Indian River State College

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Indian River State College (IRSC) is a state college based in Fort Pierce, Florida which serves the counties of Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee and St. Lucie. It has branch campuses in Okeechobee, St. Lucie West in Port St. Lucie, Stuart and Vero Beach plus other facilities in the area.

[edit] History

The college was established in 1959 as Indian River Junior College and located in a former public school building in Fort Pierce. IRJC moved to its current main campus on Virginia Avenue in 1963 after the city of Fort Pierce donated 87 acres (352,000 m²) of land, that was formerly the city landfill, to the institution. In 1970, the Board of Trustees decided a name more fitting of the College's service to the community was needed, and it was renamed Indian River Community College. This was in keeping with the national trend for public junior colleges to drop the word "junior" in favor of 'Community." Within the confines of the College, the school is called The River. The school's mascot is the Pioneer.

On September 10, 2007, IRCC's Board of Trustees voted unanimously to change the college's name to Indian River College, to better reflect its expanding degree offerings. The change needed to be enacted into law by the Florida Legislature.^[1] Ultimately, the school's name was changed to Indian River State College by the college's board of trustees effective 1 July 2008.^[2]

[edit] Transition to four-year college

Until June 2007, the college was a two-year institution, but in August, 2007, it began its transition into a four-year institution. Nine Bachelor's Degree programs have been added in middle and secondary school teacher education in math and science, exceptional student education, nursing, organizational management, public safety administration and healthcare management.

[edit] Accreditation

Indian River State College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award Associate and Baccalaureate Degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, GA 30033-4097, or call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of IRSC.

[edit] Additional offerings

The institution offers additional educational programs such as Technical Certificates and Applied Technology Diplomas. The institution also offers an Adult High School Program that allows adults that have not graduated high school to continue earning credits that may be counted towards their completion of the GED. IRSC also participates in the dual enrollment state program to allow students to take college classes at a discount while in a public high school. They host the Clark Advanced Learning Center, a technology-based high school as a joint venture between the Martin County School District and IRSC.

The college has successful swimming & diving teams. Indian River swimming has won 32 straight NJCAA swimming championships.

The Kight Center for Emerging Technologies is #1 in technology in the nation for mid-size colleges. This designation was awarded by the American Association of Community Colleges and the Center for Digital Education for 2005, 2006, and 2007.^[3]

[edit] Notable Alumni

Steve Pearce

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Website