Mt. San Antonio College
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Mt. San Antonio College |
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| Established | 1946 |
| Type | Public |
| Location | Walnut, California, USA |
| President | Dr. Christopher O'Hearn |
| Website | www.mtsac.edu |
Mt. San Antonio College (commonly called Mt. SAC; pronounced as the word "sack") is a community college located in the Los Angeles suburb of Walnut, California, next to California State Polytechnic University, Pomona which is just over a hill.
Mt. SAC was founded in 1946 as a part of the 109 member California Community Colleges system. It is the largest single-campus district with more than 27,000 (Fall 2006) full-time equivalent credit enrolled students, with a total enrollment of more than 40,000 (Fall 2006), exceeding even that of many of the nation's largest universities. The current president of the college is Dr. Christopher O'Hearn, who joined the college in 2003. Its most recent past president is Dr. Bill Feddersen.
The school has a planetarium, horse range, and a track field. There is a new, modern baseball complex considered the best college baseball complex in California, a football field, a driving range, and a soccer field. It has an olympic-sized swimming pool, tennis courts, and an equestrian range. The school also has a 15 acre Wildlife Sanctuary that supports a large variety of native species of birds, mammals, and insects. It consists of a lake, swamp, stream, pond, meadow, and forested area. It is one of the last "safe" places for nature to exist in Walnut due to over-development and over-population. Tours are given mainly to grade school children but are available to the public (minimum 15 people) if you contact the school and ask when Wildlife Sanctuary tours are available (909-594-5611). It also has a performing arts center, and a campus cafe (which serves Starbucks coffee, and has a Carl's Jr. restaurant within the campus of Mt. SAC.). There is an aviation and aircraft maintenance program. In many respects, it has the wide accommodation and mammoth size one would expect at a larger four-year establishment. The school already has programs in partnership with four-year schools to which students can arrange to receive a bachelor degree.
Mt. San Antonio College promotes diversity among its students. The campus exhibits a population with ethnically diverse backgrounds.
In 2006, Mt. SAC began to accept online applications as opposed to the paper applications.
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[edit] School Activities
[edit] Aviation
Mt. SAC has an accomplished Aviation Department. Mt. SAC is one of 14 colleges in the United States to offer the College Training Initiative (CTI) program through the FAA. This initiative trains students particularly to be air traffic controllers for the FAA. Through this program Mt SAC offers an Associate of Science degree in Aviation Science.
Besides air traffic control, Mt. SAC has the largest Associate of Science, Commercial Flight degree programs in California. Its flying team is ranked as the best among community colleges in the western United States from 1991 to 2006. In 2005, the flying team ranked #1 among community colleges in the United States. Also in 2005, and in 1987, the school was the recipient of the Loening Trophy, recognizing the school as having the nation's Best Aviation Program. The Mt SAC Flying team is a member of National Intercollegiate Flying Association and Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Flying Association.
In addition to offer Associate degrees, the Mt SAC aviation program also has an on-campus partnership with Southern Illinois University to offer a Bachelors of Science degree in Aviation Management.
[edit] Forensics
Mt. SAC has an award winning forensics team headed by Liesel Reinhart and Ken Klawitter. The program has won numerous national and regional speech and debate tournaments, including many Readers Theater.
[edit] Sports
Mt. SAC supports athletics however emphasizes academics. Mt. SAC has a strong community college football program, as well as basketball, volleyball, tennis, and swimming.In the 2001 season John Lawrence coached the men's varsity tennis team to the school's first conference crown,the team finished #5 in Southern California during that season.
[edit] Mt. SAC Relays
This event is held annually in April over a 3 day period and attracts around 15,000 athletes from more than 150 colleges and universities and 150 high schools throughout the U.S. and abroad. Dubbed "where the world's best athletes compete!", the Mt. SAC Relays has showcased many great Olympians throughout its 49 year history including Edwin Moses, Carl Lewis, Maurice Greene, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Gail Devers, Mike Powell, Mike Marsh, Marion Jones, Allyson Felix, Stacy Dragila, Leroy Burrell, Allen Johnson, Kevin Young, Mike Tully, Randy Barnes, Maria Mutola, Ato Boldon, Bernard Lagat, Merlene Ottey, Noureddine Morceli, and Joaquim Cruz.
[edit] Cross Country Invitational
Mt. SAC is home to the largest Cross Country Invitational in the world. The Cross Country course at Mt. SAC is considered one of the most challenging in the nation. The runners start on a mile long airstrip and run over three hills. The Valley Loop is a flat loop in the beginning of the race where runners usually overtake others. The first mile, due to the flat, hard surface, is extremely quick. This mile is immediately followed by the switchbacks up the side of the first hill. The switchbacks are very technical as the runners are often closesly packed entering this area, and the hill itself is both steep and loose packed. Arguably most challenging is the infamous "poop out" hill, which is the steepest hill on the course (as well as one of the shortest). The final climb runners must conquer before a steep descent to the flat finish area is Reservoir Hill, the path to which features several very steep switchbacks. The end of the race is also designed for speed, and wraps right around the spectator area for an exciting finish.
In 2006 over 24,000 elementary school, middle school, high school and community college athletes competed in the 3 day event.
[edit] Student government
The Associated Students of Mt. San Antonio College is the student government of the college and is one of the largest campus organizations. Its budget of over $600,000 comes from a fee paid by students. Though the fee is optional, the majority of students are not aware of this and the school neglects to mention this.
The Associated Students is made up of: Executive Board, Senate, and Student Court.
