ACC Records - Historical Note
Anchorage Community College (ACC) was the first public higher education institution established in Anchorage, Alaska. ACC began operations in the 1953-1954 in association with the Anchorage School Board. It became a part of the University of Alaska system in 1962. ACC was associated with UAA in reorganizations in the mid 1970s and later in the mid 1980s. With the latter reorganization, ACC ceased to exist as a separate entity, though its mission was continued in part under UAA.
Administrative planning for the establishment of Anchorage Community College began in the early 1950s. Its development was partly the result of the efforts of the President of the University of Alaska (UA) and the Board of Regents (BOR) to lay the foundation for community colleges throughout Alaska through cooperative associations with local school districts. Also of import was the passage of the Community College Enabling Act, which permitted the establishment of a community college in any town with a high school population of 75 or more students. The President and the BOR worked with the Anchorage School District to plan for the start of the community college in Anchorage. In early 1954, Dr. Leroy Good was hired as the first Director of ACC.
The first ACC classes were offered at Anchorage High School (now Anchorage West High School) in early 1954. The college offices were located on the second floor of the school. The first college catalog was issued for the 1954-1955 school year. The first graduation took place in 1956 at which Vincent Earl Demarest received an Associate in Arts Degree in Business Administration. The first student newspaper was the Campus Courier begun in 1958.
ACC operated as part of the Anchorage School District until the state organized the community colleges under the University of Alaska statewide system in 1962. In 1966, the administration of ACC was placed under the Anchorage Regional Center (ARC). Two years later, the center was expanded and renamed the Southcentral Regional Center (SRC).
The SRC was charged with the responsibility of supervising and coordinating all UA higher educational programs in south central Alaska. This included community colleges in Kenai, the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, Kodiak, and course offerings at various military bases in the area. The center was to be administered by a UA Provost. Its offices were located on Northern Lights Boulevard. The center administered all upper division and graduate degree courses and programs in the area.
Also in 1966, the voters of Alaska approved a bond issue providing for the construction of a campus for ACC. Classes began at the new location during the 1969-1970 school year. The campus initially consisted of five buildings. In 1972, ACC was awarded accreditation by the Northwest Association of Secondary and Higher Schools. ACC continued to operate effectively and successfully until the budget crisis of the mid 1980s. That event produced an extensive administrative reorganization that included the elimination of ACC as an organizational entity. Though ACC ceased to exist, its community college mission was to be continued by the new University of Alaska Anchorage.