Board action changes college name

DAYTONA BEACH, FL (June 20, 2008) - The Board of Trustees of Daytona State College Thursday voted to officially change the college’s name to Daytona State College.

The institution has joined eight other colleges undergoing name changes after being selected to be part of Florida’s first state college pilot project. The new Florida College System, approved by the Florida Legislature and signed off by Gov. Charlie Crist this month, will ultimately open the door for the state’s 28 community colleges to expand their missions and offer affordable workforce-centered baccalaureate degrees.

“This is an extraordinary opportunity for the college, our students and our communities,” said DSC President Kent Sharples. “We are now part of a groundbreaking, new middle-tier system of higher education in Florida that will greatly expand the depth and breadth of what we do and what we offer. The bottom line is Daytona State College can now offer greater access to higher education to the people we serve at multiple levels.”

The Legislature’s action is the result of independent studies dating as far back as 1998 that identified access to baccalaureate degrees in Florida as a significant problem for citizens. (In 2007, Florida ranked 43rd in the nation for bachelor’s degrees awarded.) In 1999, the Legislature authorized community colleges to seek approval through the State Board of Education and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to grant bachelor’s degrees in areas of high regional demand. Daytona State College began offering its first four-year degree – the Bachelor of Applied Science in Supervision and Management – in 2005, and will begin offering seven different bachelor’s degrees in Education beginning in the fall 2008 semester. Currently, seven of the state’s community colleges offer a total of 30 fully accredited baccalaureate degrees.

The new bill authorizes the nine colleges that are part of the pilot program to change their names and use the designation “state college” upon approval by their local boards of trustees. It also requires the nine colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees at lower tuition costs than Florida’s public universities. Daytona State College’s baccalaureate tuition will be as much as 15 percent lower than the state’s public universities. The pilot institutions also are required to adhere to the core aspects of their original community college missions in offering open access to associate-level degree and workforce education programs, as well as remedial education and outreach to underserved populations.

The nine colleges also will collaborate with a newly created Florida College System Task Force that will make recommendations for a baccalaureate degree program approval process, develop criteria for transitioning a community college to a state college, and establish a funding model for the new state colleges as they become a permanent part of Florida’s system of higher education.

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Glyn Johnston, Public Information Officer - Marketing & Communications, (386) 506-4499, johnstg@dbc.edu

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