Orange Coast College
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| Orange Coast College (OCC) | |
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| Motto: | We'll help you get there. |
| Established: | 1948 |
| Type: | Public, Community College |
| President: | Bob Dees |
| Students: | 22,680 (Fall 2006)[1] |
| Location: | Costa Mesa, CA,, USA |
| Colors: | Blue and Orange |
| Nickname: | Pirates |
| Affiliations: | Coast Community College District |
| Website: | www.orangecoastcollege.edu |
Orange Coast College (OCC), founded in 1948, is a community college providing two-year associate of art and science degrees, and lower-division classes transferable to other colleges and universities. It is located in Costa Mesa, California, about 40 miles (63 km) south of Los Angeles. It is 20 minutes from Disneyland, and from two hours to a half day from the mountains and ski regions of Southern California.
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[edit] History
Orange Coast College was formed in 1948 when Francis Albers, a local Costa Mesa resident, purchased a portion of the recently decommissioned Santa Ana Army Air Base, and using a crew of volunteers, turned the old military buildings into the college's first classrooms. The first campus building phase occurred in the early 1950s, when renowned architect Richard Neutra was brought in to re-design the campus. Leaving many of the original buildings intact, Neutra added several modernist structures including the strikingly minimalist Campus Theater and two large lecture halls. The second and largest building phase occurred in the 1970s, when local architect William Blurock was hired to replace many of the original Army buildings with structures more suitable for educational purposes.
A plan is currently in effect to remove the early Neutra buildings in the center of the campus, which have long since become out-dated, and open up a large central park around which both the outlying 1970s buildings and several newer buildings will be clustered.
[edit] Organization and admissions
The college is one of three of the Coast Community College District, a regional organization providing administrative services and funding for post-secondary education. The district is chartered by the state of California to provide community college services.
The mission of OCC is to provide inexpensive education in the trades, licensed trades and skilled professions, as well as remedial and transferable lower-division courses for students who plan to transfer to either a California State University or University of California campus.
Orange Coast College is one of the top transfer institutions in the country. OCC is currently the top California Community College for California State University transfer and is the fifth in transfers to the University of California. It ranks 65th out of more than 5,000 community colleges in the United States in awarding associates degrees.[2]
For California residents, costs are about $20 (recently reduced from $26, mandated by the state) per unit. For non-residents, costs are about $150 per unit. A typical two-year program has 60 units. All students who are over 18 years of age and can benefit from the services at OCC, qualify for admission.
Students who are under 18 years of age must show any one of the following,
- A high school diploma
- The California High School Certificate of Proficiency or equivalent
- Completion of the 10th grade and the Early Start Petition form.
[edit] Academic profile
OCC offers associate of arts (2 year) degrees in:
- Accounting
- Agriculture (OCC has agricultural fields)
- Aircraft Maintenance Technician School (FAA-certified programs for airframe/powerplant licenses and avionics)
- Architecture
- Business
- Business Data Processing (OCC maintains an IBM i-series mainframe)
- Child Development (OCC has a child-center with an intern program)
- Construction (OCC Students actually construct structures)
- Electronics
- Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning
- Machining
- Photography
- Welding
OCC also has complete, transferable lower-division undergraduate programs in:
- Acting
- Biology
- Chemistry
- Dance
- Economics
- English (an emphasis on literature and critical theory is available)
- French
- German
- History
- Latin and Classics
- Marine Science - OCC Marine Science Department maintains - with student help - a 2000 gallon recirculating, chilled seawater aquarium and tropical marine aquariums as well.[3]The Marine Science Department sponsors the Coastal Dolphin Survey Project - a long-term research project dedicated to the understanding of the population biology and ecology of Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) that utilize the coast of Orange County. [4] Nine different classes in marine science are offered at OCC and all have as a prerequisite the beginning oceanography class - Marine Science 100 (lecture) and Marine Science 100L (laboratory).[5]
- Mathematics
- Music (Opera training is available)
- Painting
- Philosophy
- Physical Education, including athletic teams
- Physics
- Political Science
- Sailing (OCC maintains a sail base in Newport Beach, and teaches a wide range of classes for all levels of sailing, including weather and navigation)
- Sculpting
In December 2002, Rabbit Island,[6][7] a 38-acre island located in the North Gulf Islands of the Georgia Strait 50 miles west of the City of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada, was donated to the Orange Coast College Foundation. Since then the OCC Foundation, using funds designated for the Orange Coast College School of Sailing & Seamanship has refurbished the facilities on the island, made significant capital improvements and has helped fund the use of the island as a field station to teach summer classes in Island Ecology, Biological Diversity, Vertebrate Biology, Intertidal Ecology, kayaking, and photography. Now referred to as "Wheeler Station" at Rabbit Island (in honor of the donor - Henry Wheeler). OCC marine science and biology instructors have used the island to conduct research on species diversity, standing stock, species distribution, and oceanography. Plans were underway to find separate funding for the island outside of OCC. Possible funding sources included the National Science Foundation, rental of the island facilities to Canadians, funding from the Associated Students of OCC (ASOCC), and through other foundation grants and private donations. In March 2007, the Orange Coast College Foundation Board of Directors voted to sell the island after determining that keeping and maintaining it was unfeasible. As of July 2007, the island was in talks to be sold to a private party for 2.41 million dollars.[8] However, the sale did not materialize and the island was sold in March 2008 to a privately-held Canadian corporation for 2.19 million dollars.[9]
OCC is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. It also has specialized accreditation by American Dental Association (Commission on Dental Accreditation), the American Dietetic Association (Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education), and the Joint Review Committee on Education in Radiologic Technology.[10]
[edit] Student life
OCC has active clubs, but some people find the campus community disappointing because it is primarily a commuter college serving local people.
