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Most Annoyed Admissions Aid. If you think your patience has been
exhausted with the lines and hassles of registering for classes, imagine what the people
on the other side of the desk have to say. Vickie Gainer, a Gulf Coast Community
College admissions specialist, wrote a play in the spring 1998 All the Things
You’ve Wanted to Say to Students, But Were Afraid You’d Get Fired, echoing
the frustrations of many registrars across the state. The production shook the annual
Florida Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers Conference with
hysterics.
The play’s setting is the last day of registration, with
long lines of anxious and weird students. Characters based on the author’s real
experiences include: Barbie, who is more interested in her friends than classes and
doesn’t want to take any math; The Good Looking Guy, whose charm induces two staffers
to offer to pay for his classes; Mr. Rude, who complains and threatens to tell "his
personal friend" the college president, whose name he can’t even remember. Now,
aren’t you wondering what they say about you?
Best International Business. Webster University is doing business overseas in a big way. The university now is offering an M.B.A. program at its new campus in Shanghai, making the school among the first American universities approved by the Chinese government to offer an M.B.A. there. This new addition broadens Webster’s worldwide network to more than 70 campuses in seven countries, including England, Austria, and Bermuda. An additional campus is slated to open this year in Cha-am, Thailand, which is being built, "to provide a more global education" while "bringing practical experience into the classroom through adjunct professors," says Karen Buchan, community relations coordinator of the Metropolitan Orlando campus. With eight campuses in Florida that offer only night or weekend classes, Webster tailors its business, computer science, and counseling curricula to working adults.
Best Greek Event. Surprising the Orlando area with a Halloween treat is no easy trick, given the city is home to Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights and Terror on Church Street. But little monsters can enjoy a fun and safe All Hallow’s Eve when they Trick or Treat on Greek Street at the University of Central Florida. The university’s Greek community united in October 1998 to put on the fourth annual Halloween Knights – a carnival with food, games, moonwalks, costume contests, and of course, plenty of candy. The event raised about $2,000 for The Crisis Nursery of the United Way, which provides residential care for children of families in need. The spooktacular event also benefited UCF’s Greek community, since before the inception of this event, "Chapters were not working together as an entire Greek system," says Greg Mason, director of greek affairs.
Best College Town. Forty miles of crystal clear water and rolling
seafoam, sugar-white beaches, and an average temperature of 75 degrees. Sounds like a
vacation brochure? For Pensacola students, that postcard picture is right outside their
window. While Tallahassee and Gainesville are the state’s most talked-about college
towns, tucked away in the panhandle is Florida’s best-kept secret for student
living—Pensacola. Only a short drive from the city’s beautiful beaches and
untouched nature preserves are the University of West Florida, Pensacola
Christian College, and Pensacola Junior College.
Students find plenty to do after class. Pensacola offers a
thriving cultural climate, with the annual Festival of Five Flags and the National Museum
of Naval Aviation featuring the reknowned Blue Angels. Students spend sunny days
windsurfing, water skiing, or floating out to sea for some of the world’s best
billfishing at Pensacola Beach or Perdido Key. The nostalgic can revel in a trolley ride
through the downtown Pensacola Historic District and the Civil War Soldier’s Museum.
For a faster pace, students can drive just a few hours to sample cajun food and blues in
New Orleans or Biloxi’s gambling scene. Aesthetics, adventures, and academia abound,
which is why Pensacola is this year’s "Best College Town."
Best of the Best. With innovative recruiting tactics and a growing
roster of National Achievement Scholars, it was just a matter of Time before Florida
A&M University earned the magazine’s College of the Year distinction. As
Eddie Jackson, associate vice president of public affairs for FAMU says, the school has a
reputation for being "a viable alternative for top African-American students facing a
cutback in affirmative action programs." Additionally, FAMU is a standout, because
the school "has graduated more African-American educators than any other institution
in the country," Jackson says. This is a Time-honored achievement for a
university founded in 1887.
Valencia Community College also gained national
recognition when the school was chosen by The National Alliance of Business as the 1998
Community College of the Year. The Alliance’s goal is to improve work-force quality
through enhanced training and education. By developing courses with input from local
businesses, VCC boasts a 94 percent placement for grads with an associate of science
degree. "This should make the students know where their investment is going,"
says Susan Kelly, vice president for resource development and government relations.
Best Boogie Night. They love the night life, but during the day Melissa Lilavois and Arlynn Filomeno just waltz around the Florida Community College at Jacksonville-South Campus like ordinary students. The pair showed off their dancing talents by promenading on a grand scale in October at Jacksonville’s biggest ballroom dance competition. FCCJ’s competitors in the First Coast Classic Ballroom Competition took home first and second place awards, says Vida Vongsay, a professional dance instructor who teaches at Kaluby’s Dance Club. The international event featured the top 10 couples in the world in Latin and Theater Art dancing and an amateur swing contest open to everyone. The participants were both students of Sarwat Kaluby, a FCCJ ballroom dance instructor.
Best New Beginning. While students around the world are praying to pass their classes, those in the Christian Faith College’s correspondence courses, prison inmates are reading the Bible for credit. The school solicits donations to pay for the classes, which are for the inmates’ personal use to help them in their religious growth, says Shirley West, an administrative assistant at Christian Faith. For classes such as "Old Testament Survey I," "Book of Acts," and "Foundations of Christian Doctrine," students are responsible, through the use of word-study books, topical Bibles, and commentaries, for researching subject matter for themselves to see what Scripture actually teaches about the subject. The only admissions criteria is simply the desire to do the work.
Best Trip Around the World. Students at South Florida
Community College can experience worldwide cultures without dozing through endless
flight delays and lugging heavy suitcases through airport mazes. The International
Jamboree invites "international visitors" from surrounding schools and the
community to attend a multicultural exhibit of food, music, crafts, and costumes, says
John Scherlacher, coordinator of community relations and marketing.
Visitors stroll through the gym and student services building and
get their "passports" stamped as they stop over at the 20 savory food booths
representing faraway lands such as Brazil, Italy, France, and Puerto Rico. Polynesian
dancers and fire throwers, a Mexican mariachi band, and a steel drum ensemble entertain
the crowd of 3,000, and kids flock to watch the Seminole Indians create handmade
treasures. The ceremonial parade of flags even made some travelers sentimental,
Scherlacher says. The jamboree, a collaborative effort between SFCC students and staff,
community clubs, and local restaurants, encourages visitors to "become more aware of
the many different cultures and ethnic backgrounds represented in the area," he says.
Best Reason to Commute. Forget about taking the bus or riding your bike. Edison Community College students now have a better reason than ever to drive to class. On-campus parking has always been free at the Fort Myers school, but now students don’t even need a decal, according to Rory Bruce, student development specialist. Under a new policy, students can leave their cars without fear of getting a ticket. In addition, the college forgave parking citations as old as five years. Bruce says commuters can easily find space in ECC’s five student lots, so they can focus more on classes than on where they’re going to park.
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