Southwestern Illinois College

Last updated
Southwestern Illinois College
SWIC Logo.jpg
Former name
Belleville Junior College (1946-1967) Belleville Area College (1967-2000)
MottoThink it. Be it.
Type Public community college
Established1946
President Nick Mance
Academic staff
139 full-time, 700 part-time
Students7,188 (Fall 2022)
Location
Belleville, Granite City, Red Bud, Illinois
,
U.S.
CampusSuburban/urban
Colors Blue and white
Nickname Blue Storm
Sporting affiliations
 NJCAA - Great Rivers Athletic Conference
MascotKashmir the Snow Leopard [1]
Website www.swic.edu OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg

Southwestern Illinois College is a public community college in Illinois with campuses in Belleville, Granite City, and Red Bud. It also has off-campus sites throughout the district, including Scott Air Force Base and the East St. Louis Community College Center.

Contents

History

The college was founded in 1946 as Belleville Junior College, operating under the jurisdiction of Belleville Township High School District 201. More than 60 percent of the 169 students enrolled for its first semester were World War II veterans who had just returned from service.

In 1965, the Illinois General Assembly passed the Illinois Junior College Act, which created community college districts throughout the state. The following year, area residents voted to establish the Class I Belleville Junior College District 522. Belleville Junior College became Belleville Area College July 1, 1967.

Construction of the Belleville Campus on Carlyle Avenue was completed in 1971. In 1983, the college opened the Granite City Center, followed by the Red Bud Center two years later. Both sites received approval for campus status from the Illinois Community College Board in July 1985. In 1999, a vote to change the name of Belleville Area College was passed. On January 1, 2000, the college name changed to Southwestern Illinois College. [2]

Campuses

The college has three campuses, on Carlyle Avenue in Belleville, in Granite City and in Red Bud.

Academics

The college offers associate degrees and certificates. SWIC also serves the community through Community Education, Programs and Services for Older Persons (PSOP), and Selsius™ Corporate and Career Training. [3]

From 2020 through at least 2022, SWIC has offered one-year long special vocational training in East St. Louis, Illinois using state grants varying in size from $1.2 to $1.4 million. Local residents (in a city with a 97.4% African-American population) are offered training in Welding, Nurse Assistant, Food Service, Forklift Training, and Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration, Phlebotomy, Practical Nursing. Since 2019, 130 students have received credentials in this program. [4]

As of December 6, 2021, SWIC is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. [5]

Student life

There are no dorms on campus. Southwestern Illinois College has many clubs on all three campuses, including College Democrats and Phi Theta Kappa, as well as other college activities.

Every year the students elect someone to represent them on the Board of Trustees of Southwestern Illinois College.

Sports

College athletics teams are called the Blue Storm.

Arts

The William and Florence Schmidt Art Center is located on the Belleville campus of the college.

Transportation

The campuses of Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville and Granite City are both served by public transit. The Belleville campus is served by St. Clair County Transit District. Route 16 provides Metrobus service from the campus to downtown Belleville, downtown Collinsville and other destinations. MetroLink service at College station is also available. [6] At the Granite City campus, Route 4 of Madison County Transit provides service to Madison, Granite City and Edwardsville. [7]

Notable people

Alumni

Faculty

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Clair County, Illinois</span> County in Illinois, United States

St. Clair County is the ninth most populous county in Illinois. Located directly east of St. Louis, the county is part of the Metro East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in southern Illinois. As of the 2020 United States census, St. Clair County had a population of 257,400, making it the third most populous county in Illinois outside the Chicago metropolitan area. Belleville is the county’s seat and largest city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Granite City, Illinois</span> City in Illinois, United States

Granite City is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States, within the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. The population was 27,549 at the 2020 census, making it the third-largest city in the Metro East and Southern Illinois regions, behind Belleville and O'Fallon. Officially founded in 1896, Granite City was named by the Niedringhaus brothers, William and Frederick, who established it as a steel making company town for the manufacture of graniteware kitchen utensils.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Orange Coast College</span> Public community college in Costa Mesa, California

Orange Coast College (OCC) is a public community college in Costa Mesa in Orange County, California. It was founded in 1947, with its first classes opening in the fall of 1948. It provides Associate of Art and Associate of Science degrees, certificates of achievement, and lower-division classes transferable to other colleges and universities. The college enrolls approximately 24,000 undergraduate students. In terms of population size, Orange Coast College is the third-largest college in Orange County.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kilgore College</span> Community college in Kilgore, Texas, U.S.

Kilgore College (KC) is a public community college in Kilgore, Texas. It has an annual enrollment in excess of 5,000 students and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award the associate degree. The college was established in 1935 at the height of the East Texas oil boom, and as such, is home to the East Texas Oil Museum which houses a large collection of memorabilia documenting this period of Texas history. It is also famous for having the first ever dance-drill team, the Kilgore College Rangerettes, which began in 1940 under the direction of Gussie Nell Davis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tallahassee Community College</span> Public community college in Tallahassee, Florida, United States

Tallahassee Community College (TCC) is a public community college in Tallahassee, Florida. It is part of the Florida College System and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. As of fall 2017, TCC reported 24,639 students.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heartland Community College</span> Community college in Normal, Illinois, U.S.

