Redefining the future for Coker College | Community Spirit

HARTSVILLE, SC (WMBF) You can’t drive through Hartsville without seen the name Coker at least a dozen times. The Coker family had a huge impact on the City, which of course includes Coker College.

Founded in 1908, Coker College is a private, co-ed four year liberal arts college. The main campus sits on 15 well manicured acres right in the heart of Hartsville. The buildings are mostly Georgian-style brick buildings, some of which are listed on the national register of historic places.

There’s a lot of history here on campus, but it’s the future President Dr. Robert Wyatt is looking to for his students and this institution.

“Redefining ready, meaning we are preparing these students to be ready in a different way than what was needed ten years ago,” he said. “We ask them to have an internship before they graduate, an externship, we’re asking them to study abroad. Things that will really prepare them to have as broad a range of experiences so they can secure that position that they want out of Coker.”

Coker’s new concepts seem to be working as the school has been ranked among the best colleges in the South by U.S. news and World Report as well as the Princeton Review.

The student body has grown as much as 20 percent in the past two years, but so had the faculty, keeping the ratios right where Dr. Wyatt wants them at 10 students for every teacher.

“We know we have 700 day school students and we have 70 faculty, so when we continue to increase that as a part of our five year plan, we’ve built in what those numbers would look like to maintain that ratio,” Dr. Wyatt said.

Dr. Wyatt believes the smaller classes is key to a better education and is what students are looking form, making Coker an attractive option, helping the college grow, which is what they’re looking for in the future.

“Our five year plan is to continue to grown, continue to expand our reach globally,” Dr. Wyatt said. “To provide our students with the very best educational experience they can have and to continue to enhance the Hartsville community and our relationship with it.

WMBF News has provided a slideshow gallery of photos within the City of Hartsville and can be found by clicking here. Do you have any photos of the city you want to share with us? Email them to news@wmbfnews.com and be sure to include who you are.

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