Bay College History

1962 Delta County voters approved 1 mil levy by a 3-1 margin to finance the community college, and elected eight people to serve as college trustees. (November 6, 1962)

First meeting of trustees to organize the Board of Trustees. Joseph L. Heirman was elected to serve as President of the board. (November 20, 1962)

Bay de Noc Community College selected as name from 44 suggestions sent in by interested citizens. (December 20, 1962)

1963 Richard Rinehart appointed as first president for college. (January, 1963)

Old high school vacated and remodeling starts for college. (April 22, 1963)

Dr. Albert Jenke resigned from the Board of Trustees and the Board began operating with seven members. (July 1963)

Classes begin with 133 full-time and 100 part-time students. Students were welcomed with a “Hootenanny” led by President Rinehart. (September 16, 1963)

Tuition charges were $10 per credit hour. The average per capita cost for a student going to Bay College was about $525. Sources of money to pay for the operation of Bay College were state appropriation 40%, tuition 30%, and local taxation 30%.

1965 LPN program began. (February 1965)

Plans made for first graduation class of 36. (May 13, 1965)

1966 Bay submitted its “Basic Institutional Data” in preparation for diagnostic examination leading to “Membership Status” through North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. (May 12, 1966)

Architectural firm appointed to do master plan and long range plan for the college. (May 29, 1966)

1967 Committee starts site selection for new campus. Seventeen sites were named and five were selected for further evaluation. (January 26, 1967)

College Board accepts deed to new college campus site, a gift from the City of Escanaba. (October 12, 1967)

1968 Intercollegiate sports began in tennis, golf and basketball.

Ground breaking ceremonies for new campus - Governor Romney principal speaker. (August 16, 1968)

1969 Moved to the current campus.

Science and Technical building was completed and dedicated. It was approximately 17,392 square feet and cost $497,000. The Science and Technical building was the first building on the current campus. It is now named the Math-Science building.

1970 Enrollment was at 700.

Chemistry and biology laboratory fire damages the Science-Technical (Math-Science) building. (April 18, 1970)

Classroom-library building named Catherine Bonifas building to recognize $100,000 bequest from Mrs. Bonifas to the college. It was approximately 20,123 square feet and cost $587,000. (August 12, 1970)

First classes offered in Dickinson County. (1970's)

1971 Health Education building (Gym) completed. It was approximately 14,070 square feet and cost $265,000.

President Rinehart announces resignation to take position in New York. (August, 1971)

Edwin Wuehle appointed as new president for the college by Board of Trustees. (September, 1971)

1972 The Campus Center (Student Center) building was completed and dedicated. It was approximately 13,141 square feet and cost $386,000.

Plans started for formation of college foundation. Foundation was established to promote and support educational development and program needs not covered by public funds. First four scholarships were awarded. (February 9, 1972)

1973 First students move into apartment building on campus. The 4 person apartments rented for $75 per month and the 2 person apartments rented for $95 per month. The building cost $638,000. (August 1973)

1974 Maintenance building (formerly the Heavy Equipment building) completed. It was approximately 8,000 square feet and cost $127,600.

1975 Computers used to process student grades.

Auto Body Shop was completed. It was approximately 6,000 square feet and cost $160,000. (now Shipping & Receiving?)

Practical and Fine Arts building was completed. It was approximately 49,700 square feet and cost $2, 290,000.

Granted full accreditation for five years by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

1979 3+1 program established with Lake Superior State College (LSSU) making it possible for business students to study at Bay for three years and transfer to LSSC for their final year of study.

1980's Computer labs in the Health and Applied Technology Center building furnished with hardware and software, funded by Title III program.

Technical programs upgraded to computer based technologies such as CAD and Computerized Numerical Control.

1980 Enrollment was over 1400.

Awarded “Full Accreditation” by North Central Association of Colleges and Schools for 10 years, the longest award period possible.

1982 First satellite dish installed for teleconferencing capabilities.

1985 Dr. Dwight E. Link was hired as Bay’s third president. (March 1985)

1987 Over 100 associate degree and certificate programs were available.

Full and part-time staff totaled 166.

Dedication ceremony for the Learning Resource Center, a 40,000 square foot building costing approximately $4.8 million (October 2, 1987)

Classes offered in Schoolcraft County. (August 1987)

College opens center at American Martyr School in Dickinson County.

