College Update

From: Sanford Shugart
To: All Faculty and Staff
Date: 7/22/2005 11:21:33 AM
Subject: College Update 7-20-05

On Tuesday, the Board of Trustees took action on a joint resolution with the University of Central Florida intended to have major impact on our students and our mission in the community. After a careful study of student interests and preferences, Valencia and UCF developed a proposal for a new facility on West Campus to be shared by both institutions and to offer full baccalaureate and graduate degree programs. The UCF Board of Trustees will act on the joint resolution later this month.

The practical impact of this resolution will be to place the funding for such a facility (perhaps as large as 100,000 square feet) in both institutions' legislative priorities, seeking planning funds next spring and construction funds in the subsequent two years. We foresee as many as 2,500 students being served in undergraduate and graduate programs with Valencia offering all "lower division" courses and UCF offering the upper division and graduate courses. In anticipation of this growth, Dr. Gastenveld and her team have already developed plans to ramp up UCF's presence and offerings on West beginning this year. Meanwhile, detailed program planning for the new facility involving faculty, students and staff from West along with UCF staff will get underway this academic year.

The important underlying issue is access. As enrollment demand for higher education in central Florida grows dramatically in the coming decade, both UCF and Valencia must be positioned to respond or the open door will begin to close to the students most in need of our services. Fully 92% of the 1,200 Valencia students surveyed recently for this proposal indicated a determination to earn a bachelors degree as their primary goal. This new center will expand that opportunity, enhance the learning community on West Campus, provide environmental benefits (fewer students commuting to east Orlando), and give new meaning to a core Valencia value: a better place to start.

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