Bossier Parish Community College

Bossier Parish Community College
Type Community college
Established 1967
Students 7,077
Location Bossier City, Louisiana, USA
Campus Urban
Colors Maroon and Gold
Athletics NJCAA - Miss-Lou Conference
Nickname Cavaliers and Lady Cavs
Website http://www.bpcc.edu
Buildings at Bossier Parish Community College reflect this style of architecture.
BPCC Theater
Health and Physical Education Complex at BPCC

Bossier Parish Community College is a two-year institution of higher education established in 1967 by the Louisiana State Legislature, initially as a pilot program to test the feasibility of commuter two-year colleges. The institution hence opened as the "thirteenth" and "fourteenth" grades of Airline High School in Bossier City.[1]

In 2004, BPCC moved to a new $55 million complex on U.S. Highway 80. An associate degree in music was added. The new campus held its grand opening on February 1, 2005. A Health and Physical Education Complex and Performing Arts Theatre officially opened.[1]

History

Classes began with 101 students and five full-time faculty, including Edwin T. "Eddy" Shell, who taught speech for more than forty years at BPCC until his death of cancer in 2008. In 1991, Shell was elected to the Bossier Parish Police Jury, the parish governing board, a position which he also retained until his death.[2]Richard Marvin "Dicky" Parnell (1940-2018) of Gibsland in Bienville Parish, a former English teacher at Airline High School, was also among the founding faculty of BPCC faculty. He held an Ed.D. from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches and conducted research on the writers of northwestern Louisiana and the culture of the region.[3]

The name "Bossier Parish Community College" was not established until 1973, and academic offerings were expanded in day and evening divisions. Efforts were also made to reach military personnel at Barksdale Air Force Base.[1]

In 1977, the Community Education Division began offering non-academic courses. The Northwest Louisiana Police Training Academy (renamed in 1984 as the Criminal Justice Institute) was created to serve ten northwest Louisiana parishes. The Respiratory Therapy Technology program began in 1978. From 1979 to 1984, BPCC was authorized to grant associate degrees in Occupational Studies. Two-year degrees were established in criminal justice, business administration, and office administration. In 1984, an associate degree in data processing was approved.[1]

The first commencement ceremony was held in 1980, when eight students received degrees. In 1983, BPCC received accreditation from the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In 1995, Bossier Parish Community College entered into articulation agreements with Northwestern State University, Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Grambling State University in Grambling, Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia, Arkansas, Kilgore Junior College in Kilgore, Texas, and Louisiana State University in Shreveport to assist students in transferring credit hours to four-year institutions.[1]

BPCC programs

In 1996, BPCC added new associate degree programs to the curriculum in Physical Therapist Assistant, Emergency Medical Technician, and Computer Drafting and Design. On July 1, 1997, BPCC became a member of the University of Louisiana System. In May 1999, new programs were added: Associate degrees in Industrial Technology and Theatre; academic certificates in Computer Aided Drafting, Pharmacy Technician, and Telecommunications.[1]

On July 1, 1999, BPCC became a member of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System. In 2000, the Board of Regents approved the consolidation of associate degrees in Law Enforcement Technology and Corrections Science into a single Associate of Science in Criminal Justice. The regents also approved the conversion of the Culinary Arts non-credit program to an academic certificate program.[1]

In 2001, BPCC joined with Delgado Community College in New Orleans to implement a collaborative Pharmacy Technician program through the use of interactive video. The innovative program was inspired by new certification requirements instituted by the state in 1997. BPCC and DCC both determined that the certification requirements established a need for such a program in higher education.[4]

BPCC now allows joint enrollment with Northwest Louisiana Technical College in Minden, Louisiana.[5]

Athletics

The Bossier Parish Community College Cavaliers and Lady Cavs are composed of 6 athletic teams, including baseball, men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country and softball. The Cavaliers and Lady Cavs compete in Region 14 of the National Junior College Athletic Association.[6]

The BPCC baseball team plays at the BPCC Baseball Field, the basketball teams play at the Health and Physical Education Complex and the softball team plays at the BPCC Softball Field.

