NOVA’s Incredible Earliest Days
On this day in 1965, NOVA opened its doors as the Northern Virginia Technical College on South Carlin Springs Road in Bailey’s Crossroads.
Known as Nova Tech, it was housed in a windowless converted warehouse, which had recently been vacated by one of the electronics research units of Melpar, Inc. The front entrance is shown below. It was near the current site of REI, a retail store for outdoor enthusiasts.
Nova Tech’s was created with passage of House Bill 205 in the 1964 session of the General Assembly. It included an emergency clause and went into effect when the bill was signed by Governor Albertis Harrison on March 31, 1964.
The legislation and subsequent regulations established a process to receive applications from local governing bodies to create regional technical colleges on or before January 26, 1965. Applications had to provide data to show the need for technically trained workers in the area and a pledge by the local governing bodies that they would provide land or buildings for the school.
On January 18, 1965, a group of Northern Virginia education supporters organized a mass meeting to consider proceeding with an application. It was attended by school superintendents and elected officials from Northern Virginia’s local governments.
By January 23, all the region’s governing bodies approved resolutions in support of the application. The City of Fairfax offered five vacant rooms in its City Hall as temporary college office space. What happened next comprises the colleges earliest days:
Early Timeline
|
April 9, 1965 |
Robert McKee named President of Nova Tech |
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May 3 |
Temporary site approved |
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May 17 |
President McKee starts work |
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June 21 |
Faculty selected |
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July 1 |
Contract awarded to remodel the site |
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August 1 |
Deans and department heads selected |
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September 20 |
Student registration |
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September 27 |
Remodeling completed |
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September 27 |
Classes begin |
Nova Tech was officially dedicated by Governor Albertis Harrison, pictured at right, at a ceremony on November 11, 1965, in which he spoke these prophetic words:
“This is the College of Necessity, the Academy of Opportunity, here and now, a child of the times in this fastest growing metropolitan area of the nation.”
Less than a year later, Northern Virginia Technical College would become Northern Virginia Community College after legislation was approved by the General Assembly and signed into law by Governor Mills Godwin in 1966 to create the Virginia Community College System and move all five technical colleges into the system.
Submitted by:
T. Dana Kauffman, Director of Government and Community Relations, TKauffman@nvcc.edu