Moraine Valley Community College
Encyclopedia
Moraine Valley Community College is a community college
located in Palos Hills, Illinois
in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. Founded in 1967, it is the second largest community college in the state. It has an enrollment of approximately 35,000. The main campus of 294 acres (119 ha) is nestled in the Cook County
forest preserves, and the college operates two satellite facilities: one in Blue Island, Illinois and another in Tinley Park, Illinois.
MVCC offers its students many accommodations to help them succeed. Night and weekend classes, distance learning, and on-campus day care are all made available to students. Career counseling and services are also available to help students secure jobs after they leave college. To help alleviate the financial burdens that students bear, the college offers employment to its students. Additionally, the college offers athletic scholarships to help some of its students obtain an education more easily.
. A year later, a contest was held to give the college its name, Moraine Valley Community College. The name was chosen because of its location: “where the Valparaiso and Tinley moraines meet to form a valley.“ Since no campus was yet established, the first classes were held in leased warehouses in Alsip, IL
.
A year later in 1969, seven “temporary buildings” were opened on the Palos Hills campus. In 1970, with enrollment at 4,089, construction began on the first permanent building on the campus, which opened two years later in 1972. From that point on, buildings have been continually added to the campus until as recently as 2008, while the temporary buildings were torn down until the last one in 1994. In 2004, the first extension site, The Moraine Valley Education Center, opened in Blue Island, IL. On October 6, 2010, the college’s second extension site, the Southwest Education Center, was opened in Tinley Park, IL.
Many accommodations are now made for international students at MVCC. Some of these accommodations are listed below:
In 1998, the mascot for the college was changed from the Marauders to the Cyclones.
Community college
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries.-Australia:Community colleges carry on the tradition of adult education, which was established in Australia around mid 19th century when evening classes were held to help adults...
located in Palos Hills, Illinois
Palos Hills, Illinois
Palos Hills is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is a suburb of Chicago. The population was 17,665 at the 2000 census. It is the home of Moraine Valley Community College as well as Amos Alonzo Stagg High School.-Geography:...
in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. Founded in 1967, it is the second largest community college in the state. It has an enrollment of approximately 35,000. The main campus of 294 acres (119 ha) is nestled in the Cook County
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...
forest preserves, and the college operates two satellite facilities: one in Blue Island, Illinois and another in Tinley Park, Illinois.
MVCC offers its students many accommodations to help them succeed. Night and weekend classes, distance learning, and on-campus day care are all made available to students. Career counseling and services are also available to help students secure jobs after they leave college. To help alleviate the financial burdens that students bear, the college offers employment to its students. Additionally, the college offers athletic scholarships to help some of its students obtain an education more easily.
History
In 1967, the college was officially created after two years of effort, which included proposals, approval, and planning. It opened its first temporary office in Oak Lawn, ILOak Lawn, Illinois
Oak Lawn is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 55,245 at the 2000 census.Oak Lawn is a suburb of the city of Chicago, located southwest of the city...
. A year later, a contest was held to give the college its name, Moraine Valley Community College. The name was chosen because of its location: “where the Valparaiso and Tinley moraines meet to form a valley.“ Since no campus was yet established, the first classes were held in leased warehouses in Alsip, IL
Alsip, Illinois
Alsip is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 19,725 at the 2000 census. It is a suburb of Chicago.Alsip was settled in the 1830s by German and Dutch farmers. The village is named after Frank Alsip, the owner of a brickyard that opened there in 1885...
.
A year later in 1969, seven “temporary buildings” were opened on the Palos Hills campus. In 1970, with enrollment at 4,089, construction began on the first permanent building on the campus, which opened two years later in 1972. From that point on, buildings have been continually added to the campus until as recently as 2008, while the temporary buildings were torn down until the last one in 1994. In 2004, the first extension site, The Moraine Valley Education Center, opened in Blue Island, IL. On October 6, 2010, the college’s second extension site, the Southwest Education Center, was opened in Tinley Park, IL.
College Presidents
- Dr. Robert E. Turner: 1968-1975
- Dr. James D. Koeller: 1975-1982
- Dr. Fred Gaskin: 1982-1991
- Dr. Vernon O. Crawley: 1991–2011
International students
MVCC has grown in its international student interest over the years. In the late 1970s, the college had only about 40 international students. After a few years in 1984, no international students were enrolled in the college. Throughout this time, Diane Viverito, then an assistant dean at the college, gathered research about the international student population. She stated that the reason for the diminished number of foreign students was because “the college was not welcoming to international students.” In 1989, the college started a program to appeal to students of other countries and to aid them in their academic endeavors, and as a result, the international student population has grown to about 300 in the present day.Many accommodations are now made for international students at MVCC. Some of these accommodations are listed below:
- Intensive English Program(in lieu of the TOEFL)
- Airport Arrival Service
- Housing Assistance
- Cross Cultural Counseling
Athletics
As a member of the NJCAA, the Moraine Valley Cyclones participate in many intercollegiate sports, including men’s baseball, cross-country, basketball, golf, soccer, and women’s basketball, cross-country, golf, soccer, softball, and volleyball. MVCC is also a member of the Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference, which consists of seven other junior colleges in the surrounding area. Of all the sports teams at MVCC, the Women’s Basketball team is of particular note, as they have won the last four ISCC Conference Championships from 2006-2010.In 1998, the mascot for the college was changed from the Marauders to the Cyclones.