General Information

The Alabama Community College System Mission Statement:

The Mission of the Alabama Community College System is to provide a unified system of institutions dedicated to excellence in delivering academic education, adult education, and workforce development.

Bishop State Community College Vision and Mission Statement:

Bishop State Community College will be a comprehensive learning institution that equips students and the community with the skills, knowledge, and ability to achieve real-world success. 

Bishop State Community College promotes career pathways through open access to an affordable, quality education in a diverse and inclusive environment. 

Bishop State Community College fulfills its mission by offering the following: 

• Access - Strengthen and expand access by increasing awareness of educational opportunities that are reflective of student, industry, and community needs. 
• Student Success- Promote a student-centered environment that utilize technology and educational pathways that concentrates on student achievement, engagement and educational excellence 
• Integrity - Operating with accountability, transparency and mutual respect of all stakeholders. 
• Workforce - Achieve regional and statewide recognition as a primary college of choice for providing workforce training by delivering high quality programs and instruction that enables students to grow, succeed, and stay globally competitive. 
• Collaboration - Nurture collaborative relationships with K-12, universities, industry, philanthropic, and community partners to develop a cohesive educational strategy that seek to solve common challenges. 
• Resources & Efficiency - Strategically leverage, grow and utilize resources to maximize student success and institutional sustainability and effectiveness. 

Principles of Integrity to Guide Bishop State Community College

As members of the Bishop State family - administrators, faculty, staff, students, and alumni - we believe in the following principles of integrity that serve as a code of ethics to lead us in the fulfillment of our individual and collective “Commitment to a Program of Excellence” for the overall good of Bishop State Community College.

1. Truthfulness and Integrity - We value honesty in all we do and say.
2. Responsiveness and Accountability - We serve the people of Alabama and respond to them with our best decision-making and actions.
3. Helpfulness - We help by providing beneficial knowledge, information, and training to individuals, groups, and communities.
4. Orderliness - We organize data, information, facts, and ideas in a manner that is useful, retrievable, and applicable.
5. Betterment - We seek to be better every day in every facet of our work.
6. Thrift and Value - We conscientiously accept the responsibility for stewardship of all funds, using money wisely and faithfully.
7. Ethics, Courtesy and Civility - We comply with applicable laws, rules, regulations of government, accrediting agencies, our governing board and our moral compass.
8. Equal Opportunity - We respect the dignity and worth of all individuals. We treat people with equality without regard to their race, color, gender, age, national origin, religion, and physical or mental capacity.
9. Responsible Independence - We accept responsibility for the fulfillment of our mission through the independence from interference and undue influence required by accreditation standards.
10. Effectiveness - We measure our progress toward goals and objectives in fulfilling our mission.

Adopted from “Management Values to Guide the Alabama College System”

History of the College

Founded in the summer of 1927, Bishop State Community College was originally the Mobile Branch of Alabama State College in Montgomery, Alabama that was established as an in-service arm to offer extension courses to African-American elementary and secondary teachers in Mobile. Alabama State College is now known as Alabama State University.

In 1936, O. H. Johnson was appointed as dean. The first full-time faculty consisted of seven persons, which included pioneers in education such as Dr. Benjamin F. Baker, Mary Wilbur Weeks Burroughs and C.F. Powell. Dr. Sanford D. Bishop, Sr. joined the teaching staff of “The Branch” in 1938 as an instructor of English and music. In 1941, he was named dean.

In 1942, property was acquired on Broad Street, the site of present Main Campus. The campus consisted of a two-story framed building, which prior to the purchase of the property, was used by the Voluntary Fire Fighters Society #11. It was purchased with a loan that was later repaid by students through fund-raisings. In 1963, the name “Mobile Branch of Alabama State College” was changed to “Alabama State College-Mobile Center.”

In 1965, the Alabama State Legislature ratified the Alabama State Board of Education’s action establishing the “Alabama State College-Mobile Center” as “Mobile State Junior College” and severed its affiliation with Alabama State College in Montgomery. Dr. Bishop was appointed president of the new independent junior college. In 1971, the Alabama State Legislature renamed the College as “S.D. Bishop State Junior College.”

Upon the death of Dr. Bishop on June 21, 1981, Dr. Joseph Christopher Mitchell was selected to serve as interim president. In September 1981, Dr. Yvonne Kennedy was appointed as the second president.

On February 23, 1989, the Alabama State Board of Education re-named the College to “Bishop State Community College” to reflect its growth in vocational/career offerings, transfer offerings, and community service activities. On August 22, 1991, the Alabama State Board of Education consolidated Southwest State Technical College and Carver State Technical College with Bishop State Community College.

Southwest State Technical College, now the Southwest Campus of Bishop State Community College, was established to provide postsecondary vocational training in the Mobile area under the 1947 Regional Trade School Act. The city of Mobile provided the 26 acres of land for the campus. The first graduates of 1954 were 15 members of a practical nursing program who had begun classes in January 1953. The college officially opened in May 1954 with an enrollment of 100 students in eight programs.

Carver State Technical College, now the Carver Campus of Bishop State Community College, was authorized on January 1, 1962, by the Alabama State Legislature and was later constructed in 1962 in the Toulminville area of Mobile. On November 19, 1976, the Alabama State Board of Education approved changing the name of Carver State Technical Trade School to Carver State Technical Institute and later to Carver State Technical College.

In 1995, the College added an extension to the Main Campus with the opening of the Baker-Gaines Central site. This site was formerly the historic Central High School. The facility houses the Division of Health Related Professions. In addition, it includes a museum, child care center, 1,200-seat auditorium, multimedia center, and a bookstore.

Dr. Kennedy was president for 26 years, retiring on July 30, 2007. Dr. James Lowe, Jr., became the interim president on August 1, 2007, and on May 22, 2008, the Alabama State Board of Education appointed him president.

On February 18, 2015, James Lowe, Jr. passed away. Dr. Ullysses McBride was appointed March 10, 2015 as interim president. Dr. Valerie Richardson was appointed as Bishop State Community College’s interim president on August 27, 2015. On October 20, 2015, the ACCS appointed Dr. Richardson as Bishop State Community College’s president.

On February 19, 2016, the Alabama Community College System (ACCS) selected Dr. Reginald Sykes as acting President of Bishop State Community College.  On July 12, 2017, Dr. Reginald Sykes was appointed President of Bishop State Community College.

On July 14, 2021 Dr. Reggie Sykes retired from the College.  On July 15, 2021, the Alabama Community College System appointed then Executive Vice President, Dr. Lawrence Brandyburg, to serve as the interim president of Bishop State Community College.

On July 13, 2022, the Alabama Community College System (ACCS) Board of Trustees appointed Olivier Charles, ACCS Vice Chancellor for Student Success, as President of Bishop State Community College.

Policy of Nondiscrimination

In accordance with the official policy of the Alabama Community College System Board of Trustees, Bishop State Community College is committed to equal opportunity in employment and education. No person is excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination under any program, activity, or employment on the grounds of race, color, disability, sex, religion, creed, national origin, or age. Bishop State Community College complies with non-discrimination regulations under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, as amended (20 U.S.C., subsections 1681-1683, 1685-1686), which prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (20 U.S.C. subsection 794), which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disabilities; Title IX, Section 106.8, which provides protection against acts of sexual harassment; the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; and the Campus Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990 (Title II of Public Law 101-542). Bishop State Community College also complies with The Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1989 (P.L. 100-690). Inquiries concerning Title VI, Title VII, Title IX, ADA, and/or Section 504 may be directed to the following:

Inquiries concerning this policy as it relates to two-year institutions should be directed to: