Chemeketa Community College


Chemeketa Community College is a public community college in Salem, Oregon, with a campus in McMinnville, and education centers in Dallas, Brooks, and Woodburn. In addition, the college has a Center for Business and Industry in downtown Salem that houses the Small Business Development Center. It operates classes and programs benefiting area businesses.
Chemeketa employs over 1,100 people and serves nearly 30,000 students each year in a district that covers in Marion, Polk, most of Yamhill, and part of Linn counties.

History

Chemeketa's history began in 1952, when the Salem School District started the Salem Technical-Vocational School to provide training for unemployed people. It offered two programs, Nursing and Electronics, which took place in the school at the corner of 3rd and Gerth St. NW. In 1957, student records were lost in a fire at the district office.
In 1969 the college district was formed, and a competition was held to name the new college. The winning entry came from student Susan Blum, whose submission said that the term "Chemeketa" means "a peaceful gathering place" in the language of the regional Kalapuya tribe. In December 1969, the Board of Education approved the name Chemeketa Community College. Property was purchased near Lancaster Street, and current Building 22 was constructed as the first official building. Chemeketa officially began operating on July 1, 1970.
The Chemeketa Cooperative Regional Library Service began on the Chemeketa campus on July 1, 1974.
In the 1990s, Chemeketa was part of the Beacon Colleges Initiative of the American Association of Community and Junior Colleges, a group of projects intended to identify ways to better support students at community colleges.
In 2005, the college asked the Confederated Tribes of the [Grand Ronde Community of Oregon|Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde] and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz for permission to continue using the name Chemeketa. Both tribes approved the request, and on May 6 there was a naming ceremony attended by members of both groups, followed by an official public announcement of the name.

Academics and facilities

Chemeketa employs about 1,112 people as of 2024–2025.
The college offers Associate of Applied Science degrees and certificates in more than 90 professional-technical programs, as well as Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer Degrees, Associate of Applied Science, Associate of Science, Associate of Science - Oregon Transfer Business, Associate of Science - Oregon Transfer Computer Science, and Associate of General Studies degrees.
The Chemeketa Cooperative Regional Library Service offices are located at the Salem campus.
The Gretchen Schuette Art Gallery is located on the Salem campus. It was named after former Chemeketa president Gretchen Schuette, who donated to the college to "create a sustaining foundation for the arts." The gallery has several shows per year, and frequently holds shows for the artwork of students or faculty and staff.
Chemeketa's sports teams use the name "Chemeketa Storm." The Salem campus has a baseball field which has been used as a home field by locally-based teams, including the Salem Senators and the Marion Berries. The Salem Sabres have also played their home games at Chemeketa.
The campus in Eola, near West Salem, houses the Northwest Wine Studies Center. Opened in 2003, the Center is the site of the college's winemaking and vineyard management programs and includes a working vineyard. This program was the first of its kind in Oregon and was developed because of the growth of the Willamette Valley as a center of wine industry. The Northwest Wine Studies Center is located in the Eola-Amity Hills AVA, a sub-region of the Willamette Valley AVA.

Faculty, staff, and administration

Chemeketa's first president was Paul F. Wilmeth, who came into the position on October 23, 1969. Wilmeth died on March 24, 1974, and Albion "Al" Ringo was the interim president from March 25 until July 1, when Donald L. Newport was appointed president. Arthur Binnie was president of the college until he resigned in April 1983. William E. Segura was named interim president and stayed in the position until July 1993, when he left to become president of Austin Community College. Gerard I. Berger became the interim president and was then named president that August. Gretchen Schuette was president from July 16, 2001 to August 20, 2007, when Cheryl Roberts became president. Roberts left in June 2014 to become president of Shoreline Community College, at which point Julie Huckstein became the interim president. Huckstein would remain in the position until her retirement on June 30, 2018.
Jessica Howard, the current president, has been in the position as of 2019.

Notable people

Faculty and staff