new student orientation tours

Osceola Campus Tour Guide Information

Campus Environment

1. The Osceola Campus is 100 acres that was once pine woods and then ranch country. The campus was first opened with temporary buildings in 1992. The first of our 4 permanent buildings were completed in 1997.

2. The largest retention pond was constructed when the first buildings were built. The retention ponds attract wildlife, including ospreys, which have been nesting on light poles for several years now. We are working toward building them a dedicated platform for the ospreys.

3. This is a single oak that is estimated to be more than 200 years old. Many oaks, other native trees and other native plants have been planted throughout the campus as part of the college’s sustainability efforts. Native plants usually require no irrigation after establishment and have fewer pest problems than non-native. They also attract birds and wildlife that we like.

4. Valencia recycles- In fact we are the 2012 winner in the national Recyclemania competition, due to our making sure the large volume of cardboard boxes from the bookstore are recycled, plus recycling paper and plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Watch for the labeled bins and please help us continue the effort.

5. We have water-refilling stations, so bring your own refillable bottle, to save yourself money and to save energy from the bottling process. Nice Valencia bottles are for sale at the bookstore.

New Student or Visitor Orientation Tours, including our Campus Green FeaturesUpdated Fall 2012

Valencia College valenciacollege.edu

6. Valencia College has put a lot of effort into using energy efficiently. We are also trying to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, as part of our President’s climate commitment. Since this is Florida, the AC is the biggest user of electricity. The campus continues tweaking the control of AC to save the college money, while still allowing students, staff, and faculty to be comfortable.

7. Lighting uses a lot of electricity also, and over time any incandescent bulbs and the older 1 ½-inch fluorescent bulbs have been replaced with more energy efficient fluorescents. LEDs are the most efficient type of lighting of all, and we are putting them in where lights have to be on the longest, like the parking lots.

8. Everyone feels better in sunlight than in artificial light, and daylighting is used extensively on the campus, which saves on electricity for lighting. For example, you can often find a study desk near a window. If you have your own computer, you can use the college’s WiFi network with just your Atlas login.

9. Some other green features of the campus are that all paints used are low in harmful volatile organic compounds and carpets are made out of recycled materials. All of the newer furniture purchased is green certified. The college uses “green” cleaning products and takes steps to maintain good indoor air quality.

10. Assessment Center: This is where the students can take the college entrance exams such as PERT, LOEP, CJBAT etc. For the PERT exam, the first time you take the exam is free.

- Go to Building 3…

11. Learning Center – Introduce the learning Center and let them know that the computers there are available for activities such as online Classes, doing homework, research and taking exams.

Also make it known there in the learning center they offer free tutoring for a broad selection of subjects.

12. Nursing Lab - Briefly describe that a majority of the nursing courses and programs at Osceola campus are located in the nursing lab. If available take them inside for a brief tour of the lab.

13. UCF Office - Explain the purpose of the UCF office and that we have fulltime employees from UCF working there to assist students at our campus with an easy transition to UCF via our direct connect program or other needs. In the UCF office is located Kimberly Foster our campuses A.S. degree advisor.

- Make your way to building 1…

14. Clock Tower – Briefly give history of clock tower, that it was donated to us by the community of people that live in the area, and that around December it has chimes and melodies.

15. Math Depot- The math depot is an area where students can get assistance with low level math, anything higher than elementary algebra students can gain assistance in the Learning Center.

16. LINC (Learning communities/ Sup. Learning) – What it is & when having two classes together.

17. Deans Office – The dean’s office is an area where students can bring “specific” issues about their class or instructor to the school’s dean.



18. Student Lounge – The student hangout spot of our campus.

19. Bookstore C – Where our students can get their books and class related materials provided they have registered for classes and brought a student detail schedule. The bookstore sells some healthy snacks, like Naked juices and granola bars.

20. Cafeteria – Place where students and faculty can get something to eat during school. Cafeteria Hours are from 7:30 a.m. till 6p.m. Lost and Found also located in Security Portable.

21. Security Portable - Where students can get their parking decals, and also report incidents or ask for assistance from campus security. Lost and found is located here as well.