1989 Phi Theta Kappa began its charter membership.

Signed a working relationship agreement with the YMCA.

YMCA began offering services to the public from Bay’s campus in the Health Education building. Pool was completed.

1991 Signed an agreement with LSSU to provide students with opportunities to earn bachelor’s degrees on Bay College’s campus. (December 1991)

1993 TRIO grant for Student Support Services approved. The Math Center and Writing Center tutoring services became available.

1994 Graduates return to donning caps and gowns for commencement ceremony. (May 1994)

1995 First ITV course received from NMU and LSSU.

1996 Web site released world-wide. (November 21, 1996)

1997 University Center is named in honor of Joseph L. Heirman. (May 1997)

Dr. Michael T. Allkins was hired as Bay’s fourth president. (June 1997)

1998 Joseph L. Heirman University Center dedication ceremony. (January 30, 1998)

The Guinness Book of Records verified Bay College’s tricycle, built by CAD students, as the world’s largest. (October 1998)

1999 Bay chosen as one of eight state community colleges to receive a Michigan Technical Education Center Grant. (January 12, 1999)

Completion of the $3.8 million in renovations to Student Center, Catherine Bonifas Building, and Science Technical Building, including a new bookstore and art gallery. (December 1999)

2000 First online courses offered, Rhetoric and Composition, Math of Business, Research Writing, Macroeconomics, World Regional Geography. (January 2000)

Bay’s MTEC is only center to open on time. (January 2000)

First art exhibit of student works from the Bay Art Department, in Bay’s new art gallery. (January 24, 2000)

2001 Time capsule sealed in the Bonifas building courtyard. (January 2001)

Dickinson County campus moves to Carpenter Avenue location known as Bay College- West Campus. Enrollment currently at 432 for Fall 2003. (July 2003)

Dr. Ted and Eleanor Fornetti of Iron Mountain, donate 24 ½ acres of land in Iron Mountain to Bay College with the stipulation that a Bay College Campus be built there within a five-year period. The land is located north of the city on U.S. 2 across from the Iron Mountain State Police Post. (October 2003)

A $100,000 anonymous donation was received for the Bay West campus. (December 2003)

2005 Dickinson County taxpayers approved a 1 mill millage by a 3-2 margin to construct a full-service campus in Dickinson County. (May 3, 2005)

Foundation receives $300,000 anonymous contribution for Dickinson County. (July 2005)

President Michael Allkins announces his intention to retire effective July 1, 2006. (September 21, 2005)

Wireless computer access became available on-campus and at Bay West Campus. (October 2005)

College Board appoints West Campus Advisory Board. (December 2005)

2006 Dr. Laura Coleman was selected as the new college President. (May 2006)

2007 Besses donate $4.2 million to fund a performing and visual arts complex at the Escanaba campus. The Besse Center will consist of 4,950 square feet of renovations to existing spaces in the LRC and 12,300 square feet of new space. (January 9, 2007)

CAD team gets into the Guinness Book of World Records for world’s largest skateboard. It measured 31 ft 0.5 in long, 8 ft wide and 47 in. high. (Aug 17, 2007)

Dedication and Open House for Bay West in Iron Mountain (Sept 21, 2007)

2008 Fall 2008 enrollment highest in last 5 years (2,386). Contact and credit hours also highest in 5 years. (Sep 2008)

John and Melissa Besse Center dedicated (Oct 24, 2008)

2009 Bay Soccer Fields dedication (Aug 5, 2009)

Record enrollment for Fall 2009. 2742 students registered. Increase in non-traditional students of 22 and older most likely due to economic conditions. (Oct 2009)

2010 Grant from Hannahville Indian Community for $60,000 for graphic arts computer lab. (May 2010)

Bay College’s CAD Team Problem Solving successfully dropped the world’s largest functioning yo-yo on July 6. (Jul 2010)

2011 Bay College receives accreditation from NCA Higher Learning Commission through 2017-2018. This is the longest accreditation period under AQIP. (Feb 2011)

Celebrated the 50 year anniversary of the passing of the first millage which supported the founding of the College on November 6, 1962. (November 2012)

Bay de Noc Community College was recognized as a leader in the national student completion movement by Achieving the Dream, a national nonprofit leading the nation’s most comprehensive non-governmental reform network for community college student success and completion. Bay College, one of 14 institutions designated as a 2012 Leader College, was recognized for demonstrating sustained improvement and accomplishments on key student achievement indicators, including student persistence and completion. (November 2012)

