Valencia Community College is dedicated
to helping students achieve their career
and educational goals. Whether they are
here to take a few courses to improve job
skills or to earn a degree, Valencia is
organized to assist students with their
plans.
LifeMap is Valencia's name for the
system of services and programs designed
to help students achieve their educational
and career goals. LifeMap is based on
Valencia's Developmental Advising
model. Developmental Advising is a
student-centered approach that fosters an
advising alliance among students, faculty,
and other college professionals. This
alliance develops through mutual trust,
shared responsibilities, and commitment
to helping students identify, clarify, and
realize their personal, academic, career,
and life goals. Developmental Advising is
an ongoing growth process which assists
students in the exploration, clarification,
communication, and implementation of
realistic choices based on self-awareness
of abilities, interests and values. The
results for students are social and
academic integration, educational and
career plans, and acquisition of study and
life skills.
LifeMap is your guide for figuring out
"what to do when" in order to complete
your career and educational goals. Watch
for LifeMap signs and publications to
guide you through your Valencia
experience.
New Student Orientation
All degree-seeking students who are new
to Valencia are required to participate in a
New Student Orientation before
registering for their first session. New
Student Orientation includes a campus
tour, information on educational planning
and college resources, and group advising
after which students can register for
classes by telephone, Cyber Registration
(on campus) or in person during Open
Registration. Following application to
Valencia and entry assessment, new,
degree-seeking students should contact
the Advising and Counseling Center on
any campus to make an appointment for a
New Student Orientation session.
Orientations are held weekdays, evenings,
and Saturdays.
Advising and Counseling
Center
Advising and Counseling Center staff
provide developmental advising which
includes educational and career planning,
interpretation of assessments, strategies to
address academic difficulties, programs to
develop student success skills,
preparation for university transfer, and
work force preparedness. Advising and
Counseling Center staff are interested in
assisting you in achieving your
educational and career goals in an
efficient manner.
You can meet with a member of the
Advising and Counseling Center staff for
assistance with your educational and
career plans. In addition, Cyber Advisor
is a computer-based educational planning
tool that you can use with an advisor or
on your own to plan the completion of
your associate's degree. It is
recommended that you meet with an
educational advisor or counselor to assess
your progress as you complete 15, 30, and
45 credit hours.
You may see an Advising and Counseling
Center staff member on a walk-in basis
during hours of operation: 8: 00 a. m. to
7: 00 p. m., Monday through Thursday; and
8: 00 a. m. to 5: 00 p. m. on Friday. (Friday
hours vary during the summer sessions.)
When you come to an Advising and
Counseling Center, you may request to
see a specific person.
If you are pursuing an A. A. S or an A. S.
Degree, check in this catalog for the
course requirements of your program. In
addition, the Advising and Counseling
Center has program planning outlines
listing the requirements for each A. A. S
and A. S. Degree and the order in which to
take the courses. Career Transition
Advisors are available on East, Osceola,
and West Campuses to answer specific
questions about A. A. S. and A. S. Degree
requirements and degree completion.
Advisors and counselors also are
available to assist you in degree planning.
If you plan to obtain an A. A. Degree,
check in this catalog for the degree
requirements. You may see an Advising
and Counseling Center staff member for
assistance in knowing how your courses
apply toward a degree. If you plan to
transfer to a four-year college or
university, you should check with the
institution you plan to attend early in
your enrollment at Valencia to determine
specific courses you need to prepare for
your major. Advising and Counseling
Center staff can assist you in this process
and provide information through transfer
manuals and Web sites that give
information about the A. A. Degree as well
as specific background courses needed to
prepare for various majors at Florida's
state universities and some private
colleges. It is important to make transfer
plans early to ensure a smooth transition
into the university program.
Transfer Tips (not necessarily in the order
to be accomplished):
1. Visit a Valencia Career Center and
clarify your career goals.
2. Utilize the state university online Web
sites and transfer manuals available in
the Career Centers. In addition to the
planning outlines for each major, you
will find information on admission,
financial aid, scholarships, and special
programs.
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Student Services
3. Be certain of the foreign language
requirement( s) of the institution you
want to attend; some institutions and
some majors have both admission and
graduation foreign language
requirements.
4. Obtain a catalog from the
college/ university to which you plan
to transfer.
5. Submit your application for admission
as early as six to nine months in
advance. Many universities
recommend one year in advance. The
application for the state universities is
available in Valencia's Advising and
Counseling Centers and Career
Centers.
6. Take a campus tour of the transfer
institution.