- Building 2 ...

22. The Information Station – Where students can get Student Leader assistance to point them in the right direction where it be general advice or looking for a specific office location.

23. Business Office – Where students can make payments or inquiring about financial matters that have been established.

24. The Answer Center- The location of our campus A.A. advisors and also where students can turn in materials for enrollment such as transcripts, Residency documents, financial aid papers etc. The Answer center is also where students can go for academic or Financial aid help , or just a place to ask questions in general.

25. Library- Where students can have access to a variety of books and resources for studying a particular subject or just general checkout for personal interest. Students need a Student I.D. to have access to Library materials. There are computers in the Library that students can use to research and homework. There is also a quiet study section located in the Library.

26. Testing Center – Where students can take tests left there by their instructors or make up an exam.

27. Student Development - Give a description of the I.D. desk and the purpose of a student ID. Briefly describe the student development office and that it’s where most of the event planning for the school takes place.

28. Atlas Lab – Explain that the atlas lab is there to assist students with atlas related questions, where students can print out documents for the school and get assistance with atlas related issues.

29. Internship – where is it located, what it is, and where they are able to internship at.

30. Honors Program – They can sign up for the honors program through their atlas account and the Honors program advisor is Heidi Shrug and she is located in Atlas lab.

31. Study Abroad- We offer it, and information is located in student development.



Building 4...

32. Osceola Campus’ newest building is being built to “green” standards under the United States Green Building Council LEED program (LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). All new buildings at Valencia College have been built to LEED standards since 2006 as part of our sustainability commitment.

33. This is the biggest building on any Valencia Campus at 150,000 square feet. It has 4 floors and is 2nd tallest in Osceola County.

34. What is going to be in that building:

· Library

· Bookstore

· Cafeteria

· Science Labs

· Outdoor learning spaces

· Wireless

35. UCF (One whole floor)

36. More Tutoring Centers

End Osceola Campus



East Campus Tour Guide Information

Introduction

East Campus is second oldest of Valencia’s four campuses and is adjacent to the Little Econlockhatchee River. It has 10 permanent buildings.

The emphasis has been on making the buildings and campus environment sustainable. We have bike racks, and in the widening of Econ Trail in front of the college, bike lanes will be built to improve access.

The number 104 Lynx bus serves the campus, and schedules are available at the Security office or you can go online to www.golynx.com.

Green Cleaning, Energy Efficiency and Water Efficiency



http://www.golynx.com


Valencia College uses “green” cleaning products and takes steps to maintain good indoor air quality.

The college has put a lot of effort into using energy efficiently. We are also trying to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Our college president Dr. Shugart signed a college president’s climate commitment in 2009. This agreement to reduce greenhouse gases has now been signed by over 600 college presidents. Since this is Florida, the AC is the biggest user of electricity. The campus continues tweaking the control of AC to save the college money, while still allowing students, staff, and faculty to be comfortable.

The college has a program called Energy Education, which is an extremely valuable program to get people to shut off equipment and lights. In its first year, the shutdown of equipment and AC during spring break saved the college $54,000, including all campuses. In efforts to make most efficient use of our buildings, the college is working toward consolidating building use- for example, in summer term if there aren’t too many classes, we try to put the math and humanities classes into the science lab buildings. We move what can be moved, so we use the AC equipment for as few buildings as possible. This saves a tremendous amount of money and reduces our greenhouse gas emissions.

Lighting also uses a lot of electricity, and over time any incandescent bulbs and the older 1 ½-inch fluorescent bulbs have been replaced with more energy efficient fluorescents. LEDs are the most efficient type of lighting, and we are putting them in where lights have to be on the longest, like the parking lots.

Everyone feels better in sunlight than in artificial light, and daylighting is used extensively on campus, which saves on electricity for lighting. You can often find a study desk near a window. If you have your own computer, you can use the college’s WiFi network with just your Atlas login.

Some other green features of the campus are that all paints used are low in harmful volatile organic compounds and carpets are made out of recycled materials. All of the newer furniture purchased is green certified.