Heartland Community College is a public community college with campuses in Normal, Lincoln, and Pontiac, Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metro East</span> Region of Illinois in the United States

Metro East is a region in southern Illinois that contains eastern and northern suburbs and exurbs of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. It encompasses five Southern Illinois counties in the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area. The region's most populated city is Belleville, with 45,000 residents. The Metro East is the second largest urban area in Illinois after the Chicago metropolitan area and, as of the 2000 census, the population of the Metro East statistical area was 599,845 residents, a figure that had risen to above 700,000 in 2010. The significant growth in the Metro East is mainly due to people in smaller outlying towns in Illinois moving to the area for better economic/job opportunities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joliet Junior College</span> Public community college in Joliet, Illinois, U.S.

Joliet Junior College (JJC) is a public community college in Joliet, Illinois. Founded in 1901, it was the first public community college founded in the United States.

Lincoln Land Community College is a public community college in Springfield, Illinois. It has extended branches in different locations, including Beardstown, Jacksonville, Litchfield and Taylorville, Illinois. The main campus is less than half a mile from the University of Illinois Springfield.

Lassen Community College is a public community college in Susanville, California. It is a part of the California Community Colleges System.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stookey Township, St. Clair County, Illinois</span> Township in Illinois, United States

Stookey Township is a township located in St. Clair County, Illinois. It is an unincorporated part of Belleville, Illinois located just west of downtown Belleville, for that reason it is often referred to by locals as Belleville West. As of the 2010 census, its population was 10,007 and it contained 4,394 housing units.

College station is a St. Louis MetroLink station. This station serves Southwestern Illinois College and the Green Mount Commons shopping center on the eastern edge of Belleville, Illinois. It is also a large commuter station featuring 598 park and ride spaces and 25 long-term spaces.

Lewis and Clark Community College is a public community college in Godfrey, Illinois. It serves approximately 3,973 credit and non-credit students annually. The college has nine locations throughout the St. Louis Metro East, including a campus and humanities center in Edwardsville, Illinois; community education centers in Alton, Illinois, Carlinville, Illinois and Jerseyville, Illinois; a training center in Bethalto, Illinois; a river research center in East Alton, Illinois; and a location at the East St. Louis Higher Education Center in East St. Louis, Illinois. Lewis and Clark has career and transfer study options. The college also offers personal enrichment programming for adults and children, as well as corporate and safety training options for professionals.

Elgin Community College (ECC) is a public community college in Elgin, Illinois. It was founded in 1949 as part of Elgin Area School District U46. Community College District 509 was formed 17 years later in 1966, a year after Illinois legislators created the Illinois Community College System. Most of the District is in Kane County with portions in DeKalb, Cook, McHenry, and DuPage. The 360-square-mile (930 km2) District serves 300,000 people, 11,000 businesses, four public school districts, and 15 high schools.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O'Fallon Township High School</span> School in OFallon, Illinois, United States

O'Fallon Township High School is a public secondary school in O'Fallon, Illinois. In 2009, OTHS was ranked 49th out of the top 100 high schools in Illinois by the Chicago Sun Times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madison County Transit</span> Public transit and bike trail system in Madison County, Illinois, U.S.

Madison County Transit, or MCT for short, is a bus and bike trail transportation system that serves the citizens of Madison County, which is located in Illinois approximately 20 miles (32 km) northeast of St. Louis. It was created in 1980 by the Madison County Board to improve transportation in Madison County, and is a completely separate transit system from the St. Louis Metro Transit system which includes MetroLink, which doesn't operate into Madison County, though the buses connect with many MetroBus routes and even serve MetroLink stations in East St. Louis, Belleville and Downtown St. Louis.

Belleville High School East is a public high school in Belleville, Illinois, United States. It is part of Belleville Township High School District. It was established in 1966.

Belleville Township High School West is a public comprehensive high school in Belleville, Illinois that is part of Belleville Township High School District 201.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parkland College</span> Community college in Champaign, Illinois

Parkland College is a public community college in Champaign, Illinois. It is part of the Illinois Community College System serving Community College District 505 which includes parts of Coles, Champaign, DeWitt, Douglas, Edgar, Ford, Iroquois, Livingston, Moultrie, McLean, Piatt, and Vermilion Counties. Parkland College enrolls approximately 9,000 students annually, with more than 340,000 students served since September 1967.

References

  1. ↑ "Southwestern Illinois College - New SWIC mascot gets a name". Archived from the original on 2012-03-23. Retrieved 2011-09-21.
  2. ↑ "About Us - History". Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2011-06-01.
  3. ↑ "Community Services". Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2011-06-01.
  4. ↑ "SWIC Receives $1.2 Million Workforce Equity Grant for 2022". January 13, 2022. Retrieved 2022-01-20.
  5. ↑ "Higher Learning Commission". www.hlcommission.org. Retrieved 2022-04-04.
  6. ↑ "Metro Illinois Map" . Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Route 4" (PDF). Retrieved July 25, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Matt Hughes UFC Bio" . Retrieved 2014-01-01.

38°30′59.7″N89°55′24.7″W / 38.516583°N 89.923528°W / 38.516583; -89.923528

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.