History
In June of 1975, the State Board for Community Colleges approved a proposal for
the creation of a community college to serve the postsecondary vocational and technical
education needs of the residents of Worcester and Wicomico counties. The college
was designated to operate as a "college without walls." In November of
1975, the college's board of trustees appointed Dr. Arnold H. Maner to serve as
president of the college. Continuing education courses were offered in the fall
of 1975, and the college opened its doors to credit program students in the fall
of 1976. In 1989, state legislation was enacted to allow Somerset County residents
to attend Wor-Wic at the in-county tuition rate.
After almost 20 years of leasing classroom and office space at various locations
in its service area, the college purchased 173 acres of land on the southeast corner
of Route 50 and Walston Switch Road in Salisbury. Construction was started in 1993,
and the campus officially opened in the fall of 1994. In 1996, the college purchased
29 additional acres of land adjoining the campus to the south of the existing property,
bringing the total college-owned acreage to more than 200. Henson Hall was built
in 1999, providing a home on campus for Wor-Wic’s nursing and radiologic technology
programs. In the summer of 2000, Maner retired, and Dr. Ray Hoy was named Wor-Wic’s
second president.
Guerrieri Hall opened in the fall of 2001 to provide office and classroom space
for the college’s criminal justice department and the Eastern Shore Criminal Justice
Academy. A new Student Center (subsequently named Hazel Center) was opened in the summer of 2005, providing food service
and additional activity and study space for Wor-Wic's growing student body. The
Jordan Center was added in the fall of 2006, providing child care facilities and
additional classrooms for students in the human services department. In 2007, the
Workforce Development Center opened, providing a new home for the college’s continuing
education and workforce development division, the business department and the hotelmotel-
restaurant management department. In 2011, emergency medical services, nursing and
radiologic technology were moved out of Henson Hall into a new Allied Health Building,
which made room in Henson Hall for allied health instructors and classes offered
through the continuing education and workforce development division.
|