The college also tries to conserve water with low flow fixtures and in our irrigation.

Recycling

Valencia recycles- In fact we are the 2012 winner in the national Recyclemania competition, due to our making sure the large volume of cardboard boxes from the bookstore are recycled, plus recycling paper and plastic bottles and aluminum cans. Watch for the labeled recycle bins and please help us with the effort.

We have water-refilling stations, so bring your own refillable bottle, to save yourself money and to save energy from the bottling process. Nice Valencia bottles are for sale at the bookstore. Notice that the bookstore sells some healthy snacks, like Naked juices and granola bars.

Native plantings

Valencia College has earned Tree Campus USA designation, one of only 8 colleges in Florida to be awarded this status in 2012. This applies to all of our campuses.

Notice the enormous live oak here by Building 8. This oak, several hundreds of years old, was saved upon construction of the building. It was suggested for an outdoor classroom, but there was concern for damaging the roots. An outdoor classroom is behind the campus near the natural area.

The parking lots have cut outs with trees for shade- they will grow! All landscaping near the parking lots are native plants. Native plantings are sprinkled throughout the campus.



If you are interested in getting more involved with your campus natural environment, please sign up with your tour guide and the information will be forwarded to the Office of Sustainability. There is also an Earth Science Club that you may want to join and Valencia Volunteers and Student Government often do Go Green projects.

End East Campus



West Campus Tour Guide Information

Introduction

In fall of 1967 Valencia Junior College in Orlando began with a few portables on West Oak Ridge Road.

In 1971, we moved to our first permanent location here on what has become West Campus and became Valencia Community College. In 2011, we changed our name to Valencia College.

The 180-acre West Campus has 16 buildings with the 17th building under construction.

The emphasis has been on making the buildings and campus environment sustainable. We have bike racks.

The number 21 Lynx bus serves the campus, and schedules are available at the Security office or you can go online to www.golynx.com. The campus has faculty/staff and student parking. We also have 10 charging station spaces reserved for electric vehicles.













Recycling


We have water-refilling stations, so bring your own refillable bottle, to save yourself money and to save energy from the bottling process. Nice Valencia bottles are for sale at the bookstore. Notice that the bookstore sells some healthy snacks, like Naked juices and granola bars.

Green Building

Have you heard of Green Building? pause-

That is making sure that all new construction is built to have as little impact on the environment as possible. To guide architects and contractors on how to build green, certification programs have been developed.

Have you ever heard of a LEED certified building? pause-

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It is a program of the United States Green Building Council, an organization that grew out of the architecture field and now has about 20,000 members, including our college.

Since 2006, the college has committed to building all new buildings to LEED standards. Three buildings on this campus that are LEED Gold are the AHS, the Allied Health Sciences building, where biology and nursing courses are



taught; the Special Events Center facing Lake Pamela, where Culinary Arts classes are held and where the college holds special events; and the 3-story UCF/Valencia Joint Use facility.

The newest building under construction is being built to Green Globes standards, a very similar green rating system.

If you are interested in knowing more about the features of the Green Buildings, and even being a student tour guide for them, please sign up with your tour guide and the information will be forwarded to the Office of Sustainability.

Restoring Quality of Lake Pamela

Valencia College West Campus is really lucky to have beautiful Lake Pamela on campus. In recent years this 14-acre lake is receiving greater appreciation. The cafeteria features open air tables facing the lake. A walking trail goes around the lake and is used for exercise. Some biology instructors for botanical identification, and monthly nature walks, open to all, are being held.

Lake Pamela sits at the headwaters of the Everglades system in the Shingle Creek watershed. It is a sinkhole lake with a mean depth of about 12 feet.

According to the City of Orlando’s Lakes website “Until 1994 (Lake Pamela) was one of the cleanest lakes in Orlando.” What happened to make it decline in water quality and what efforts have brought water quality back? From the mid 1990s to 2003 vegetation was mowed down to the lake edge, so there was nothing to catch nutrients. Also back then there were extensive plantings of St. Augustinegrass with significant amounts of fertilizer applied. These factors contributed to increasing nutrients in the lake and lowering of water quality.

