Please note: Mentions of Florida Community College at Jacksonville or FCCJ refer to the operations of that institution prior to Aug. 1, 2009, at which time it became Florida State College at Jacksonville. Florida State College at Jacksonville’s current operations may equate with operations as they existed at Florida Community College at Jacksonville in some circumstances, but not in all.

Evidence of Excellence and National Rankings

Evidence of Excellence

• Florida Community College at Jacksonville has been recognized as an outstanding example of technology delivery among community colleges, ranking third in the nation in a survey conducted by the Center for Digital Education and the American Association of Community Colleges. The survey is based on information compiled during the 2007–08 academic year. FCCJ routinely ranks among the top of community colleges. The rankings are posted annually, and Florida Community College has an exceptional track record, having been ranked first three times and always near the top.
• Florida Community College is an internationally recognized educational technology leader. It is one of four Cisco Academy Training Centers in Network Security training. It is also one of six centers designated by Cisco Systems as Cisco Academy Training Centers.
• The Aviation Center of Excellence opened in January 2002 at the Cecil Commerce Center. Florida Community College at Jacksonville has been authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration to become one of 23 air traffic control training centers in the nation. This authority comes to the College as part of the FAA Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative (AT-CTI), a program established to allow colleges and universities to conduct basic air traffic control. FCCJ initiated the program at their Cecil Center South — Aviation Center of Excellence in Fall Term 2008. The ACE offers state-of-the-art facilities and the same high-fidelity simulation used by the FAA.
• The Department of Defense has awarded Florida Community College two contracts totaling $67 million over five years to provide education and training to thousands of sailors — about 45,000 enrollments annually — at Naval Station Great Lakes and Naval Air Station Pensacola. Florida Community College is home to the Military Education Institute, one of only four community colleges in the nation, along with 14 universities, designated to provide global, online degrees to Navy personnel.
• Florida Community College at Jacksonville has been named one of only 72 community colleges in the country to be awarded a $2 million President’s Community-based Job Training Grant out of a total $125 million nationwide.
• Statewide, Florida Community College has the largest workforce development program, the largest IT curriculum and the largest distance learning program.
• Pathways Academy, an innovative response to the serious high-school dropout problem, began its third year of operation in facilities at FCCJ’s Downtown Campus. Forty students received their high school diplomas through Pathways Academy in May 2008.
• GED and Adult High School graduates at FCCJ totaled nearly 1,400 for 2007–08.

Florida Community College students and graduates shine in many fields. Here are a few examples:

• Florida Community College at Jacksonville student Brittany Zanders was selected by the National Science Foundation as one of 10 students to participate in an 2008 NSF summer research experience at University of North Carolina — Charlotte. Zanders participated in an eight-week Summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program, “Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering through Laboratory, Field and Computational Investigation.”
• Former Culinary program student Jonathan Insetta opened the popular Chew Restaurant in downtown Jacksonville in 2006, winning accolades from critics and patrons alike for Chew’s food, atmosphere and fun. Jon credits much of his success to his teachers in the culinary program at Florida Community College. Co-owner and cook Michael McKinney is a graduate of the program. Insetta’s second establishment, Café Orsay, opened in 2008 in Riverside.
• Two graduates of the Class of 2007 Biotechnology Laboratory Technology program are making their marks in the world of medicine:
  • Davitte Khauv, employed by Mayo Clinic Cancer Center in Jacksonville, is coauthor of an article appearing in the Journal of Cellular Biochemistry, (Volume 105, Issue 1), entitled “Change in cell shape is required for matrix metalloproteinase-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition of mammary epithelial cells.”
  • Keith W. Crosby is a major in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the University of Florida. His primary research interest is the molecular and biochemical pathways related to human disorders, including the genetic disorder Huntington’s disease. His current project is Characterization of N-Terminal Fragments of the Huntingtin Protein. While at FCCJ Crosby was named a Stein Scholar for two consecutive years and was named to the President’s List for seven consecutive semesters.
• Graduate Aaron Staton went from FCCJ’s Theatre program to the renowned Carnegie-Mellon University School of Drama. Soon after graduating from Carnegie, he appeared in the Broadway production of “Mamma Mia!” Staton works steadily in television and film, currently appearing in AMC channel’s hit show “Mad Men,” as advertising account executive Ken Cosgrove.
• Two of Pathways Academy Charter High School students took the top two awards and a third placed in the top 10 in the “Jobs for Florida’s Graduates” 2008 Poetry Slam state tournament in Tallahassee. Kourtney Armentrout took first place and Mary Corby was judged second-place winner. Cassie Barker placed in the top 10.

National Rankings

Florida Community College at Jacksonville ranks:

• Fifth in associate degrees awarded in Liberal Arts and Sciences, General Students and Humanities.
• Sixth in associate degrees awarded in nursing (R.N.).
• Seventh in associate degrees (all disciplines).
• Twelfth in health professions and related clinical services associate degrees awarded.
• Fourteenth in the number of students earning one-year technical certificates.

(Source: Community College Week, June 16, 2008. The data are collected by the National Center for Education Statistics, or NCES, through the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data Set, or IPEDS, completions survey.)