The First Twenty Five Years: Highlights in the Development of Des Moines Area Community College, 1991

INTRODUCTION

In its first twenty-five years, Des Moines Area Community College has grown from its initial status as a fledgling institution with 28 students enrolled in four career programs, to become a mature community college enrolling over 11, 000 credit students and providing educational services to over 75, 000 persons annually. The vision and commitment of a great many people have enabled this transition to take place, and have resulted in the College becoming recognized as a leader nationally as well as within the state.

This publication briefly identifies chronologically some of the major events which have contributed to the College's development. It is not intended as a comprehensive list - such an undertaking would be massive indeed! Many decisions as to whether to include or exclude a particular event had to be made. The writer assumes responsibility for those judgments, recognizing that others may have made different decisions.

Primary documents which were used in development of this publication included Minutes of meetings of the Board of Directors Annual Reports prepared by the College staff Annual Progress Reports submitted to the Iowa Department of Education Institutional Self-Study Reports submitted to the North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools, and the Institutional Data Book.