The college resulted from the 2000 merger between two institutions, the former Shelby State Community College and the former State Technical Institute at Memphis ("STIM"). Nathan Essex, the school's founding president, announced in 2014 that he would retire the next summer.[3]
The merger was an attempt to reduce the overhead of maintaining two separate institutional managements and a recognition of the increasing convergence of academic and technical education. It also has made credits earned at the former Technical Institute more readily transferable to other institutions of higher learning, which was an additional goal of the merger. Southwest is one of the largest two-year colleges operated by the Tennessee Board of Regents.
Southwest Tennessee Community College is a comprehensive, multicultural, public, open-access college. Southwest is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Presidents
Jess H. Parrish (president, Shelby State Community College, 1970–1981)
Charles M. Temple (president, State Technical institute at Memphis, 1983–1995)
M. Douglas Call (president, State Technical institute at Memphis–2000)
Floyd "Bud" Amann (president Shelby State Community College 1996–2000)
Floyd "Bud" Amann (president Southwest Tennessee Community College 2000–2001)
Nathan Essex (president 2001–2015)
Tracy D. Hall (president 2015–present)
Campuses
Southwest has several campuses and centers. These include:
Both basketball teams have a winning tradition and regularly advance to the national tournaments. Basketball games are played at the Verties Sails Gymnasium on the Union Avenue Campus.