7. Satisfy the CLAST (College Level
Academic Skills Test) or CLAST
Alternative while you are enrolled at
Valencia. (See the College Calendar in
this catalog for the CLAST application
deadline.)
8. Apply for graduation from Valencia in
the Admissions and Records Office.
(See the College Calendar in this
catalog for the graduation application
deadline.)
9. Check into on-campus and/ or off-campus
housing at the transfer
institution.
10. Check with the admissions office of
the transfer institution concerning
required documentation of
immunization ( a requirement of all
state universities).
Office for Students with
Disabilities
Valencia Community College is
committed to ensuring that all of its
programs and services are accessible to all
students with disabilities. Students
requesting accommodations because of a
disability must apply for services with the
Office for Students with Disabilities on
their home campus. Students are strongly
encouraged to apply for services at least
four weeks prior to the first day of classes.
Valencia cannot guarantee that
accommodations and/ or services will be
available on the first day of classes for
those students who choose to apply for
services later than four weeks prior to the
first day of classes. However, students
have the right to apply for services at any
time during their enrollment at Valencia.
The Office for Students with Disabilities
coordinates services for students with
disabilities attending Valencia. A person
with a disability is an individual with a
physical or mental impairment that
substantially limits one or more major life
activities (i. e. seeing, walking, talking, and
hearing); or has a record of such an
impairment; or is regarded as having such
impairment. (Americans with Disabilities Act,
Public Law 101-336, 1990). This law includes,
but is not limited to:
° Persons with mobility impairments.
° Persons with learning disabilities.
° Persons who are deaf or hearing
impaired.
° Persons who are blind or visually
impaired.
° Persons with psychological disorders.
° Persons with one or many serious
contagious and non-contagious
diseases, including AIDS, epilepsy,
cancer, heart disease, chronic fatigue
syndrome, and tuberculosis.
Valencia's commitment to providing
services to students with disabilities has
resulted in positive attitudes on behalf of
instructional, administrative and support
personnel. The facilities are essentially
barrier-free, resulting from the college's
commitment to removing such obstacles.
The services and accommodations offered
include:
° counseling (career, academic, personal)
° priority registration
° liaison assistance with agencies and
other college personnel
° tutors, readers, scribes, notetakers and
special testing
° interpreters for the deaf
° technical assistance with program and
instructional modification
° adaptive equipment
° learning disabilities specialists
° sensitizing and awareness seminars
and workshops
NOTE: Valencia does not provide
personal attendant care, transportation or
housing assistance.
Student Assistance
Services (SAS)
Valencia Community College has
contracted with a private and confidential
counseling service, to provide assistance
to credit students who need to resolve
problems that are affecting their college
performance. Examples might include:
stress, relationship/ family issues,
alcohol/ drug problems, eating disorders,
depression, and gender issues.
On each campus, a designated Valencia
counselor may authorize a face-to-face
counseling session with a SAS counselor
who will assist with further referrals. For
more information, call or visit a campus
Advising and Counseling Center.
Career Centers
Career Centers are located on the East,
West and Winter Park Campuses. A
variety of services is available to assist
you in making career decisions, setting
career goals, and preparing for a job
search. Visit the Career Center when you
want to:
° take self-assessments and career
assessments
°find out about various careers
° research options for careers available
in your major
° examine profiles of colleges and
universities
° get information on transfer
requirements
°find out about current working
conditions, salary levels and job trends
° write a resume or cover letter
° develop successful interview
techniques.
Visit the Career Center for more
information about the credit course SLS
1301 Career Development (3 credits).
Equal Opportunity
Programs
The Office of Equal Opportunity
Programs operates to assist Valencia in
fulfilling its commitment to provide equal
educational opportunities to a diverse
student population. Since 1981, the Office
of Equal Opportunity Programs has
provided services and programs to
interest and benefit the College's growing
diverse student body and the total
community. The Office of Equal
Opportunity works with college staff to
achieve diversity within the institution's
workforce. The Office investigates and
seeks resolution to concerns regarding
discrimination within the college.
Hours of Operation
Many offices are open to provide services
during the evening. For hours of
operation, please call each campus office
or look for the listing in the Student
Handbook.
Learning Resources
Centers (LRCs)
Offering a combination of resources and
an integrated learning-centered
environment that promotes student
success, the Learning Resources Centers
serve as one-stop, multi-use service points
for the college community. Campus LRCs
support classroom-related research and
information needs via library, audiovisual,
computer and other services. Valencia
has LRCs on the East, Osceola and West
Campuses. The Technology Resource
Center on the Winter Park Campus
provides access to LRC holdings,
audiovisual equipment, databases,
LINCCWeb and the Internet. Valencia
students may use and checkout materials
at any campus LRC/ TRC and also can
borrow materials from all Florida
community college and state university
libraries, including the University of
Central Florida. Students can access LRC
holdings and LINCCWeb databases from
the Internet.
