Valencia College was recently awarded the inaugural Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence.  This award is based on student performance and graduation data collected by the U.S. Department of Education.

Colleges recognized by the Aspen Prize serve as models and laboratories for identifying practices that can elevate community college education. This is extremely meaningful to the 6 million students who rely on the nearly 1,200 community colleges nationwide, particularly students who are under-represented in higher education.

Walter Isaacson serves as the president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan educational and policy studies institute.  The Aspen Institute board of trustees is made up of high-level individuals from the public and private sectors and include Madeleine K. Albright, Michael D. Eisner, Henry Louis Gates Jr., David Koch and Condoleezza Rice just to name a few. 

In selecting Valencia as the best community college in America, Aspen officials noted that over half of the college’s full-time students graduate or transfer within three years of entering the school, a rate significantly higher than the national average (51 percent versus 39 percent).

At a time when data show an increasing number of students nationwide are not ready for college-level work – and that the U.S. has slipped to 12th globally in the percentage of young adults who hold at least an associate degree – Valencia is experiencing rising graduation rates among all students, including minorities.

• Valencia has experienced dramatic increases in graduation rates among college-ready African American students, nearly tripling in the last decade from 15.4 percent to 44.3 percent today.
• Graduation rates for college-ready Hispanic students have similarly impressive gains, jumping from 38.7 to 45.5 percent in the last decade.

Because community colleges also train students for the workforce, Aspen judges focused on the college’s workforce training programs and the likelihood of graduates landing jobs. They noted that Valencia graduates “are employed at rates higher than graduates from any of the other 10 Aspen Prize finalists. This is especially impressive given the region’s unusually high unemployment rate and low job growth rate.”

This is not the first time that Valencia has made national news. In November, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching named Valencia ESL professor James May the 2011 Florida Professor of the Year. May was one of only 27 state professors selected to represent the most outstanding undergraduate instructors in the country.

In 2009, Valencia won the inaugural Leah Meyer Austin Institutional Student Success Leadership Award for helping minority students succeed. In 2007, the New York Times named Valencia as one of the nation’s leading community colleges, and in 2001, Valencia was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the nation’s best schools at helping first-year students excel.

Register today for FAFSA Frenzy February – a program offered by Valencia’s financial aid department to educate students about the free application for federal student aid (FAFSA), college goal sunday in Florida, veteran’s affairs and much more.

So why should you attend? A FAFSA must be submitted every year to receive financial aid. Applying early can increase your financial aid award and you’ll have experts in this department to assist you! Drawings for laptops will occur for students who complete their FAFSA onsite.

Help is available on the following campuses, dates and times:

West Campus
Student Services Building (SSB), Room 142
February 8, 2012
1:00-7:00 p.m.

Osceola Campus
Building 3, Room 100
February 17, 2012
10:00-7:00 p.m.

East Campus
Building 4, Room 122
February 22, 2012
1:00-7:00 p.m.

What are you waiting for? Visit http://valenciacollege.edu/finaid/fafsafrenzy.cfm to register today!

Dr. Bernice King, speaker, author, minister and daughter of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., will speak at Valencia College tomorrow at 1 p.m. in the East Campus Performing Arts Center (PAC).

King’s presentation, titled “Raising the Standard,” is meant to be a call to action—especially for students—to become more civically engaged in their communities and lead others to achieve the dreams and ideals of her father.

Her visit is being sponsored by Valencia’s office of Student Development. As space in the PAC is limited and available on a first-come, first-seated basis, the college will offer live streaming in an overflow area as well as at locations on other Valencia campuses: West Campus, HSB 105; Osceola Campus, Bldg. 1 Auditorium; or Winter Park Campus, Rms. 224, 225 & 226.

Valencia’s East Campus is located at 701 N. Econlockhatchee Trail in Orlando. The talk is free and open to the public. For more information, call 407-582-2313.

Source: Marketing and Strategic Communications, Valencia Community College; Valencia News; http://news.valenciacollege.edu

The program schedule offers a unique opportunity to join Valencia colleagues and expose yourself to subjects like Socratic dialogue, compassionate listening, ahimsa, the Buddhist notion of non-self, Islam, Ayurveda, self-leadership, peacebuilding, meditation and mindfulness.

 Valencia’s Peace and Justice program also host a Multifaith Forum with Imam Musri, Rabbi David Kay and Father William Holiday discussing the relevance of religion in the 21st Century on Wednesday afternoon from 1:00-2: 15 PM.   All events will be held on East in 3-113 and are free and open to all.

In addition, Osceola and West Campuses will host Agnes Umunna, Liberian radio host and author of And Still Peace Did Not Come.  A free and public film screening of Pray the Devil Back to Hell, hosted by the HEROS club will take place on West Campus in the Special Events Center, building 8 on Thursday evening from 6:30-9:00 PM.  The discussion following the film will be led by Ms. Umunna.

The community, Valencia Students faculty, staff, alumni and friends are invited to these events .  The schedule of events is available through the link below.  If you have questions, please feel free to contact the Peace and Justice Office at 407-582-2291 or peaceandjustice@valenciacollege.edu.

 For the full schedule of events, visit online at:
http://valenciacollege.edu/PJI/events/documents/MasterScheduleonepage.pdf

Orlando Declares Monday ‘Valencia College Day’

In honor of Valencia College winning the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the Orlando City Commission on Jan. 9 paid tribute to the college that has been recognized as being the top two-year college in the nation.

“They were not named one of the best community colleges in the nation, but the best, number one community college in the entire nation,” Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said, proclaiming that Jan. 9 would be recognized as Valencia College Day in the city of Orlando.

Last month, Valencia was named the winner of the inaugural Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence at a ceremony held in Washington, D.C. The award comes with $600,000 in prize money.

During Monday’s city commission meeting, Dyer and members of the commission said the nation is finally discovering what they’ve known for a long time: the excellent reputation of Valencia.

“Congratulations to Valencia College,” said Commissioner Samuel B. Ings. “It was Valencia Community College when I was there and graduated from Valencia in the 1970s. It was really great that the Aspen institute recognized the great things they’re doing.”

Ings noted that Valencia prepares a lot of minority students for the job market and helps them find employment as they near graduation. “They really do move a lot of students along, particularly African-Americans,” Ings said.

Several members of the Valencia College staff attended the city commission meeting to hear Mayor Dyer read the proclamation, including Valencia President Sandy Shugart, who  said his staff was deeply proud of the honor awarded by the Aspen Institute, and equally proud to be serving the Orlando community.

“A great college like Valencia College is only as good as the community we’re in,” Shugart said. “We’re grateful for that honor and that support.”

Dyer said the Aspen recognition is valuable to the city’s business leaders too. In a recent meeting to discuss economic development efforts in the city of Orlando, business leaders said one key to the city’s future growth will be having well-educated students and college graduates, Dyer said. “They talk about education being one of the most critical components,” Dyer said. He noted that Valencia College has a wide curriculum, offering 700 courses each semester, and that the college “produces more associates degrees each semester than any other community college in the nation.” These courses, Dyer said, “link students to well paying jobs” both in Orlando and other parts of Florida and the nation.

Commissioner Daisy W. Lynum also noted that those courses have first-rate reputations as well. “It’s real good to stand for intelligence and brilliance in education,” she said.

The complete article can be viewed at:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-cfb-2012-technology-forecast-orlando-20120108,0,3422791.story

Dr. Lisa Macon is a professor of Computer Programming and Information Technology at the West Campus, where she also serves as the program chair for Information Technology.

“We’ve been receiving a lot of calls for internships or short-term job placement agencies looking for students who can develop apps,” said Lisa Macon, professor of Information Technology at Valencia College, who teaches a class on app development.

Macon said there are a few local app developers and they charge hefty prices for their services. Teaching students about app development not only serves local companies looking for a less costly alternative, but it also encourages entrepreneurial growth.

By Walter Pacheco, Orlando Sentinel
January 8 2012, 9:21 PM EST

Although registration began in early November, flex courses are still available for the spring term. If you are intersted in searching for possible classes – visit http://net5.valenciacollege.edu/schedule/ to see what’s still available! Monday, January 9, 2012 will start another school term and you have until January 17 to add or drop classes. Please remember that this is a critical deadline, you don’t want to be a “no show” if you decide a class isn’t for you!

Remember to always check www.valenciacollege.edu for important dates and deadlines and login to your atlas account for important announcements from the college, faculty and staff.

Here’s to a healthy, safe and successful school term!

This year, as a staff service project, foundation staff volunteered at IDignity. IDignity was created to help the disadvantaged in Central Florida overcome the difficulties of obtaining the personal identification that is crucial to enabling them to become self-sufficient. For more information about the program, visit www.idignity.org.

The December event was held at the Orlando Rescue Mission. As a staff we spread out, working in different areas. I ended up helping with crowd flow as folks went through reception and intake. For some clients, this was a second trip to an IDignity event, they had already processed all of the paperwork and were awaiting a document  (birth certificate, etc.).  Those folks would check in at reception, where there was a door with a window, and a volunteer would often say, “Okay, wait just a second, let me check the list.” The client would wait patiently as the volunteer would check a few places.

If the door opened, it was great news! Document in hand, the volunteer confirmed the client’s identity and handed over the document. This was a celebratory occasion, not enough to just slip the document through the window and please move on your way. Volunteers offered applause, backslaps and cheers, with the clients in the reception area always joining in. For the client, the moment usually brought some tears, along with a story of how long this journey has taken. For some, it was as long as eight years spent trying to get correct documentation.

I joined in the cheering and revelry, but inside I felt a pang of guilt. I remembered back to when I lived in Illinois for a bit and had to get a new driver’s license. I was turned away because I didn’t bring in a certified copy of my birth certificate, just a photocopy. Even with my mom there, vouching the birth certificate was correct (she had been there!), even then they still turned me away. I remember the anger and frustration and inconvenience I felt, and now how out of context that was. All I had to do was wait for my mom to return to Florida, overnight the official copy and that was that.

My experience at IDignity was a great reminder not the let life’s little frustrations get you down. Even those working against insurmountable odds were able to face the day with a smile, a thanks, even a God bless. And I do promise, as one of my new year’s resolutions, to carry that experience in my heart all year as a reminder to always be grateful for what you do have. Happy new year!

Don’t miss Sandy Shugart in concert, releasing his newest CD, “Distances We Keep, “ at the Garden Theatre in Winter Garden.

Don’t miss Sandy Shugart in concert, releasing his newest CD “Distances We Keep,” at the Garden Theatre in Winter Garden.  Saturday, January 14, 2012 8pm.  Tickets: $15 (students/seniors $12); visit online for tickets.

This is coffeehouse music at its best – intelligent and engaging. Ranging in style from Americana to alternative country to urban folk, this singer-songwriter offers an acoustic tour of the emotions, including humor, with original songs mixed with the occasional cover.

Extended tickets for $40 include 6:30 pm pre-show reception plus 8 pm concert; visit online for tickets.

Garden Theatre -  gardentheatre.org/concerts/
160 West Plant Street
Winter Garden, FL 34787

Silver Spring, MD (December 12, 2011) – We are proud to congratulate Valencia College for winning The Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence.  Valencia College – an Achieving the Dream Leader College and 2009 winner of Achieving the Dream’s most prestigious award– the Leah Meyer Austin Institutional Student Success Leadership Award – was recognized today for demonstrated excellence in improved student performance over time. Valencia College was also recognized for achieving high levels of equity in outcomes among all student populations, and for its deliberate and sustained focus on using data to guide practice and policy to sustain student success and program completion. Today’s recognition is the culmination of an intensive, year-long process that included the review of institutional-level, disaggregated data on completion, labor market, and learning outcomes, and two-day site visits to each of the ten finalist colleges.

We want to especially applaud Valencia College President Sanford C. “Sandy” Shugart and the entire faculty and staff, who are outstanding leaders in every sense of the word – serious, committed, and effective exemplars of the student success process.  The work of improving student success is difficult, important, and urgent. Across the nation, more colleges are committing to raising persistence and graduation rates. Achieving the Dream Institutions like Valencia College are national exemplars of what is possible with an institution-wide commitment to student success and equity.

We are also proud to congratulate Achieving the Dream colleagues at Mott Community College and Southwest Texas Junior College who were among the top ten finalists for the Aspen Prize.  

Source: Marketing & Strategic Communications