Valencia College
This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2015) |
![]() | |
Former names | Valencia Junior College Valencia Community College |
---|---|
Motto | We Say You Can. |
Type | Public |
Established | 1967 |
Endowment | $68 million[1] |
President | Sanford Shugart |
Academic staff | 396 |
Students | 59,958 |
Location | , Florida , USA |
Campus | Urban |
Colors | Red and Gold[2] |
Affiliations | Florida College System Association of Florida Colleges Southern Association of Colleges and Schools |
Mascot | Matador |
Website | www.valenciacollege.edu |
![]() |
Valencia College, also known as Valencia or VC, is a public state college in Orlando, Florida, United States. Valencia is the third-largest member institution of the Florida College System.
The college was founded in 1967 as "Valencia Junior College", taking the name "Valencia Community College" in 1971. In December 2010, Valencia's Board of Trustees voted to change the college's name to "Valencia College", as the academic scope of the school expanded to include bachelor's degrees.[3] Valencia has several campuses in Orlando with additional campuses in Kissimmee and Winter Park. More than 30,000 students enroll each year. Valencia is ranked first in the United States for the number of Associate's degrees awarded; it is first among two-year schools.[4]
Valencia was named the top community college in the United States in 2011 by the Aspen Institute. The Aspen Institute awarded Valencia the first annual Aspen Prize for College Excellence after a year-long effort to recognize extraordinary accomplishments in individual institutions of the nation’s 1,200 community colleges. The Aspen award was granted based on, "a rigorous, yearlong effort...to assemble and review an unprecedented collection of data on community colleges and the critical elements of student success: student learning, degree completion and transfer, equity and employment/earnings after college."[5]
Seal
The official seal of the college includes the coat of arms of Valencia, Spain, in the middle and the entire diamond design stems from it. However, the college is not named for the city in Spain, but rather for the Valencia oranges which are grown in Central Florida (which is why the old-timers pronounce it [va-LEN-sha] as is proper for the citrus fruit).
Mascot
The mascot of Valencia College is the transvaginal ultrasound Probe.
Board of Trustees
The Valencia Foundation $68 million endowment is about 12 times the average community college endowment, which reflects the abnormally large commitment of local business, organizations, and individuals, including the foundation board of directors. People on the Board of Directors are as follows:[6]
- Chair, Maria Grulich – Maria Grulich is the first international development director for Osceola County, Florida.
- Vice Chair, Lew Oliver – Lew Oliver is a law partner at Quinones, Fitzgibbons, Pfister & Oliver P.L.
- Trustee, Raymer F. Maguire III –Raymer F. Maguire III is an owner of Maguire Lassman, P.A., an eminent domain law firm.
- Trustee, John Crossman – John Crossman is president of Crossman & Company, a retail leasing, management, development and marketing firm.
- Trustee, Guillermo Hansen – Guillermo Hansen is the publisher and editor of the newspaper, El Osceola Star in of Kissimmee, Florida.
- Trustee, Fernando Perez – Fernando Perez is the regional director of Biotronik Inc., a global manufacturer of cardiovascular medical devices.
- Trustee, Bruce Carlson - Bruce Carlson is the owner of Imagination Realty, Inc. and was previously the vice president of operations for E. I. DuPont De Nemours Performance Coating.
- Trustee, Daisy Lopez-Cid - Daisy Lopez-Cid is the owner of Remax Premier Properties.
Locations
Valencia College operates a total of five campuses and three sites in its service area, which encompasses Orange County and Osceola County.
Campuses
- East Campus (701 North Econlockhatchee Trail Orlando FL, 32825)
- Osceola Campus (1800 Denn John Lane Kissimmee FL, 34744)
- West Campus (1800 South Kirkman Road Orlando FL, 32811)
- Winter Park Campus (850 West Morse Boulevard Winter Park FL, 32789)
- Lake Nona Campus (12350 Narcoossee Road Orlando FL, 32832)
Sites
- Criminal Justice Institute The Criminal Justice Institute occupies a separate 77,000-square-foot (7,200 m2) state-of-the-art criminal justice training facility. The CJI is certified and approved by Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to operate law enforcement and corrections academies, advanced courses and specialized training. Valencia is one of 4 colleges in Florida that trains Department of Juvenile Justice recruit officers.
- Valencia District Office Valencia's District Office is located at Park Place at MetroWest. The District Office is home to the Office of the President, Academic Affairs, College & Community Relations, Workforce Development, Organizational Development, Human Resources and the Valencia Foundation.
- Valencia Continuing Education and Professional Training is located at Sand Lake Center. Valencia's continuing education, training and professional development division of Valencia College serves businesses, government agencies, individuals and organizations of all sizes, across every industry throughout the Central Florida community.
- Valencia International and Continuing Education is located alongside the continuing education and professional training division at West Campus. Valencia's International and Continuing Education division offers conversational English and Spanish courses, cultural diversity workshops, American sign language and corporate training programs to prepare students for entry into a college degree program.
