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Lake City Community College (LCCC), located adjacent to Lake City Municipal Airport, six miles east of Lake City, Florida, is an educational institution offering academic programs in liberal arts and sciences, occupational training and personal enrichment. The school serves 7,000 students each year from its' five-county district, which includes Baker, Columbia, Dixie, Gilchrist and Union counties.[2]
[edit] Early yearsAt the conclusion of World War II, the Lake City Naval Air Station was decommissioned and the Columbia Forestry School (CFS) was established in 1947, utilizing military structures that remained. At the time, Lake City claimed to be the "Forestry Capitol of the World". The first few years had extremely low enrollment and meager funding, causing the school's president to request help from the Florida Legislature. Instead of providing additional funding, the politicians directed the University of Florida to take over management of the school. Columbia Forestry School became the University of Florida Forest Ranger School in 1950.[3] Throughout the turbulent 60’s, the school had fewer than 400 students.[2] In 1961, the school was invited to become one of 28 two-year educational facilities in the state's master plan for education as Lake City Junior College. Increased funding allowed many of the wooden buildings to be replaced with brick structures after a fire burned several in 1963. However, a few of the WWII era buildings remained, though mostly unused, until the middle 1970's, when the last one was finally demolished.[3] The "Junior" was dropped and the word, "Community" was placed in the college's name in 1970 to emphasize that the school offered occupational and cultural enrichment education for area residents.[2][3] [edit] Major programs[edit] CosmetologyCosmetology is a one-year program (three semesters) which prepares students to pass the state of Florida examination to become a licensed cosmetologist. The program began in the mid-1960’s, and enrolled a full class for more than twenty years, before struggling during the 1990’s. The program was opened to students working full time when a night program was started for the Summer term in 2003.[4] [edit] Forest RangerForest Technology, which includes training in timber cruising & surveying, wood procurement and logging operations, has been offered at the college for over 60 years. The first participants received a certificate upon completion of the 12-month program, but graduates in 1970 invested two years to receive an Associate of Science degree in Forest Technology. Timber Harvesting Technician changed from a certificate program to an AS degree in Forest Engineering Technology in 1974, but was merged into Forest management in 1989. Over half of the instruction is provided in the field, where hands-on experience is emphasized.[3] [edit] Golf CourseThe Associate of Science degree in Golf Course Operations and Landscape Technology programs started in 1967 and throughout the 70's & 80's it was one of the most popular vocational programs.[5] The three-year curriculum is the only accredited program of its kind in the U.S. and includes two paid summer internships between challenging academic semesters. The program is recognized as one of the finest[6] and many graduates have become Golf course superintendents at notable facilities throughout the United States.[7] [edit] NursingThe nursing program at LCCC began in 1964 and is now part of the Allied Health Department which includes a dozen other health career programs. Nursing comprises four programs:
To meet the shortage of RNs, a bridge program was created for existing LPNs. However, most working LPNs could not afford to take a year off and return to school. In 2005, the Lake City Medical Center donated $130,000 to fund a new 12-month fast track bridge program. Classes were held two nights a week with clinical experience on Saturdays.[8] In 2003, the nursing program at LCCC was limited to 24 students.[9] In June, 2008 that number had grown to 60.[10] [edit] CorrectionsThe program for certification of Correctional officers began in the early-1970s as a cooperative effort between the college and the Florida Department of Corrections and was offered in both day and evening schedules. The college's five-county district includes over a dozen state incarceration facilities including major prisons, work camps and forestry camps.[11] LCCC was the first community college in the state to offer an associates degree that bridged the gap between corrections and law enforcement.[12] [edit] Athletics[edit] Intramurals
[edit] IntercollegiateMain article: Basketball at Lake City Community College The college had a competitive intercollegiate athletic history for over 45 years. The mens basketball program was state runners-up in 1968 and state champions in 1970, the year they placed third in the National Junior College tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas. Joe B. Fields was the coach for 22 years, but the sport was discontinued in 1995. The women's softball team has eight National titles:
On March 12, 2008 the college announced that at the end of the 2007-2008 school year, the Lake City Community College intercollegiate athletic program would be disbanded. The proposal was made by college president Charles Hall and endorsed by the college board of trustees. The reasons given were financial, including expected reductions in state funding, lower enrollment, program cutbacks after the Florida Department of Corrections withdrew its training courses, athletic dormitory and food service costs and the prospect of making similar cuts in the next school year.[13] The school joined Edison Community College in Fort Myers, Valencia Community College in Orlando and Florida Keys Community College, near Key West as the only four of Florida's 28 community colleges without an intercollegiate sports program.[14] [edit] Current statusA record 883 students graduated from Lake City Community College in the 2002-03 school year[15]; however, enrollment since then has declined. In 2006, enrollment was 2,736, of which 1,084 were full-time students. The school has an open admissions policy for all programs except nursing, golf course operations and allied health programs.[1] In 2006, the most popular fields of study were Corrections, Liberal Arts & Sciences, Nursing and Emergency Medical Technology. LCCC occupies 132 acres (0.53 km2) of natural pinelands, with over twenty-five buildings landscaped with native azalea bushes and crepe myrtle trees.[16] Florida Leader Magazine designated LCCC as the most beautiful college campus in Florida.[6] LCCC operates 3 satellite locations (Macclenny, Cross City & Bell) in the surrounding counties included in the college's service area. At these "storefront centers", local residents can attend live classes, take distance learning courses or talk to advisors via the internet and pick up brochures, catalogs, schedules, and forms. On February 1, 2008 Dr. Chuck Hall, President of LCCC announced that the correctional officer training program at LCCC would terminate at the end of February, 2008. The Department of Corrections began training staff internally, and the college lost between 450-650 students annually.[17] As of May 2, 2008 Granger Hall closed its doors as the 84-student residence hall at Lake City Community College.[18] It was one of only two community colleges to offer on-campus housing in Florida but was used predominately for students on athletic scholarship. [edit] Notable Alumni & Attendees
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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