Lake City Community College
Encyclopedia
Florida Gateway College (FGC), formerly Lake City Community College, is a state college in Lake City, Florida
, U.S. It is part of the Florida College System. It is one of several institutions in the system designated a "state college", allowing it to offer four-years bachelor's degree
s, though the college currently does not offer such degrees.
The institution was established in 1947 as the Columbia Forestry School, and became a junior college
in 1961. It adopted its current name in 2008. FGC is located adjacent to Lake City Municipal Airport
, six miles (10 km) east of Lake City, and offers 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.
. 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.
Throughout the turbulent 1960s, the school had fewer than 400 students. 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 1970s, when the last one was finally demolished. 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.
Beginning in 2008, the Florida legislature began granting name changes to any of the 28 public community colleges that requested it. By removing community from their name, or substituting state, the college would be eligible to add bachelor degree programs on a limited basis. On November 10, 2009 the LCCC Board of Trustees voted 8-1 to change the name of Lake City Community College to Florida Gateway College, effective July 1, 2010. This was the fifth name change in the college's history.
for transfer to an upper division school in pursuit of a Bachelor's degree
. Students are encouraged to select one of 44 majors with elective courses that will be accepted at their next educational institution.
. The program began in the mid-1960s, and enrolled a full class for more than twenty years, before struggling during the 1990s. The program was opened to students working full time when a night program was started for the Summer term in 2003.
& surveying, wood procurement and logging
operations, was 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. At the time, LCCC was one of only two, 2-year forestry programs east of the
Mississippi river.
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 was provided in the field, where hands-on experience was emphasized.
Over the years, technology reduced the number of jobs available in forestry, and by the mid-1990s, there were fewer than 30 students, so the program was scaled back and moved to the Golf Landscape Operations department. Ten years later, enrollment had fallen to just over 20, which did not justify two instructors, so one left and the program was changed back to a one-year certificate in Forest Operations. For several years, class size was in the teens, and the program completion rate was under 50%.
Following graduation of the class in May, 2010, the Forestry program was discontinued due to lack of interest.
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 and many graduates have become Golf course superintendent
s at notable facilities throughout the United States.
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.
In 2003, the nursing program at FGC was limited to 24 students.
In June, 2008 that number had grown to 60.
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.
LCCC was the first community college in the state to offer an associates degree that bridged the gap between corrections and law enforcement.
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. 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.
In 2006, the most popular fields of study were Corrections, Liberal Arts & Sciences, Nursing and Emergency Medical Technology. LCCC occupies 132 acre (0.53418552 km²) of natural pinelands, with over twenty-five buildings landscaped with native azalea bushes and crepe myrtle trees. Florida Leader Magazine designated LCCC as the most beautiful college campus in Florida.
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.
As of May 2, 2008 Granger Hall closed its doors as the 84-student residence hall at Lake City Community College. It was one of only two community colleges to offer on-campus housing in Florida but was used predominately for students on athletic scholarship.
Lake City, Florida
Lake City is the county seat of Columbia County, Florida, in the United States. In 2009, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's population at 12,614. In addition, it is the Principal City of the Lake City Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is composed of Columbia County, and had an...
, U.S. It is part of the Florida College System. It is one of several institutions in the system designated a "state college", allowing it to offer four-years bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
s, though the college currently does not offer such degrees.
The institution was established in 1947 as the Columbia Forestry School, and became a junior college
Junior college
The term junior college refers to different educational institutions in different countries.-India:In India, most states provide schooling through 12th grade...
in 1961. It adopted its current name in 2008. FGC is located adjacent to Lake City Municipal Airport
Lake City Municipal Airport (Florida)
Lake City Municipal Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located three miles east of the central business district of Lake City, in Columbia County, Florida, United States....
, six miles (10 km) east of Lake City, and offers 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.
Early years
At 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 LegislatureFlorida Legislature
The Florida State Legislature is the term often used to refer to the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The Florida Constitution states that "The legislative power of the state shall be vested in a legislature of the State of Florida," composed of a Senate...