Valencia's Learning Resources Centers
house and maintain 143,000 books, 960
current journal and magazine titles,
138,000 microforms and 15,000
audiovisual materials (videotapes, CDs,
audiotapes, etc.). Each campus provides
computer workstations with access to the
Internet and over 70 online databases,
most of which can be accessed from the
Internet. In addition, the LRCs and the
Winter Park TRC provide, through
statewide and national interlibrary loan
systems, access to materials not held in
campus collections. Librarians and other
qualified staff assist with research for
course assignments, documentation,
classroom instruction, interlibrary loan
and the utilization of other resources,
services and technologies.
The loan period for most books is 21 days.
Students are charged for overdue and lost
materials. The per-item fine is $. 25 per
day for overdue circulating materials and
$. 50 per day for reserve materials. A hold
may be placed on grades, transcripts and
graduation for any outstanding
obligations.
For additional information regarding
available resources and services,
including hours of operation, call the
campus or visit the Valencia Web site:
Valencia. cc. fl. us.
Placement Services
Placement Services, a part of the
Internship and Placement Office, is the
means by which students and employers
connect. Students graduating with a
Certificate or an Associate in Science or
Applied Science Degree may identify
employment opportunities in their career
fields through the Placement Services
online job bank by accessing the Web site:
valencia. cc. fl. us. Services provided
include:
° Personal job referral assistance;
° Assistance in arranging interviews
with employers;
° Resume referral services for
employers;
° Resource library on local businesses;
° On-campus recruitment by employers;
° Job search resource materials (videos,
books, etc.); and
° On-campus Job Fair.
In addition, ALL students have access to
the job listing posted with Placement
Services. You may visit Placement
Services on East, Osceola or West
Campuses. You may obtain more
information about Placement Services in
the Career Center at the Winter Park
Campus or in the Advising and
Counseling Center at the Osceola Campus
or you may visit the Web site:
valencia. cc. fl. us.
For on-campus jobs, see the Financial Aid
Section of this catalog.
Student Learning
Laboratories
Valencia provides a variety of learning
laboratories for currently-enrolled
students. Although the labs are not the
same on all the campuses, each campus
has labs designed to assist students who
need help in reading skills, writing skills,
and/ or mathematics skills. All students
have the opportunity to utilize tutorial
assistance, instructional software
materials, CD ROMs, video and audio
tapes, and many other support materials.
In addition, computer labs are available
for use in completing Valencia course
work. There are several locations with
modem connections for students using
their own laptops.
For current information on purposes and
operating hours of labs on each campus,
you may obtain a listing in the Advising
and Counseling Centers, Student
Development Centers, Learning
Resources Centers or academic
department offices.
Student Development
Involvement in campus life outside the
classroom is an important component of a
well-rounded college experience. The
Student Development Center on each
campus supervises a variety of programs
and services. These include: Student
Government Association, campus
activities, student clubs and
organizations, co-curricular programs,
student leadership programs, intramural
sports, community service programs,
campus publicity and newsletters, photo
identification cards, and college and
community information.
Participation in any of these programs
provides opportunities for making
personal connections on campus with
other students, faculty, and staff, learning
skills to enhance career and educational
goals, and practicing the application of
classroom learning.
Student Support Centers
Student Support Centers for
communications, mathematics and
student success provide computer-based
assistance with college-preparatory course
work and career and educational
planning with Valencia's Cyber Suite
which includes Cyber Career, Cyber
Portfolio, Cyber Advisor and Choices.
Student Support Centers are on each
campus and are available to all enrolled
students.
Tutoring Services
Valencia offers tutorial assistance at no
charge to students for academic courses in
which they are currently enrolled.
Tutoring Services matches students
having academic difficulty with tutors
who are familiar with the course
curriculum.
Tutoring Centers are located on East,
Osceola and West Campuses, and the
services also are available in the Student
Services Office on the Winter Park
Campus.
Opportunities for students who would
like to be tutors are available, as well,
through Tutoring Services.
Valencia Volunteers
Valencia Volunteers is an organization
whose purpose is to encourage
participation by students in various forms
of community volunteer service. Students
have the opportunity to work through
many community agencies in such
diversified areas as programs for troubled
youth, the elderly, people with
disabilities, public schools and many
others. The campus Student
Development Coordinator can provide
contact information.