Virginia's Community Colleges history

1967 – NOVA opened its first campus, the Annandale Campus.

1968 – Doctor Richard J. Ernst became NOVA’s second president.

In 1970, land at the southwest corner of Interstate 64 and State Route 20 was purchased, and a 12-member College Board was appointed by six jurisdictions.

Southern West Virginia Community College was established as an independently accredited, comprehensive community college on July 1, 1971, through the consolidation of two existing branches of Marshall University.

1972 – Originally known as the Western Campus, the Manassas Campus first offered classes in the fall of 1972.

1973 – The Alexandria Campus opened.

1974 – The Loudoun Campus opened.

1975 – NOVA offered its first distance learning courses in 1975.

In 1976 the West Virginia Board of Regents established formal service areas for each of the state’s public colleges and universities.

1979 – The NVCC Educational Foundation was created.

In 1981 the College’s service area was expanded through an interstate agreement with Kentucky, which provided for students from Martin and Pike counties to attend Southern at the in-state tuition rate.

1988 – The semester system began at NOVA.

In Wyoming County a new location was selected near Twin Falls State Park, and a building was constructed there in 1989.

In 1995, with a renewed emphasis on workforce development and technical training, the state legislature changed the names of all community colleges in the state to emphasize their technical components, and Southern’s name became Southern West Virginia Community and Technical College.

In 1996, the Boone Campus relocated from a renovated facility in Madison to a new building adjacent to the Boone County Career and Technical Center.

1998 – Doctor Richard J. Ernst retired and Doctor Belle Wheelan became NOVA’s third president.

2002 – Doctor Belle Wheelan left NOVA to become the Secretary of Education for Virginia.

2003 – The Medical Education Campus (MEC) opened in Springfield in Fall 2003.

2006 – The Arlington Center and Reston Center opened for classes.

2007 – NOVA became an Achieving the Dream College.

2008 – The Innovation Park Center in Manassas opened for classes.

2009 – Signal Hill in Sterling opened for classes.

In April of 2013 Southern proudly opened its state-of-the-art Applied Technology Center on the Williamson Campus, which greatly enhances the opportunities for career training in Mingo County and surrounding communities.

In 2016, the College acquired and continues to renovate the adjacent National Guard Armory building and property.

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