Indian River State College

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Indian River State College
Type State college
Established 1959
President Edwin R. Massey, Ph.D.
Location , ,
Website http://www.irsc.edu

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Indian River State College (IRSC) is a state college based in Fort Pierce, Florida which serves the counties of Indian River, Martin, Okeechobee and St. Lucie. In September 2014, the college was named as one of the ten best community colleges in the United States by the Aspen Institute.[1]

History

The college was established in 1959 as Indian River Junior College and located in a former public school building in Fort Pierce. IRJC moved to its current main campus on Virginia Avenue in 1963 after the city of Fort Pierce donated the site to the institution. In 1970, the Board of Trustees decided a name more fitting of the College's service to the community was needed, and it was renamed Indian River Community College. This was in keeping with the national trend for public junior colleges to drop the word "junior" in favor of 'Community." Within the confines of the College, the school is called The River or 'the ersk', pronouncing the school's acronym, IRSC. The school's mascot is the Pioneer.

On 10 September 2007, IRCC's Board of Trustees voted unanimously to change the college's name to Indian River College, as it began its transition into a four-year institution. The name change needed to be enacted into law by the Florida Legislature.[2] Ultimately, the school's name was changed to Indian River State College by the college's board of trustees effective 1 July 2008.[3]

Campus

The main campus occupies a 87 acres (35 ha) site that was formerly the Fort Pierce landfill site. It has branch campuses in Okeechobee, St. Lucie West in Port St. Lucie, Stuart and Vero Beach plus other facilities in the area.

Organization and administration

The college president is Edwin R. Massey, Ph.D.

Academic profile

Nine bachelor's degree programs have been added in middle and secondary school teacher education in math and science, exceptional student education, nursing, organizational management, public safety administration and healthcare management. Indian River State College is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award Associate and Baccalaureate Degrees. The institution offers additional educational programs such as Technical Certificates and Applied Technology Diplomas. The institution also offers an Adult High School Program that allows adults that have not graduated high school to continue earning credits that may be counted towards their completion of the GED. IRSC also participates in the dual enrollment state program to allow students to take college classes at a discount while in a public high school. They host the Clark Advanced Learning Center, a technology-based high school as a joint venture between the Martin County School District and IRSC.

The Kight Center for Emerging Technologies is #1 in technology in the nation for mid-size colleges. This designation was awarded by the American Association of Community Colleges and the Center for Digital Education for 2005, 2006, and 2007.[4]

Athletics

The college athletic teams, which are nicknamed the Pioneers, compete in the Southern Conference of the Florida State College Activities Association, a body of the National Junior College Athletic Association Region 8. The college has very successful swimming and diving teams. Indian River men's swimming has won 41 straight NJCAA swimming championships, and the women's team has won 33 straight national championships. With 41 consecutive wins, IRSC currently holds title to the longest unbroken U.S. championship winning streak in any sport at the collegiate level. The women’s team brought home their 37th overall title and extended their consecutive titles to 33.[5][6]

Notable people

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Alumni Status is open to all graduates of Indian River State College, all former students of IRSC who regularly matriculated and left Indian River State College in good standing.

Alumnus Notability
Mike Bianco Current Head Coach for the University of Mississippi baseball team
Emil Brown Current Major League Baseball prospect
Rob Cordemans Olympic baseball player for the Netherlands
Ryan Cullen Current Major League Baseball prospect
Michael Marrone Current heavyweight boxer
John McCormack College baseball coach at Florida Atlantic
Rusty Meacham Former Major League Baseball player
Angel Pagán Current Major League Baseball player
Steve Pearce Current Major League Baseball player
Ralph Poppell Current member of the Florida House of Representatives
Fabrizio Scaccia Current Arena Football League player
Luke Scott Current Major League Baseball player
Jonny Venters Current Major League Baseball player
Sion Brinn Former Olympian Swimmer

References

External links