. Instead of providing additional funding, the politicians directed the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
to take over management of the school. Columbia Forestry School became the University of Florida Forest Ranger School in 1950.
Throughout the turbulent 1960s, the school had fewer than 400 students. 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 1970s, when the last one was finally demolished. 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.
Beginning in 2008, the Florida legislature began granting name changes to any of the 28 public community colleges that requested it. By removing community from their name, or substituting state, the college would be eligible to add bachelor degree programs on a limited basis. On November 10, 2009 the LCCC Board of Trustees voted 8-1 to change the name of Lake City Community College to Florida Gateway College, effective July 1, 2010. This was the fifth name change in the college's history.
Liberal Arts and Sciences
The majority of students follow the track to earn an Associate of Arts degreeAssociate's degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges, and bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years...
for transfer to an upper division school in pursuit of a Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
. Students are encouraged to select one of 44 majors with elective courses that will be accepted at their next educational institution.
Cosmetology
Cosmetology is a one-year program (three semesters) which prepares students to pass the state of Florida examination to become a licensed cosmetologistCosmetology
Cosmetology is the study and application of beauty treatment. Branches of specialty including hairstyling, skin care, cosmetics, manicures/pedicures, and electrology....
. The program began in the mid-1960s, and enrolled a full class for more than twenty years, before struggling during the 1990s. The program was opened to students working full time when a night program was started for the Summer term in 2003.
Forest Ranger
Forest Technology, which includes training in timber cruisingTimber cruise
A timber cruise is a sample measurement of a stand used to estimate the amount of standing timber that the forest contains. These measurements are collected at sample locations called plots or quadrants. Each of these individual plots is one observation in a series of observations called a sample...
& surveying, wood procurement and logging
Logging
Logging is the cutting, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks.In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used in a narrow sense concerning the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard...
operations, was 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. At the time, LCCC was one of only two, 2-year forestry programs east of the
Mississippi river.
Timber Harvesting Technician changed from a certificate program to an AS degree in Forest Engineering Technology in 1974, but was merged into Forest management
Forest management
200px|thumb|right|[[Sustainable development|Sustainable]] forest management carried out by [[Complejo Forestal y Maderero Panguipulli|Complejo Panguipulli]] has contributed to the preservation of the forested landscape around [[Neltume]], a sawmill town in Chile...
in 1989. Over half of the instruction was provided in the field, where hands-on experience was emphasized.
Over the years, technology reduced the number of jobs available in forestry, and by the mid-1990s, there were fewer than 30 students, so the program was scaled back and moved to the Golf Landscape Operations department. Ten years later, enrollment had fallen to just over 20, which did not justify two instructors, so one left and the program was changed back to a one-year certificate in Forest Operations. For several years, class size was in the teens, and the program completion rate was under 50%.
Following graduation of the class in May, 2010, the Forestry program was discontinued due to lack of interest.
Golf Course
The Associate of Science degree in Golf Course Operations and Landscape Technology programs started in 1967 and throughout the 1970s & 1980s it was one of the most popular vocational programs.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 and many graduates have become Golf course superintendent
Golf course superintendent
A Golf course superintendent is a person who professionally manages the labor, time, materials and financial resources needed to care for the turfgrass and landscaped grounds on a golf course. Golf course superintendents have also been referred to as greenskeepers and turf managers...
s at notable facilities throughout the United States.
Nursing
The nursing program at FGC began in 1964 and is now part of the Allied Health Department which includes a dozen other health career programs. Nursing comprises four programs:- Licensed Practical NurseLicensed Practical NurseLicensed practical nurse is the term used in much of the United States and most Canadian provinces to refer to a nurse who cares for "people who are sick, injured, convalescent, or disabled under the direction of registered nurses and physicians. The term licensed vocational nurses is used in...
(LPN), which runs 11 months - Registered NurseRegistered nurseA registered nurse is a nurse who has graduated from a nursing program at a university or college and has passed a national licensing exam. A registered nurse helps individuals, families, and groups to achieve health and prevent disease...