On-campus housing is not available, and local housing is expensive, approximately $1100 per month for a small single-bedroom apartment. Local rooms in houses rent for about $750 per month. The minimum wage of $8.00 per hour is about half of the income required to live in Costa Mesa.
Many changes have been going on at Orange Coast College, a new library is underway, and a Starbucks has been built by the new art center. A student resource center, Watson Hall, contains:
- Counseling center
- Multicultural Center
- Records and Admissions
- Transfer Center
- Career Center
- International Center
[edit] Controversy
In mid-November 2006, on a 3-2 vote, Orange Coast College Student Board of Trustees excluded the Pledge of Allegiance at their meetings, with quoted members saying they found the "under God" part of the Pledge (Which was not put in until the 1950's) "offensive," and that it violates separation of church and state.[11] After the news was leaked to the media by a disgruntled trustee who was not at the meeting when the decision was made, hundreds of people contacted the campus in anger in reaction to some of the trustees' communist and "Bolshevikian" politics. Some have called the leaker, who appeared on Fox News' "Hannity and Colmes," 'Machiavellian' and critiqued the leak as a tactic by which one could move up on the conservative front. In the wake of the negative media attention, the trustees voted to reinstate the pledge of allegiance on their agenda shortly following the controversy. The leaker has since been given "the mayor's award" by Mayor Allan Mansoor of Costa Mesa, for her role in defending the pledge.
Also, in mid-November 2006, a motion came up before the OCC Foundation Board that was recommended by the Director of the OCC Foundation - Doug Bennett and the Director of the OCC Sailing Center - Brad Avery. The motion recommended to the OCC Foundation Board was a proposal to put the donated island (Rabbit Island - see above) up for sale to recoup the $500,000+ that have gone into the refurbishment of the island since it was donated to OCC in 2003. When the foundation board met on November 16, 2006 - speakers showed up representing faculty of the biology and marine science departments at OCC, the Associated Students of OCC (ASOCC), members of the community, and students - all of who spoke against the motion and recommended to the OCC Foundation Board that interested parties be given time to look into other ways to fund the continued use of Rabbit Island. The OCC Foundation Board that night voted to postpone consideration of the motion to sell the island until their next meeting in January 2007.
[edit] Noted people
- Pham Xuan An, journalist and spy
- David Denman, actor
- Rob Enderle, consultant
- Paul Frank, artist and fashion designer
- Ross Johnson, politician
- William Katt, actor
- Diane Keaton, actor
- Scott Mosier, film producer
- Dustin Nguyen, actor
- Habib Qaderi, singer
- Patrick Warburton, actor
[edit] References
- ^ Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education web site
- ^ Carnett, Jim. "OCC students shine in their endeavors", Daily Pilot. Retrieved on 2008-04-09.
- ^ Orange Coast College Public Aquarium
- ^ Coastal Dolphin Survey
- ^ Oceanography
- ^ Powers, Ashley. "Island-owning college may decide to sell", Los Angeles Times, February 18, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
- ^ Rabbit Island
- ^ Ryan, Carmela. "Island Sale Nearly Done", The Coast Report, September 12, 2007. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
- ^ Hosboyar, Lisa. "Rabbit Island is Sold", The Coast Report, March 5, 2008. Retrieved on 2008-04-10.
- ^ Institute of Education Sciences, US Department of Education web site
- ^ California College Votes to Drop Pledge of Allegiance From Meetings. www.foxnews.com (November 10, 2006). Retrieved on 2008-04-12.
[edit] External links
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