Coastal Alabama Community College

Kathryn Tucker Windham Museum in Thomasville Coastal Alabama Community College (CACC) is a multi-campus two-year higher education institution that is part of the statewide Alabama Community College System. It consists of nine campuses throughout the southern half of the state. It officially opened for classes on August 21, 2017, and was created through the consolidation of Alabama Southern Community College (with campuses in Monroeville and Thomasville), Faulkner State Community College (with campuses in Bay Minette, Fairhope, and Gulf Shores) and Jefferson Davis Community College (with campuses in Atmore and Brewton). Combined, the campuses enrolled approximately 5,500 students in 2019.

History

Alabama Southern Community College CACC has its origins in Act No. 93 of the Alabama Legislature, which established the state community college system in 1963 under Gov. George C. Wallace. The main campus of CACC was originally founded in Bay Minette, Baldwin County, as Bay Minette State Junior College. Also founded that year were Hobson State Technical College in Thomasville, Patrick Henry State Junior College in Monroeville, and Jefferson Davis State Junior College in Brewton, named for the president of the Confederate States of America. In 1966, the Bay Minette campus was renamed for secessionist firebrand William Lowndes Yancey and four years later renamed James H. Faulkner State Junior College, for the publisher of the Baldwin Times newspaper, and a satellite campus was established in Fairhope, Baldwin County.

In 1972, Atmore State Technical Institute was created as a satellite campus of the J. F. Ingram State Vocational School (now Ingram State Technical College) in Deatsville, Elmore County. It was established as its own institution in 1974. The following year, Hobson State opened a satellite campus in Jackson, Clarke County. In 1977, the Gilbertown campus of Alabama Southern was established. In 1985, Faulkner State created a satellite campus in Foley and two years later purchased the current site of the Fairhope campus.

In the early 1990s, two mergers created larger institutions from several branches: Jefferson Davis Community College was created from combining Jefferson Davis State Junior College and Atmore State Technical College, and Alabama Southern Community College was created by the merger of Patrick Henry State Junior College and Hobson State Technical College. In 1992, James H. Faulkner State Junior College was renamed Faulkner State Community College. The following year, Faulkner moved its operations in Foley to the city of Gulf Shores.

In late 2015, administrators of the various campuses initiated an effort to consolidate stand-alone community college campuses in south Alabama in an effort to make administrative activities more efficient and streamline the system. In 2017, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges Board of Trustees approved the merger under the name Coastal Alabama Community College, with the president of Faulkner State, Gary Branch, being appointed regional president of the new system.

In 2018, administration of the Alabama Aviation College, established in 2001 in Ozark, Dale County, as a branch of Enterprise State Community College, moved to Coastal Alabama Community College. Additionally, high school students at the Academy at Fairhope are offered dual-enrollment courses in subjects relating to aviation mechanics and management. Coastal Alabama also offers a wide variety of degrees in an online format through its Distance Education program.

Campuses

The Atmore campus in Escambia County is a two-year institution that offers a wide variety of associate degrees in arts, humanities, and design; business; education; healthcare; surveying and geomatics; the social sciences; and in science, technology, engineering, and math, or STEM fields. Students may also pursue certification in such areas of expertise as HVAC maintenance and repair, welding, surveying, and health sciences. Many of the degree tracks are aimed at transfer to a four-year program and beyond.

The Bay Minette campus in Baldwin County offers a wide variety of associate degrees in arts, humanities, and design; business; education; healthcare; the social sciences; and STEM fields. Bay Minette also hosts the associated North Baldwin Center for Technology, which offers students degrees and certifications in industry, manufacturing, and construction, tourism and service, and welding.

The Brewton campus in Escambia County offers a wide variety of associate degrees in arts, humanities, and design; business; education; healthcare; surveying and geomatics; the social sciences; and STEM fields. It also hosts the One-Stop Student Services Center, the Woodfin Patterson Auditorium cultural event center, an experiential learning park, and a three-hole golf course. Brewton athletes compete under the nickname Warhawks.

The Fairhope campus in Baldwin County is located on ten acres formerly owned by the Marietta Johnson School of Organic Education. It offers associate degrees in arts, humanities, and design; business; education; healthcare; surveying and geomatics; the social sciences; and STEM fields. The campus also provides dual-enrollment services to the Baldwin County Public School System and is the gathering site for the Walking School Bus, a county program that encourages children to walk to and from school when possible. The Halstead Amphitheater hosts live music and theater and film screenings for the local community.

The Gilbertown campus in Choctaw County offers associate degrees in arts, humanities, and design; business; education; healthcare; the social sciences; and STEM fields. The campus offers a woodland walking trail and an outdoor amphitheater and is host for the town’s community theater troupe.

The Gulf Shores campus in Baldwin County offers associate degrees in arts, humanities, and design; business; education; healthcare; surveying and geomatics; the social sciences; and STEM fields. And given its location in a popular tourist area, the campus also offers associate degrees in tourism-related fields such as culinary arts, event planning, hospitality management, and pastry baking.

The Jackson Center in Clarke County offers associate degrees in arts, humanities, and design; business; education; healthcare; surveying and geomatics; the social sciences; and STEM fields.

The Monroeville campus in Monroe County offers associate degrees in arts, humanities, and design; business; education; healthcare; surveying and geomatics; the social sciences; and STEM fields. Students may also pursue certification in such areas as HVAC maintenance and repair, welding, and surveying and geomatics. The campus also features a fitness center and tennis courts and hosts the Southwest Alabama Regional Arts Museum, which displays works by local artists.

The Thomasville campus in Clarke County offers associate degrees in arts, humanities, and design; business; education; healthcare; surveying and geomatics; the social sciences; and STEM fields. Students may also pursue certification in degrees related to industry, manufacturing, and construction, welding and pipefitting, and cosmetology. The National Center for Paper and Chemical Technology is located at the campus and provides hands-on learning in careers related to those industries. The campus library is home to the Kathryn Tucker Windham Museum, dedicated to the renowned Alabama storyteller and folklife scholar.

Additional Centers

The Alabama Aviation Center is located at the Mobile Aeroplex at Brookley, the site of former Brookley Field, in Mobile County and was created to train workers for Mobile’s significant aerospace sector. Students choose a concentration from 15 courses on all aspects of aircraft maintenance and production and earn certification from the Federal Aviation Administration upon completion. Students can also take an increased courseload and earn an associate degree in advanced science. Courses cover such aspects of the industry as communication systems, hydraulics, and sheet-metal fabrication.

The South Baldwin Center for Technology in Robertsdale, Baldwin County, offers students certification in building construction and welding.

The Career and Technical Facility in Foley, Baldwin County, is housed in the Baldwin Center for Business Development, which opened in June 2020 at the north end of the city. It occupies 4,000 square feet in the Center, with two classrooms, a lab space, faculty office, testing area, and resources center. Students may pursue certification in industry, manufacturing, and construction and in welding and marine maintenance.

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