Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s fastest-growing regional campus \u2013 at a joint-use facility with Valencia College\u2019s branch in Osceola County \u2013 will move into a new home when the next semester begins Jan. 2.<\/p>\n
The new 150,000-square-foot building will be the biggest on any of Valencia\u2019s five campuses, and 29,000 square feet of that will be classrooms and offices for Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½. Also to be housed in the building at 1800 Denn John Lane are Valencia\u2019s new library, cafeteria, tutoring center and laboratories.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe now have more space, services and academic offerings for our Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ Valencia Osceola students who prefer staying in their community at a reasonable cost,\u201d said Angela Peterson, Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s associate vice president for enrollment services, marketing and outreach.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is our hope and direction to provide a pathway for students to attend college and improve the college-going rate in a county that is demographically very different from Orange, Brevard or Seminole.\u201d<\/p>\n
Higher-education opportunities are important in Osceola County, she said, because the area has many first-generation college students.<\/p>\n
A variety of classes at the campus now ranges from business to political science. For the spring semester, new classes will include public administration, psychology, elementary education, and criminal justice.<\/p>\n
Pending budgetary approval, plans include expanding academic programming next fall. The new four-story building initially will house five Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ faculty members and seven staffers. At full capacity, there will be 12 faculty members and 12 staffers at the campus.<\/p>\n
The plans call for offering biomedical sciences at the campus beginning next fall, which would be the first science degree at a Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ regional campus.<\/p>\n
Dr. Kathleen Plinske, president of Valencia\u2019s Osceola and Lake Nona campuses, said she is especially pleased that Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ will offer the biomedical sciences degree.<\/p>\n
“It’s the perfect degree for a student who wants to go on to medical school,” she said. Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s College of Medicine is part of the growing medical community in Lake Nona.<\/p>\n
Through the DirectConnect to Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ program, students who graduate with A.A. or A.S. degrees from Valencia are guaranteed admission to the university.<\/p>\n
Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ is the first public university to offer bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degrees in Osceola County.<\/p>\n
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