2013 Bay College was ranked 30 th among 700 community colleges participating in the Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) in the nation based on student success and completion by Washington Monthly . Bay was the only Michigan college in the top 50. (September 2013)

Delta County voters approved a 1 mill renewal millage 2770 to 1065 for capital improvements and for paying the principal and interest on outstanding bonded indebtedness. (November 5, 2013)

2015 The John & Melissa Besse Foundation donated $1 million to advance math, science and technology education at Bay College. The Health and Applied Technology Center was renamed the John & Melissa Besse Health & Technology Building in honor of the Besses. The building was renamed during the ribbon cutting/community open house on Nov 6, 2015.

Awarded the Community College Skilled Trades Equipment Program (CCSTEP) for $748,893.37. The grant will support purchase of equipment for the EMT/Paramedic, Welding, Water Resource Management, and Mechatronics programs. (March 2015)

2016 Bay College announced the addition of an athletic program in fall 2017 providing intercollegiate competition for students in women’s and men’s sports. Initial sports offered at Bay College starting in 2017 will include: Men’s & Women’s Cross Country (fall); Men’s Basketball (winter); Women’s Basketball (winter). (Board approved May 18)

The College is one of 38 community colleges in 13 states; the only school in Michigan, to receive an open educational resource (OER) grant to create new degree programs using high-quality OER in new degree programs. The grant provides $100,000 cash and another $100,000 in resources. The grant will accelerate the College’s ability to further implement OER and reduce the significant college completion barrier of high cost textbooks to many students. T he grant period is 31 months and is associated with

Achieving the Dream. The College’s Achieving the Dream Leader College status was a significant benefit in obtaining the grant. (June 14, 2016)

Renovation completion of the HUB (formerly the LRC) and the Math Science building was celebrated with a Foundation Fundraising event on November 4, 2016. The buildings were ready for students fall 2016. (Aug 2016)

Fall enrollment was at 1842 students (62% part-time, 38% full-time), of which 1431 are degree seeking and 369 dual enrolled.

2017 The new Library opened for students for the winter 2017 semester. (January)

The College has 218 total employees: 114 full-time employees (44 full-time faculty).

The Board of Trustees approved the addition of baseball and softball teams to the Athletic program beginning with the 2018-19 season (November 8, 2017)

2018 The College received Reaffirmation of Accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission for the full eight-year cycle. (February 20)

Bay College is again ranked in the Top 10 Digital College’s in the nation. This year the College is ranked #5 for small community colleges (5,000 students). This is the last year of the award. (April 25)

The Hannahville Indian Community awarded $4,813,064.00 to fund expansion and renovation of the College’s gymnasium facility and to issue a bond to finance the construction project in the amount of $3 million at 4% interest (the present value of $4,813,064.00 discounted at the College’s borrowing rate of 4% over 24.5 years is $3.0 million), with payments made from the Tribe to the College hereunder will be used to service the annual bond principal and interest payment according to an agreed upon amortization schedule as encompassed in the MOA. (June 20)

Courtyard was redesigned. (Aug)

2019 Veterans’ Memorial in the Courtyard dedicated at a ceremony on May 7. The memorial is placed near the red maple and weeping willow trees that represent the blood and tears shed for fallen soldiers and were planted by local Vietnam Veterans.(May 7)

Millage proposal for operating funds and Headlee restoration was defeated 5,332 no to 1,874 yes. (Nov 5)

Athletic Addition $1,486,535 project complete. The gymnasium building name changed to the Physical Education Center (PEC). (Dec)

Trustees named the Library the “Thomas L. Butch Library” in honor of Tom’s 45 years of service on the Board of Trustees. (Dec 18)

2020 Spring break was extended two additional days to transition most face-to-face classes to online instruction through April 12, in an abundance of caution and to prevent and contain the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). (Mar 13)

Governor Whitmer announced a stay-at-home order beginning March 24 to reduce spread of the coronavirus. The remainder of the winter and summer 2020 semesters were held online and the campus closed its physical campuses to the public. Most employees worked remotely from home. All services and classes continued online. (Mar 24)

Bay was named #6 of the “Best Online Community Colleges” in Michigan for online course delivery by Guide to Online Schools . (June 11)

The TRiO grant was awarded another five-year grant ($1.7 million) from the U.S. Department of Education a fter 27 years at Bay. The grant received a perfect score and will provide $348,000 annually to serve 160 students. (August 2020)

Fall 2020 semester began two weeks early on August 17 to bring students back to campus and get as many weeks of face-to-face classes in as possible throughout the coronavirus pandemic. The semester ended on November 25. Courses were offered in multiple modalities: online, hybrid, with teleconference services such as Zoom, and alternating face-to-face sections with online sections.

