 139 were transfer degrees, and 133 were career degrees. For the fiscal year of 2012, Chesapeake College made up 23% of career degrees awarded in Maryland community colleges.

The Articulation System for Transferring Courses from One Maryland University or College to Another (ARTSYS)

Chesapeake College participates in ARTSYS, a computerized data information system that helps ease the transfer of students from Maryland community colleges to all institutions within the University of Maryland system. ARTSYS allows students and advisors at the institutions to ascertain the transferability status of any community college course. It indicates whether the course is transferable and, if so, indicates the receiving institution's equivalent course number or applicability towards elective credits. It also indicates the general education area, at both the sending and receiving institutions, applicable to the course.

Hospital services

Together with Memorial Hospital at Easton in Easton, MD, Chesapeake College offers various Allied Health programs. The Allied Health facilities, located at Memorial Hospital, include a computer lab, four classrooms, one of which is for distant learning, and a lab for hands on learning, along with many offices which serve as a "full service center with registration and business office functions", and a medical library. In the near future the hospital plans to move its location. In preparation for this move the Chesapeake College's physical education building will be renovated to accommodate the new home of the Allied Health program and facilities.

Charitable contributions

Many of Chesapeake College's faculty and students frequently join together to donate their time and talent back to the community. Their contributions have benefited various organizations and charities that extend beyond Maryland. Additionally, the college houses the Volunteer Center, providing the space as well as staff. The central purpose of this center is to "serve as a clearinghouse for nonprofits and volunteers serving Chesapeake College’s five counties".