Celebrate Fayetteville: Exploring the Greater Fayetteville Region

As of October 2012, 276 full-time teaching
faculty were employed, with 88 percent of
them holding doctoral or first professional
degrees. The student-to-faculty ratio is
approximately 16 to 1. The school has championship
caliber athletic programs, competing
in the NCAA Division II CIAA Conference, a
very popular and highly respected conference.
M E T H O D I S T
U N I V E R S I T Y
Methodist University is an example of how
a private institution can achieve success. With
roots back to 1955, the history of Methodist
University got its start when a citizens’ group
began discussing bringing a private college to
Fayetteville. The next year, the North Carolina
Conference of the Methodist Church accepted
the Fayetteville group’s offer. The state of
North Carolina chartered Methodist College,
as it was then known.
In 1957, the college’s trustees adopted the
college motto Veritas et Virtus, or Latin for
“Truth and Virtue.” In fall 1958, construction
of the first four buildings began. Methodist
College opened for business in September
1960 with 88 full-time students, 12 faculty
members and four buildings. Three apartment
buildings and a temporary gym, as well as
the Yarborough Bell Tower, Cumberland,
Garber, Sanford, and Weaver residence halls,
and Davis Memorial Library, were built in the
following years.
In 2004 the college changed its academic
structure by creating six schools, each with its
own dean. Methodist’s enrollment has been
approximately 2,000 students over recent years.
Methodist’s fiftieth anniversary of receiving
its charter was November 1, 2006, when then
President M. Elton Hendricks announced the
school’s name change of Methodist College to
Methodist University.
Methodist also added the Department of
Professional Nursing Studies in recent years.
The mission of the program is to educate
nursing students into caring nurses who think
critically, contribute to positive health, and serve
with compassion. The nursing program offers
a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, as approved
by the North Carolina Board of Nursing. The
program has been an asset to the community.
Methodist competes in the NCAA Division
III USA South Conference. The golf and baseball
programs are routinely high caliber, with
the men’s and women’s golf teams producing a
combined thirty-five national championships
between them. The university’s golf reputation
is further enhanced by its Professional MBA at
Pinehurst Country Club.
C U M B E R L A N D C O U N T Y
P A R T N E R S H I P F O R
C H I L D R E N
The Cumberland County Partnership for
Children operates with a vision of a community
committed to the health, safety, happiness
and education of all children and their
families. The Partnership for Children’s goals
are to improve child health, family support
and access to high quality child care and
education; advance children’s well-being;
strengthen families; raise the quality of early
care and education; and build partnerships.
The Cumberland County Partnership for
Children started in 1993-94, when the
North Carolina General Assembly provided
$20 million to establish Smart Start partnerships.
Cumberland was a part of the initial
twelve counties.
The Partnership for Children invites
Fayetteville and Cumberland County residents
“to join in supporting the education,
health, and well-being of Cumberland
County’s future—its 25,300 young children.”
F A Y E T T E V I L L E
C O M M U N I T Y
T E C H N I C A L
C O L L E G E
Fayetteville Technical Community College
(FTCC) offers “education for life,” meaning that
no matter what stage in life you may find yourself,
FTCC offers programs of study or courses
that are informative, useful and rewarding.
Annually serving over 40,000 students, FTCC is
known for its reputation of equipping students
with the tools it takes to affordably and quickly
enter the workforce upon graduation and begin
earning income or to easily transfer to a fouryear
college or university. FTCC has a business
profile in this Celebrate Fayetteville book, so you
can read more information about the college there.
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