$2.8 million infrastructure improvements with Johnson Controls, Inc. were approved to include two roofs, boilers, air handlers, parking lot lighting and efficiency measures. (Sept 16)

2021 Bay College and Northern Lights YMCA entered into a new 50-year agreement. The agreement was signed and the YMCA began leasing the former M-TEC building on February 15; the same date the original agreement was signed 31 years ago. The lease includes a $1 lease fee for 50 years. Gundlach Champion was commissioned to lead phase 1 of the YMCA expansion project which will transform the facility into one of the finest YMCAs in the Midwest. (Feb 15)

Women’s Volleyball was added to Norse Athletics to begin Fall 2022. (June 16)

The Student Success Center successfully ran Supplemental Instruction for several courses again after a one year hiatus due to COVID. Twenty+ tutors were also hired and were able to successfully fulfill all student tutoring requests in the first week of classes. (Fall 2021)

Thomas L. Butch Library was dedicated. (July 29, 2021)

The YMCA ribbon cutting for the new site located at the College’s prior M-TEC building was held on October 27.

$2.8 million infrastructure improvements with Johnson Controls, Inc. to include two roofs, boilers, air handlers, parking lot lighting and efficiency measures. (November 2021)

Curriculum was approved to meet the State of MI mandated changes to transitional studies. IT automated the flags to determine if a student met the college-level threshold to be enrolled without a corequisite workshop course. (December 15, 2021)

2022 The College, with the City of Detroit and Detroit Public Schools, developed water technology training to meet the employment needs of the City of Detroit/Great Lakes Water Authority. The Randolph ISD in Detroit launched Bay’s online water resource workforce training class to parents and students of Detroit Public Schools The class was limited to 16 students who would work to complete their first workforce training water module. (early 2022)

Bay Norse was unanimously accepted to the Michigan Community College Athletic Association (MCCAA) conference. (February 7, 2022)

Achieving the Dream recognized Bay College again as a Leader College of Distinction for improving student success and closing equity gaps in pursuing a higher education. (March 2022)

Dr. Laura Coleman announced her intent to retire as President of Bay de Noc Community College, effective June 30, 2023.

Bay College received the 2002 Delta County Chamber Business of the Year Award. (October 13, 2022)

Bay College was one of ten Achieving the Dream Leader Colleges selected to participate in the Accelerating and Diversifying Nursing Pathways in Community Colleges cohort, an initiative offered by Achieving the Dream through the generous funding of the Brave of Heart Fund. The grant provides $300,000 over three years to address both the shortage of nurses, especially nurses who identify as Black, Indigenous or people of color, and the pervasive, systemic inequities in nursing pathways today. (November 4, 2022)

2023 The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services awarded Public Health of Delta and Menominee Counties a $100,000 Planning Grant for a proposed school- based clinic at Bay College. If the planning stage succeeds, the project will receive an annual $300,000 grant from MDHHS so long as targets are met. (January 30, 2023) Dr. Nerita L. Hughes was hired as the sixth president of Bay de Noc Community College by the Board of Trustees, on May 2, 2023. The effective date of hire was July 10, 2023.

The Higher Learning Commission approved the College’s Competency Based Education (CBE) application for the Water Technology Certificate on June 9, 2023.

2024 The Bay College West Campus name was changed to the Bay College Iron Mountain Campus and the Bay de Noc Community College West Campus Advisory Board was changed to the Bay de Noc Community College Iron Mountain Campus Advisory Board by the Board of Trustees. (Feb 2024)

The Center for Youth Health & Wellness (The Center), located on the Escanaba Bay College Campus, held its Grand Opening on August 22, in Room 231 in the Catherine Bonifas Building. The Center is a child and adolescent health center providing non- emergency medical care and mental health care for people 10 – 21 years of age. The Center is made possible by a partnership between Public Health, Delta & Menominee Counties and Bay College. (Aug 2024)