Clark College is a public community college in Vancouver, Washington. With 11,500 students, Clark College is the largest institution of higher education in southwest Washington. Founded in 1933 as a private two-year junior college, Clark College received its first accreditation in 1937 and has been accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities since 1948. It was incorporated into the statewide community college system in 1967.

History

Originally known as Vancouver Junior College, the college was located at the old Hidden House at 100 W 13th Street in downtown Vancouver from 1933 to 1937, moving several times within the city. The main campus was formerly part of the Vancouver Barracks, which extended from Fourth Plain to the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

but were ceded by the U.S. Army to the city to become Central Park. The college first received state support in 1941, being supervised by the State Board of Education in 1946 with the Vancouver School Board serving as its policy-making body until it was reorganized as a public institution in 1958 and incorporated into the statewide community college system in 1967. In 2014 the college established its first 4-year program, a baccalaureate in the medical field, and became recognized as a 4-year college. In 1951, the Applied Arts Center became its first building at the current location (its sixth), when the college first offered evening classes. After the

Kaiser Shipyards The Kaiser Shipyards were seven major shipbuilding yards located on the United States west coast during World War II. Kaiser ranked 20th among U.S. corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. The shipyards were owned by the Kais ...

boom of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, Clark College rapidly grew to meet the educational needs of the expanded population, the 1944 Serviceman's Readjustment Act and the

baby boom A baby boom is a period marked by a significant increase of birth rate. This demographic phenomenon is usually ascribed within certain geographical bounds of defined national and cultural populations. People born during these periods are often ...

. The college briefly drew national attention in 2019 when president Bob Knight retired amid complaints that he discriminated against women, particularly women of color. After his retirement, the college's board of trustees continued investigating the allegations and found them credible. The college's current president is Dr. Sandra A. Fowler-Hill and the board of trustees is led by Jane Jacobsen. In January 2020, the faculty of the college, represented by the Association for Higher Education, engaged in a three-day strike over employee wages. Part time employee wages were approximately half that of the full time faculty for the same credit load. The strike was resolved when the college agreed to a significant increase in the wages of full-time staff and to a 72 percent pay parity for part-time staff. Clark College's

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fic ...

is a Galapagos penguin named Oswald. He appears at many college events and is acknowledged through the college's Healthy Penguin Nation and Sustainable Penguin Nation initiatives.

Campus

The college's main campus sits on a site in Vancouver's Central Park, southwest of Water Works Park and north of Hudson's Bay High School. The college's

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 cast-bronze bells. The bells are hung in fixed suspension and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmon ...

Chime Tower was designed by Richard Stensrude, begun in 1964, and incorporates materials from the local Hidden Brick Company and the nearby Alcoa plant. The main campus has generally expanded from the southeast northward and other structures include an equatorial bow-style

sun dial A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat p ...

near the science buildings. As part of the college's 75th anniversary celebration, the sundial was refurbished to provide more accurate time. A new STEM building was completed in the summer of 2016 on the western edge of the main campus, at a cost of $39 million. In September 2009, the college opened a satellite campus in east Vancouver. The new campus cost $29.5 million, which was $500,000 under the original budget estimates. The campus is certified gold by the

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, constructio ...

(LEED). The college's first satellite campus opened in the Salmon Creek neighborhood (north Vancouver), and is operated in partnership with

Washington State University Vancouver Washington State University Vancouver also known as WSU Vancouver is a campus of Washington State University. WSU Vancouver is located on a campus outside of Vancouver, Washington, approximately eight miles (13 km) north of the Columbia ...

Academics

Clark College offers more than 100 options for earning a

bachelor degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to si ...

associate degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. Th ...

certificate Certificate may refer to: * Birth certificate * Marriage certificate * Death certificate * Gift certificate * Certificate of authenticity, a document or seal certifying the authenticity of something * Certificate of deposit, or CD, a financial pro ...

. Additionally, its Transitional Studies program serves adult students seeking to earn their high school diploma or equivalent, learn

English as a Second Language English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EF ...

, or gain basic skills and job-training programs; courses for transfer to four-year institutions; online courses; and articulations with other colleges that offer students a seamless transfer. Through its Economic and Community Development program, the college also offers non-credit classes for

professional development Professional development is learning to earn or maintain professional credentials such as academic degrees to formal coursework, attending conferences, and informal learning opportunities situated in practice. It has been described as intensiv ...

, personal enrichment and customized workplace training. Clark College now offers three Bachelor of Applied Science degree programs: Dental Hygiene, Applied Management, and Human Services. A fourth bachelor's degree program in

Cybersecurity Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, th ...

has been approved and will be offered in fall 2020. The college hosts one of the largest Running Start programs in the state. This popular Washington state program allows high school students to earn college credit while still in high school. Many Running Start students graduate with both their high school diploma and their

. The average quarterly enrollments is approximately 11,000 students, and the average class size is 17.6 students. Three-quarters of Clark's student body are first-generation college students; more than a third are Students of Color; and almost a quarter of Clark students have dependent children.

Athletics

Athletic programs at Clark College include men's and women's basketball, coed cross country, men's and women's soccer, coed track, women's softball, women's volleyball and intercollegiate baseball. Clark College is a member of the Northwest Athletic Conference. (NWAC) In January 2012, Clark College established a Hall of Fame to honor students' athletic achievements.

Notable alumni

* Al Bauer - former Washington State legislator"Clark College Buildings: Bauer Hall," 75th Anniversary, Clark College, 2008 *

Nick Duron Nicholas Gregory Duron (born January 30, 1996) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He played college baseball for Clark College in Vancouver, Washington. ...

(born 1996), baseball pitcher in the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

organization *

Sam Elliott Samuel Pack Elliott (born August 9, 1944) is an American actor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a National Board of Review Award, and has been nominated for an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, two Primetime Emmy Aw ...

(1965) - actor * Treva Throneberry * Mike Gaechter -

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

player,

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

Jess Hartley Christina K. "Jess" Hartley (born December 11, 1967) is an American novelist, writer, game creator, and editor. Hartley is the author of the novel ''Exalted: In Northern Twilight''

- novelist and Role playing game developer *

Denis Hayes Denis Allen Hayes (born August 29, 1944) is an environmental advocate and an advocate for solar power. He rose to prominence in 1970 as the coordinator for the first Earth Day. Hayes founded the Earth Day Network and expanded it to more than ...

(1964) - environmental activist, coordinator of the first Earth Day. * Ron Larson - mathematician, author *

Tim Leavitt Timothy D. Leavitt (born 1971) is an American politician who served as the mayor of Vancouver, Washington. He was first elected in 2009 when he defeated 14-year incumbent Royce Pollard. Early life and education Leavitt was born in Yakima, Was ...

- politician, former mayor of Vancouver * Randy Myers - baseball pitcher,

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

* Bill Swain - NFL player

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Community colleges in Washington (state) Education in Vancouver, Washington Universities and colleges accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities Educational institutions established in 1933 Two-year colleges in the United States Education in Clark County, Washington Buildings and structures in Clark County, Washington Tourist attractions in Vancouver, Washington 1933 establishments in Washington (state)