Spartanburg Methodist College

Spartanburg Methodist College is a private, two-year institution of higher learning, or junior college, located in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It is the only independent, regionally-accredited, residential two-year college in South Carolina.

As a junior college, SMC gives students the opportunity to focus on their freshman and sophomore years of college in order to prepare to transfer to a four-year college or university. SMC offers a liberal arts curriculum designed to help prepare students for this transition.

History
Spartanburg Methodist College was founded as Textile Industrial Institute in 1911 by Dr. David English Camak, a visionary Methodist minister. At its founding as a work-study cooperative, TII served young adults working in area textile mills by offering high school level courses in preparation for advanced education or employment. In this first cooperative education program in the country, students worked a week and then took classes for a week. This arrangement enabled the school to provide resources for education and for life.

In 1927, the first two years of college-level work were added to the curriculum to provide graduates with an associate degree in liberal arts for transfer to senior level colleges. The continued close relationship between TII and local business and industry led to the development of associate degrees that prepared students for immediate employment.

In 1940, the high school classes were dropped from the TII curriculum. In 1942, Textile Industrial Institute became Spartanburg Junior College and for the next twenty-five years focused its efforts on providing associate degrees designed for transfer into a wide variety of bachelor degree programs. Beginning in 1965, the College began a cycle of growth during which over three-fourths of the present campus buildings were erected or renovated, the curriculum was broadened and strengthened, student enrollment doubled and new expertise was added through faculty growth and development.

In 1974, Spartanburg Junior College became Spartanburg Methodist College.

Since its founding, the College has been affiliated with the mission work of the United Methodist Church and its forebear, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The relationship between the College and the church has continued across the years through the General Board of Global Ministries and the Board of Global Ministries of the South Carolina Annual Conference. The College’s name attests to the pride the institution’s trustees, faculty, staff, and student body take in working and studying at a college based on the traditional values of the church and the United States of America.

Today, Spartanburg Methodist College serves a highly diverse student body from several states of the United States as well as from several different nations of the world. The College seeks to meet the educational needs of its student body by enabling each student to meet the challenges of a technologically based future. Spartanburg Methodist College offers a variety of educational programs to meet the needs of the traditional college student and of the non-traditional working adult.

The college is led by a Board of Trustees comprising 24 members, with six clergy members and 18 laity. Terms are staggered on a three-year basis. Colleen Perry Keith has served as the College's seventh president since July 1, 2009.

Accreditation
Spartanburg Methodist College is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and with the South Carolina Annual Conference. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the University Senate of the United Methodist Church.

Student Body Makeup
* Fall 2009 data provided by Spartanburg Methodist College

Enrollment: 808 (775 full time / 33 part time)

Percent of Freshman applicants admitted: 70%

Male/Female Ratio: 57% / 43%

Racial composition: Caucasian 67% / African-American 27% / Hispanic 4% / Other minorities 2%

On-campus residents vs. commuter students: 66% / 34%

Spartanburg Methodist College serves students from every part of South Carolina. In fall 2009, 42 of the state’s 46 counties are represented in the student body, In addition, students from seven states (other than SC), one US territory, and three foreign countries are enrolled. Sixty-one non‐SC resident students account for six percent of the student body.

Academics
SMC offers six degree programs: Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, Associate in Criminal Justice, Associate in Religious Studies, Associate in Fine Arts, and Associate in Business. It also offers a Paralegal Certification Program.

Athletics
The college is a Division I member of Region X of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Region X includes colleges in the Carolinas, West Virginia, and Virginia. SMC offers 14 intercollegiate athletic programs which include Men's and Women's Soccer, Men's and Women's Tennis, Men's and Women's Golf, Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Softball, Volleyball, and Wrestling. The college's athletic teams have won numerous regional, divisional, and national titles.

The men's soccer team won the 1994 NJCAA national championship. Several other teams have made appearances in their respective NJCAA (JUCO) Division I national tournaments in recent years — most recently women's golf (three individual Top 50 finishes, 2011), men's tennis (26th place finish, 2010), wrestling (29th place finish, 2010), men's cross country (20th place, 2009), women's cross country (16th place, 2009) and volleyball (16th place finish, 2009).

Notable alumni
Alumni of the college include major leaguers Orlando Hudson, Lee Gronkiewicz, Mookie Wilson,, Reggie Sanders, and Dwight Smith.