Academics
The average class size is 23 students.[7]
Tuition
Tuition for Florida residents is $103.06 per credit hour for students pursuing an associate degree. Tuition is $390.96 per credit hour for out-of-state students pursuing an associate degree.
(So for a Florida resident taking 15 credits per semester, the cost of 30 credits – or a full year of attendance – would be $3091.80 per year, while an out-of-state student would pay $11,728.80 for a full year of classes.)
Tuition is $112.19 per credit hour for Florida residents pursuing a bachelor’s degree at Valencia. Tuition is $427.59 per credit hour for out-of-state students pursuing a bachelor’s degree at Valencia.[8]
Accreditation
Awards
2011 winner of the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence.[9] Valencia College was named "best community-college in the nation" for dedication to student success by the Aspen Institute.
Valencia was named 1998–99 National Community College of the Year by the National Alliance of Business and was chosen by Time Magazine in 2001 as one of the nation's best schools at helping first-year students excel.[10]
Student profile
College-wide Headcount = 59,958 for 2013. [8]
88% Degree/Certificate seeking students 60.1% AA 39.9% AS/AAS/Certificate
Race/Ethnicity Diversity Enrollment: 16.6% African American, 5.1% Asian/Pacific Islander, 38.7% Caucasian, 28.9% Hispanic, 0.3% Native American, 10.4% Other[citation needed]
Financial aid growth
- $153.9 million financial aid awarded in 2009–2010. (End of year in 2008–2009 was $90 million).
- Valencia is the number two (2) public college in Florida and number twenty-eight (28) nationally (among all colleges) in Pell grant recipients.
- Over 27,000 students registered and received aid in 2009–2010.
Arts and entertainment programs
- Valencia's film production program has been called "one of the best available in the country" by Steven Spielberg.
- Howie Dorough of the Backstreet Boys and Chris Kirkpatrick of *NSYNC attended its music department.
- Bob Newhart temporarily taught at Valencia in 2003.
Partnerships
A long-standing partnership between Valencia College and the University of Central Florida has contributed to Valencia’s transfer rate, considered to be among the highest in the country. DirectConnect to UCF guarantees Valencia graduates acceptance and accelerated admission to the University of Central Florida. Since the program’s inception in 2006, approximately 45,000 students have indicated that they are DirectConnect to UCF students.[11]
Athletics
Although Valencia is not a member of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), Intramural sports are available. The Valencia Community College bowl team has won five national community college championships at NAQT and Six State championships.
Student Government
Valencia College maintains an active Student Government Association on all of its campuses:
- East Campus Student Government
- West Campus Student Government
- Osceola Campus Student Government
- Winter Park Campus Student Government
- Lake Nona Campus Student Government
Notable Alumni
- Mike Bielecki (1979), baseball player
- Rich Crotty (1970), Orange County Chairman
- Howie Dorough (1993), Backstreet Boys member
- Scott Fletcher (1978), baseball player
- Gregg Hale (1992), filmmaker and producer
- Chris Kirkpatrick (1993), N'Sync member
- Sharon Lewis (1993), business person
- Olindo Mare (1994), football player
- Wes Platt (1989), journalist and author
- Al Weiss (1974), business person
- Scott Stapp (unknown), Creed member
2013 Board of Trustees controversy
In early 2013, several central Florida news agencies reported on a dispute between college president Dr. Sanford Shugart and the board of trustees regarding allegations of nepotism, manipulating the bidding process and abuse of power.[12][13] This resulted in Valencia Board Chairwoman Bertica Cabrera Morris losing her position in April of that year.[14]
Presidential visit
On March 20, 2014 President Barack Obama visited Valencia's West Campus to discuss women's rights and increasing minimum wage.
See also
References
- ^ Endowment Information
- ^ Valencia Identity Summary Sheet. ValenciaCollege.edu. Valencia College. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
- ^ Postal, Leslie (December 14, 2010). "Say hello to Valencia College". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
- ^ http://today.ucf.edu/valencia-no-1-for-associate-degrees/
- ^ "Florida's Valencia College Named Top US Community College". The Aspen Institute. Retrieved January 28, 2012.
- ^ "Board of Directors". Retrieved May 24, 2013.
- ^ "Just The facts" (PDF). Valencia College. Retrieved February 3, 2013.
- ^ a b "Tuitoin". Valencia College. Retrieved August 14, 2014. Cite error: The named reference "Valencia College" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
- ^ "Valencia College receives Aspen Prize". Community College Times, Matthew Dembicki. Retrieved December 12, 2011.
- ^ http://valenciacc.edu/aboutus/whoweare/fascfacts.cfm
- ^ http://valenciacc-news.com/direct-connect-to-ucf/valencia-is-again-top-producer-of-associate-degrees-in-nation
- ^ http://www.wftv.com/videos/news/video-9-investigates-controversy-power-struggles/vt5RT
- ^ http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-03-27/news/os-ed-valencia-college-controversy-20130326_1_sandy-shugart-valencia-college-bertica-cabrera-morris
- ^ http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2013-04-15/features/os-valencia-college-trustee-ousted-20130415_1_florida-senate-trustees-board
External links