About WCC

Wilkes Community College, a member of the North Carolina Community College System, is a public, two-year, open-door institution serving the people of Wilkes, Ashe, and Alleghany counties and beyond.

Wilkes Community College enhances the quality of life through

  • quality education and workforce development, including basic skills, occupational, technical, and pre-baccalaureate programs;
  • economic development services to business and industry, both public and private; and
  • community development through a variety of services, cultural activities, and recreational opportunities.

Values

The college’s vision is grounded in the statement of purpose and is guided by the institutional values of caring, collaboration, creativity, engagement, and responsibility.

Vision

Wilkes Community College provides programs, resources, and services that create quality educational, economic development, and cultural opportunities.

Wilkes Community College aspires to be an effective learner-centered educational institution and a dynamic learning organization.

In 1963, the North Carolina General Assembly passed the Community College Act creating a system of comprehensive community colleges and technical institutes. In September 1964, the people of Wilkes County approved the establishment of a community college through a bond vote for the construction of facilities and a tax authorization for the operation of the college. Wilkes Community College was approved by the State Board of Education on October 1, 1964. 

The first board of trustees was sworn into office on January 15, 1965, and the name “Wilkes Community College” was officially adopted on that date. Dr. Howard E. Thompson, the college’s first president, served from March 5, 1965 to June 30, 1977. He was followed by Dr. David E. Daniel, July 1, 1977 to April 2, 1989; Dr. H. Edwin Beam, interim president, April 3, 1989 to July 16, 1989; Dr. James R. Randolph, July 17, 1989 to July 7, 1995; Dr. Swanson Richards, interim president, July 8, 1995 to February 29, 1996; Dr. Gordon G. Burns, Jr., March 3, 1996 to June 1, 2014; Morgan Francis, acting president, June 2, 2014 to June 30, 2014; and Dr. Jeffrey Alan Cox, the college’s current president who assumed duties on July 1, 2014. In 1990, the Board of Trustees was expanded to include two trustees from each of Alleghany (1974) and Ashe (1975) c