Then upon suggestion of faculty and staff interested in the natural environment, grounds crew started leaving native vegetation at the edge of the lake and using less fertilizer. St. Augustinegrass has been gradually replaced by Bahiagrass, that is unfertilized and unirrigated. Water quality as measured by City of Orlando Public Works has shown a remarkable improvement.

Most of the aquatic plants are here from before the college was built and other native plant species were purposely introduced. Ring-necked Ducks have chosen Lake Pamela as their winter home for the last four or five years. They only choose lakes of good quality.

Native plantings


Through a $10,000 grant from the Arbor Day Foundation and Toyota Corporation, students planted 100 large native trees in late March 2012. We were the only community college to win the grant.

Some invasive exotic plants are in the campus natural areas, but fortunately not many. Student leaders in May followed faculty and staff on Learning Day 2012 to remove invasive plants. The bird boxes were constructed and put up by faculty on Learning Day with another 10 or so put up by students this past May. The large boxes near the lake edge are for wood ducks, which in the wild nest in holes in old cypress trees. The other boxes are for primarily for great-crested flycatchers, Eastern screech owls, and bluebirds, all of which have lost their natural or woodpecker-made tree holes. One professor of electronics is working with his students to monitor several of the boxes.

A bat box with capacity for electronic monitoring is in the works also.



Outside of Bldg 3 is a native plant landscape installed in 2004. These are similar plants to what you would see on the boardwalk at Wekiwa Springs State Park. Has anyone been there?

Again, if you are interested in getting more involved with your campus natural environment, please sign up with your tour guide and the information will be forwarded to the Office of Sustainability. There is also a Horticulture Club that you may want to join and Valencia Volunteers and Student Government often do Go Green projects.

End West Campus



Winter Park Campus Tour Guide Information

Introduction

Winter Park Campus was first opened as a Center in a strip mall in 1986. The current building was constructed in 1998 and expanded to its current size in the next few years. The entire campus is only a little over an acre.

The emphasis has been on making the buildings and campus environment sustainable.

The number 102, 14, and 443 Lynx bus serve the campus, and schedules are available at the Security office or you can go online to www.golynx.com. We also have bike racks.













Recycling


We have a water-refilling station, so bring your own refillable bottle, to save yourself money and to save energy from the bottling process. Nice Valencia bottles are for sale at the bookstore. Notice that the bookstore sells some healthy snacks, like Naked juices and granola bars.

Native plantings


Native trees and native plantings are sprinkled throughout the campus landscape.

If you are interested in getting more involved with your campus natural environment, please sign up with your tour guide and the information will be forwarded to the Office of Sustainability. Valencia Volunteers and Student Government often do Go Green projects.

End Winter Park Campus



Lake Nona Campus Tour Guide Information

Introduction

The Lake Nona Campus has been built on 23 acres adjacent to Lake Nona High School and opened in fall 2012. This beautiful four story building is about 90,000 square feet and is certified under the Green Globes green rating system.





Lighting uses a lot of electricity. This new building doesn’t use any incandescent bulbs or older 1 ½-inch fluorescent bulbs. Energy efficient fluorescents have been used. LEDs are the most efficient type of lighting, although still expensive, and they have been used where lights have to be on the longest, like the parking lots.




Some other green features of the campus are that all paints used are low in harmful volatile organic compounds and carpets are made out of recycled materials. All of the furniture is green certified.


Recycling


We have a water-refilling station, so bring your own refillable bottle, to save yourself money and to save energy from the bottling process. Nice Valencia bottles are for sale at the bookstore.

Tree Campus

Valencia College has earned Tree Campus USA designation, one of only 8 colleges in Florida to be awarded this status in 2012. This applies to all of our campuses. We recognize the importance of trees and foster them for their many ecological benefits.

If you are interested in getting more involved with go green issues, please sign up with your tour guide and the information will be forwarded to the Office of Sustainability. Valencia Volunteers and Student Government often do Go Green projects.

End Lake Nona Campus



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