Walters State Community College (abbreviated as WSCC, and commonly known as Walters State) is a public

community college A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior se ...

based in Morristown, Tennessee. It was founded in 1970 and is operated by the

Tennessee Board of Regents The Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR or The College System of Tennessee) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is one of two public university systems, the other being the University of Tennessee system. It was autho ...

. The college was named in honor of former

United States Senator The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

Herbert S. Walters. The college serves ten predominantly rural East Tennessee counties, located in the area of the

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and

Great Smoky Mountains The Great Smoky Mountains (, ''Equa Dutsusdu Dodalv'') are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains, and form part of the Blue Ridge ...

with five campuses totaling approximately 6,200 degree-seeking, commuting students. The college offers over 100 programs of study, ranging from transfer programs to four-year universities, to two-year associates and technical certificate programs.

History

In 1957, the Pierce-Albright Report was presented to the

Tennessee legislature The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Speaker of the Senate carries the additional title a ...

, detailing situations of higher education in the state. It showed many citizens of the state of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

to be without sufficient access to colleges and universities, and led to the allocation of $200,000 in 1963 to implement the recommendations of the report. The State Board of Education developed a plan to locate community colleges in the underserved regions of Tennessee within a reasonable distance of travel to the majority of residents in each region. In 1965, the Tennessee General Assembly certified the establishment of the first wave of these institutions. In 1970, Walters State Community College became the sixth college created in this process, named for former U.S. Senator Herbert S. Walters who was responsible for the development of a community college in Morristown. Walters State was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges in 1972, and received reaffirmation of accreditation in 1976, 1987 and 1997. In 2017, a hiking-mountain biking trail system would be constructed at the main campus at a natural area surrounding the college's public safety complex.

Presidents

*Dr. James W. Clark, was appointed as the first president of Walters State Community College in 1969 and served in that capacity until 1974. While classes were held in temporary quarters in Morristown during the first year of the college's operation, Dr. Clark oversaw the completion of The College Center, the first building built on the campus and opened in 1971. *Dr. Jack E. Campbell, who was hired in 1974 to succeed Clark, was considered one of the youngest college presidents at the time. Under his leadership, the campus expanded from the one campus location in Morristown with a population of 1,736 students to having four campuses, with a total student population of 6,000 credit degree-seeking students and 5,000 students in non-degree, job training and continuing education courses at the time of his retirement in 2005. The College Center would be renamed in Dr. Campbell's honor. *Dr. Wade B. McCamey, who had previously been the president of Roane State Community College and previously served as vice-president of academic affairs at Walters State Community College, was selected in 2005 and has served in that capacity until 2016. During his tenure, the college experienced more growth and expansion through the building of additional facilities on the Sevierville Campus, the Morristown campus (with one of the facilities named the Dr. Wade B. McCamey Student Services building upon his retirement) and the Greeneville-Greene County campus(Named The Niswonger Campus for Greeneville Philanthropist, Scott Niswonger). *Dr. Anthony (Tony) Miksa, was named the fourth president of Walters State in May 2016, and his tenure began on June 1.

Athletics

Walters State's athletics programs are part of both the

National Junior College Athletic Association The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), founded in 1938, is the governing association of community college, state college and junior college athletics throughout the United States. Currently the NJCAA holds 24 separate regions ...

(NJCAA) and the Tennessee Community College Athletic Association (TCCAA). The teams are known as the Senators or Lady Senators, with the team colors being red, white, and blue.

Campuses

The Tennessee Board of Regents designates ten counties as being served by Walters State Community College: * Claiborne *

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* Grainger *

Greene Greene may refer to: Places United States *Greene, Indiana, an unincorporated community *Greene, Iowa, a city *Greene, Maine, a town ** Greene (CDP), Maine, in the town of Greene *Greene (town), New York ** Greene (village), New York, in the town ...

* Hamblen *

Hancock Hancock may refer to: Places in the United States * Hancock, Iowa * Hancock, Maine * Hancock, Maryland * Hancock, Massachusetts * Hancock, Michigan * Hancock, Minnesota * Hancock, Missouri * Hancock, New Hampshire ** Hancock (CDP), New Hampshir ...

* Hawkins * Jefferson * Sevier *

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

As its reach extends across a geographically large region, there are four campuses of Walters State Community College. The primary campus is located in Morristown, while satellite branches are found in

Sevierville Sevierville ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Sevier County, Tennessee, located in eastern Tennessee. The population was 17,889 at the 2020 United States Census. History Native Americans of the Woodland period were among the first human ...

, Greeneville, and New Tazewell. In mid-2010, the Claiborne extension moved into the former Claiborne County High School building. In late 2020, Walters State opened a campus in Cocke County, at the Tanner Building in Newport. ;List of Campuses: * Morristown (Main Campus) * Greeneville (Niswonger Campus) * New Tazewell-Claiborne County * Sevierville * Newport-Cocke County

Notable alumni

Rodney Atkins Rodney Allan Atkins (born March 28, 1969) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Signed to Curb Records in 1996, he charted his first single on the ''Billboard'' country chart in 1997, but did not release an album until 2003's '' ...

, country music musician * Chad Bell,

MLB Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

pitcher *

Tilman Goins Tilman Goins (born April 10, 1977) is an American politician and a Republican who represented District 10 in the Tennessee House of Representatives from 2013 to 2018. Education Goins is a graduate of Morristown-Hamblen High School West. He e ...

, former state representative * Michael Harrison, politician * Brent Honeywell Jr., MLB pitcher * Ryan Kelly, MLB pitcher * Michael K. Locke, former state representative * Brett Martin, MLB relief pitcher * Steve Southerland, politician * Keith Westmoreland, former state representative File:Rodney Atkins with his guitar singing close up.jpg, Rodney Atkins in 2009 File:Brent Honeywell.jpg, Brent Honeywell in 2016

References

External links