RALEIGH, N.C. (October 31, 2017) - What’s in a name?! Wake Tech’s Main Campus, where the college first opened its doors in 1963, will now be called the Southern Wake Campus – to better reflect its place among Wake Tech’s five campus locations. The Southern Wake Campus is eight miles south of the Raleigh beltline, at 9101 Fayetteville Road (US 401). The announcement was made today, as the registration period opens for the Spring 2018 semester.

 

“We’ve grown so rapidly,” says Wake Tech Vice President Laurie Clowers, “and we’re truly a multi-campus college now, with programs and services throughout the county. ‘Main’ has become a misnomer for any one of our campuses. The new name is more appropriate, and we think it will make more sense to students and visitors.”

 

Building names on the Southern Wake Campus will change as well, adding a letter designation to make them more consistent with those on other campuses – and simplify navigation for students and visitors. Parking lots will get new letter designations to correspond with nearby buildings.

 

Chief Campus Officer Walter Martin explains that these changes keep building names from becoming outdated as the college grows. “As programs expand to multiple locations,” Martin says, “the new names will make life easier for everyone.”

 

Southern Wake is Wake Tech’s largest campus, serving nearly 10,000 students each semester.

Its new name is more consistent with those of Wake Tech’s Northern Wake Campus and Western Wake Campus. Others, the Perry Health Sciences Campus and the Public Safety Education Campus, have names that reflect their specialized missions. All Wake Tech campuses provide the same range of student services and the full resources of the college.

 

College administration will remain at its current location on the Southern Wake Campus.

 

This change is a milestone in Wake Tech’s 54-year history. The college opened as the W.W. Holding Industrial Education Center in 1963, with one building and 35 students in four programs: Automobile Mechanics, Radio and TV Repair, Electrical Installation and Maintenance, and Drafting. It became “Main Campus” when the Health Sciences campus opened in 1972. Today, Wake Tech has five campuses, three training centers, and a sixth campus on the way – the RTP Campus, which will open next year. Wake Tech has grown to become the largest of the state’s 58 community colleges, serving nearly 74,000 students each year.