Montgomery College

Montgomery College is the oldest and largest community college in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is located in Montgomery County, MD and divided into three campuses, the largest of which is in Rockville; the other campuses are in Takoma Park/Silver Spring and Germantown. A Business Training Center is also operated by the school in Gaithersburg. The school is noted as being one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse in the nation, with students from over 170 countries enrolled; it is over 80% minority with no predominant ethnic group. The bulk of the funding for the college comes from the County. The Montgomery College Foundation, with assets in excess of $22 million, also helps fund the college, placing it among the top five community colleges in the nation in private funding. The current operating budget for the college is $214 million, also higher than average for a community college.

History

The college was organized in 1946 as "Montgomery Junior College," with its campus located at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School. In 1950, the college moved to Takoma Park, Maryland, absorbing the Bliss Electrical School, which had occupied the new campus site. The Rockville campus opened in 1965; the Germantown campus opened in 1975 and has occupied its present permanent site since 1978. Montgomery College also offers learning opportunities through its extensive Workforce Development & Continuing Education programs. The Takoma Park campus began expanding into neighboring Silver Spring, with the opening of a new Health Sciences Center in January 2004. In September 2004 the College merged with the Maryland College of Art and Design, renaming it the School of Art + Design. In June 2005, the Board of Trustees officially renamed the Takoma Park campus the "Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus."

Academic curricula and programs

Montgomery College is accredited to offer a variety of professional certificates and letters of recognition, as well as two-year Associate degrees: Associate of Arts (A.A.), Associate of Science (A.S.), Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.), Associate of Arts in Teaching (A.A.T.), and Associate of Fine Arts (A.F.A.). Graduates of two-year degree programs typically transfer to four-year colleges and universities. The Rockville campus offers more than 600 courses in more than 40 curricula. The Takoma Park/Silver Spring and Germantown campuses also offer a wide range of courses, but Takoma Park/Silver Spring is especially known for its nursing and allied health science careers training, and the Germantown campus is perhaps best known for its science programs, including computer science and biotechnology. With over 55,000 credit and non-credit students, Montgomery College has the second highest undergraduate enrollment in Maryland and employs over 1,500 faculty members. All three campuses are served by the Montgomery College Libraries system, which has a location at each campus.

List of honors programs

Although Montgomery College does offer and continues to develop many more programs, some of the most accomplished and prevalent are listed below:

• Honors Program
  • Millennium Scholars Program (at Germantown)
  • Montgomery Scholars Program (at Rockville)
  • Takoma Park Scholars Program
• Macklin Business Institute
• MC/MCPS Partnership
• Paul Peck Humanities Institute
• Phi Theta Kappa National Honors Society (ΦΘΚ or PTK)
• School of Art and Design (SA+D)

Athletics

The athletic teams are known as the Knights: Rockville Campus, Falcons: Takoma Park/Silver Spring Campus, and Gryphons: Germantown Campus, and compete in the NJCAA. The basketball/volleyball arena, Knights Arena in Rockville, is home to the Maryland Nighthawks of the Premier Basketball League.

Notable features and alumni of Montgomery College

The Rockville campus boasts well-known theater and music departments, as well as some esteemed alumni:

• Tori Amos - singer/songwriter
• James Alexander - *Director of Photography Montgomery Advocate
• The Blair Witch Project Creators/Production Team
  • Eduardo Sánchez ’90 - Co-director and Co-writer
  • Stefanie DeCassan Sánchez ’90 - production and audition assistant, still photographer
  • Neal Fredericks ’89 - Cinematography
  • Ricardo Moreno ’91 - Art Direction
  • Lonnie R. Glerum ’90 - Other crew: key production assistant/special thanks
• Barbara Walsh - Broadway shows and a Tony Award nomination
• Jerome Williams - former NBA basketball player
• Morgan Wootten - "Mr. High School Basketball"
• Eglon Daley - Painter, photographer
• Dr. Winnie King '77 - Professional Emergency Room Nurse and host of several TV and Radio shows (Also received an honorary degree)

External links

• Official website