Notable people

Chancellor

Dr. Rick Bateman, Jr. was named the sixth chancellor of BPCC on April 8, 2015.[7] Bateman previously served as the Interim Director of Northwest Louisiana Technical College and Interim Chancellor at Bossier Parish Community College. Bateman earned a doctor of philosophy in educational administration from the University of Texas at Austin; a master of religious education from Loyola University New Orleans; and a bachelor of arts in history from the University of California at Los Angeles.[8]

James Braswell "Jim" Henderson (born January 1970), a native of Shreveport, became the BPCC chancellor, effective July 1, 2009. He succeeded Tom Carleton, who held the position for fourteen years and worked for forty-two years total in the field of professional education.[9] On January 1, 2015, Henderson became the president of Northwestern State University in Natchitoches to succeed Randall J. Webb,[10] who retired to Shreveport and died a few months thereafter.[11]

In June 2010, BPCC ranked in the nation's Top 20 for community and technical colleges in graduation rates. "We just created an occupational therapy assistant program that is one of a kind in this area. Our nursing program is extremely innovative. . . . " said Jim Henderson.[12]

Others

  • John Agan (born 1958), assistant professor of history at BPCC, author, Minden native, and "Official Historian: of Webster Parish[13]
  • Robert E. "Bob" Barton, formerly the assistant to Chancellor Carleton, represented part of Bossier Parish in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1996 to 2000 as a Republican.[14]
  • Bob G. Burford (1942-2009), Barton's Democratic opponent, was also affiliated with BPCC, having served as an academic chairperson. Burford was a member of the Bossier Parish Police Jury.[15]
  • Frances Swayzer Conley, an English professor and former high school educator, has written Home To Holly Grove: Cherishing Our Rich Heritage, a pictorial family history. This Holly Grove is the Holly Grove Colored Baptist Church in Wisner in Franklin Parish in northeastern Louisiana. The church was established by one of her ancestors, Eldridge King David Swayzer.[16][17][18] In 2006, Conley published Prez Lives! Remembering Grambling's Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones, a biography of the late president Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones of historically black Grambling State University in Grambling in Lincoln Parish.[19]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bossier Parish Community College
  2. ↑ Bossier police juror remembered for smiles, stories | ShreveportTimes | The Times
  3. ↑ "Richard Marvin "Dicky" Parnell obituary". Minden Press-Herald. August 3, 2018. Retrieved August 6, 2018.
  4. ↑ Bossier Parish Community College and Delgado Community College Collaborative Pharmacy Technician Program Distance Education Initiative
  5. ↑ Minden Press-Herald, May 19, 2014, p. 1
  6. ↑ "Athletics". bpcc.edu. Retrieved 2018-02-18.
  7. ↑ "Rick Bateman to lead BPCC as chancellor". shreveporttimes.com. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
  8. ↑ "Rick Bateman, Jr., Ph.D." sites.google.com. Retrieved 2018-02-14.
  9. ↑ Icess Fernandez, "Jim Henderson chosen as new BPCC chancellor", Shreveport Times, May 18, 2009
  10. ↑ Angela Thomas (September 23, 2014). "NSU Names Dr. Jim Henderson Its Next University President". Retrieved September 24, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Webb's family, friends gather 'to honor the life he lived'". The Alexandria Town Talk. Retrieved November 24, 2015.
  12. ↑ "Jim Potts, "BPCC now ranked in top 20 of United States elite colleges"". Minden Press-Herald, June 29, 2010. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
  13. ↑ Remembering Minden: Echoes of Our Past. Google Books. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  14. ↑ "Stephaan Harris, "After 20 years of service in Bossier Parish, Jane Smith leaves to be a state representative", November 26, 1999". Shreveport Times. Retrieved July 18, 2009.
  15. ↑ Obituary of Bob G. Burford, Bossier Press-Tribune, June 25, 2009
  16. ↑ "Book signing at LA State Museum on July 7". northshreveport.ksla.com. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  17. ↑ Frances Conley was interviewed in 2012 by Donna Ladler on Louisiana Public Broadcasting's "Authors in Shreveport" feature at the Louisiana State Exhibit Museum.
  18. ↑ "Frances Conley". media.lpb.org. Retrieved January 26, 2013.
  19. ↑ Prez Lives! Remembering Grambling's Ralph Waldo Emerson Jones. Trafford Publishing, ISBN 978-1-4120-9653-9. Retrieved January 26, 2013. templatestyles stripmarker in |publisher= at position 22 (help)

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.