(RN), which is a two-year course of study; some students transfer to an upper division school to complete their bachelor's degree in Nursing. - LPN to RN bridge, which can be completed in 14 months as a full-time student or 12 months in the fast track evening/weekend program.
- Patient Care Assistant, which requires 11 months to complete
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.
In 2003, the nursing program at FGC was limited to 24 students.
In June, 2008 that number had grown to 60.
Corrections
The program for certification of Correctional officers began in the early-1970s as a cooperative effort between the college and the Florida Department of CorrectionsFlorida Department of Corrections
The Florida Department of Corrections, established in 1821, operates state prisons in Florida. It has its headquarters in Tallahassee.The Florida Department of Corrections operates the third largest state prison system in the United States...
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.
LCCC was the first community college in the state to offer an associates degree that bridged the gap between corrections and law enforcement.
Intramurals
- Basketball
- Flag Football
- Ping Pong
- Spades Tournament
- Soccer
- Dodgeball
Intercollegiate
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:
- Women's Slow Pitch Softball: 1983, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993
- Women's Division I Fast Pitch Softball: 2001
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. The school joined Edison Community College
Edison Community College
Edison State College is a state college in Florida, part of the Florida College System. The college has its main campus in Fort Myers in Lee County, and branch campuses in Charlotte and Collier counties. The college also has an outreach program in Hendry and Glades counties...
in Fort Myers
Fort Myers, Florida
Fort Myers is the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. Its population was 62,298 in the 2010 census, a 29.23 percent increase over the 2000 figure....
, Valencia Community College
Valencia Community College
Valencia College, formerly known as Valencia Community College, is a public state college in Orlando, Florida, United States. Valencia is the third-largest member institution of the Florida College System....
in Orlando
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
and Florida Keys Community College
Florida Keys Community College
Florida Keys Community College is a community college located in Key West, Florida . FKCC also operates two additional campuses in the Florida Keys; one in Marathon and another in Key Largo...
, near Key West
Key West
Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida on the North American continent at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. Key West is home to the southernmost point in the Continental United States; the island is about from Cuba....
as the only four of Florida's 28 community colleges without an intercollegiate sports program.
Current status
A record 883 students graduated from Lake City Community College in the 2002-03 school year; 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.In 2006, the most popular fields of study were Corrections, Liberal Arts & Sciences, Nursing and Emergency Medical Technology. LCCC occupies 132 acre (0.53418552 km²) of natural pinelands, with over twenty-five buildings landscaped with native azalea bushes and crepe myrtle trees. Florida Leader Magazine designated LCCC as the most beautiful college campus in Florida.
LCCC operates 3 satellite locations (Macclenny
Macclenny, Florida
Macclenny is a city in Baker County, Florida, United States. The population was 4,459 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Baker County. As of 2010, the population recorded by the U.S...
, Cross City
Cross City, Florida
Cross City is a town in Dixie County, Florida, United States. The population was 1,775 at the 2000 census. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 1,800...
& Bell
Bell, Florida
Bell is a town in Gilchrist County, Florida, United States. It was originally founded in 1946 by entrepreneur Ian H. Crocker. The population was 349 at the 2000 census. Gilchrist County holds two towns, Bell & Trenton. It is situated in the northern part of the county. The Middle/High School is...
) 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.
As of May 2, 2008 Granger Hall closed its doors as the 84-student residence hall at Lake City Community College. It was one of only two community colleges to offer on-campus housing in Florida but was used predominately for students on athletic scholarship.
Notable Alumni & Attendees
| Alumni | Notability |
|---|---|
| Reggie Abercrombie Reggie Abercrombie Reginald Damascus Abercrombie is a former Major League Baseball outfielder now playing for the Sioux Falls Fighting Pheasants of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball.-Professional career:... |
Current Major League Baseball Major League Baseball Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League... outfielder for the Houston Astros Houston Astros The Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field... |
| Heath Phillips Heath Phillips Heath Michael Phillips is a pitcher currently playing for the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. He bats and throws left-handed.-Education:... |
Current Major League Baseball Major League Baseball Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League... pitcher for the Kansas City Royals Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From 1973 to the present, the Royals have played in Kauffman Stadium... |