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Florida Southern College Satellite Campuses, 1930-2008

 

Summary

Creator:
Florida Southern College
Extent:
5 Linear Feet 9 Standard Legal Archival Containers 1 Oversize Flat Box
Language:
English

Background

Scope and content:

The materials in this collection cover the approximate time period of the satellite programs, 1930-1933 and 1950-2008. While there are a handful of materials from MacDill and Palm Beach Air Force Bases, most of the materials in this collection are from the McCoy AFB-Orlando-Ocala program, the Port Charlotte/Charlotte-De Soto program, and the Ringling College of Art and Design. Materials include, but are not limited to course bulletins, correspondence, brochures, and news articles. Of special note is the correspondence in the Port Charlotte program, which includes letters to and from the Program Director(s) and the Board of Directors, as well as the correspondence in the Ringling College program. Additionally, three full years of The Coyote, the official newspaper of the Orlando program in the late 1970s are included.

Biographical / historical:

From 1930-1933, and from the early 1950s through approximately 2008, Florida Southern College operated a series of satellite campuses, which provided classes for military personnel, veterans and dependents, as well as complete degree programs for young professionals and senior citizens. In most cases, these campuses were small, having an administrative office and a few classrooms. The programs offered by FSC were as follows:

MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa: The Florida Southern College of Opportunity began at MacDill AFB in the fall of 1950. Airmen and their dependents were offered seven week courses which awarded three credits each and were primarily held in the evenings. Classes were taught by FSC professors who commuted to the base from Lakeland. The program at MacDill lasted until the early 1960s.

McCoy Air Force Base/FSC at Orlando/FSC Orlando-Ocala: For most of its history, this program was located on the west side of what is now the Orlando International Airport. This was the longest-running series of FSC satellite programs, lasting from 1954 until 2008, and can be best looked at in four phases:

Pinecastle Air Force Base: The October 14, 1954 issue of The Southern mentions classes being held here since 1954. Very little is known about this program, including when it was terminated. Of special note, Pinecastle AFB was renamed McCoy Air Force base in 1957.

FSC at McCoy AFB: The program's official history lists its beginning as September, 1960, however as previously mentioned, classes were held as early as 1954 when the base was still known as Pinecastle. Classes were held in the base education building, the alert facility, and a building located halfway between the two. This last building was needed as aircrews serving on alert were required to remain within a certain "reaction distance" from their aircraft. McCoy was a large Strategic Air Command base, and on numerous occasions classes were interrupted by nuclear alert drills. More than 500 members of the military and civilian employees at McCoy could be taking classes at any one time, and classes met every weekday evening as well as Saturday mornings. There was also what was known as a "brown bag" class, where professors would offer portions of a class during the official base lunch hour. As with the program at MacDill, some of the FSC professors from the main campus commuted to Orlando to teach. This portion of the program lasted until the Air Force closed the base in 1974.

FSC at Orlando/FSC Orlando-Ocala: When the Air Force closed McCoy, the runways were ceded to the City of Orlando for use in what is now known as Orlando International Airport. The west side of the base was ceded to the Navy for use as housing and other activities in support of its training center near Winter Park. In 1974-1975, the college received permission to continue a similar program with the Navy as they had had with the Air Force. Additionally, classes were opened for non-military affiliated civilians for the first time, assuring the program's continuance regardless of any future base closings. The Orlando program was geared towards working professionals, with majors in Accounting, Business Administration, Nursing, as well as a few social sciences. Students from FSC's main campus in Lakeland could also take courses in Orlando if needed. In the late 1990s/early 2000s, the college left its facilities at the airport and located on Rio Grande Avenue in the Oak Ridge area of Orlando. In the early 2000s, the Orlando program expanded to include classes in Ocala. The classes were held at what is now the College for Central Florida-Ocala campus. As with the main program in Orlando, classes were geared towards working professionals and were primarily held in the evenings. Classes in Business, Accounting, and Nursing were offered. The Orlando-Ocala program ended in 2008.

Palm Beach Air Force Base: Little is known about this program other than it commenced operations in 1955. The Air Force began operations to close the base starting in 1959, so it is assumed that the program ended around this time.

Port Charlotte/Charlotte-De Soto: This program was initially started by West Virginia Wesleyan University in 1980 as an attempt to offer a liberal arts education to senior citizens. It was known as Wesleyan in Southwest Florida. The director, Dr. Sidney Davis and his wife, Dr. Marian Davis, began classes at the cultural center in Port Charlotte. In 1983, classes were moved to a facility in Lake Suzy, near Port Charlotte. In the fall of 1992, the school moved to yet another location in nearby De Soto County. Thus, the name was changed to the Charlotte-De Soto Program. For the first five years of operations, the college fell under the administration of West Virginia Wesleyan. In 1986, Florida Southern College assumed administrative responsibility at the request of the United Methodist Church's University Senate. The Florida Conference of the UMC felt that since this school was being administered by an out of state Methodist College, it was unfairly competing with both Florida Southern College and Bethune-Cookman College. For the first several years, the college marketed towards retirees, however changing demographics in the Charlotte-De Soto area encouraged the college to open classes to young professionals. Towards the end of the program, nearly 90% of students fell into this demographic. The program was phased out in 1999-2000 due to the distance from the main campus in Lakeland with the challenge of maintaining close linkage with full time faculty. This expense, coupled with the need to construct new facilities, as well as new competition with other degree-granting institutions in the area, led Florida Southern to phase-out the program. No other college wished to take over the program, and it finally ended on December 3, 2000.

In addition to these campuses, there exists the relationship between Florida Southern College and the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota. In the late 1920s, Dr. Ludd M. Spivey explored the idea of moving what was then known as Southern College from Lakeland to Sarasota. Spivey had sought the financial support of circus magnate John Ringling, who while reluctant to donate to Southern College, was interested in developing an art school. After much discussion and negotiation, it was agreed that Southern College would open its own art school in Sarasota as a branch. With much reluctance, Ringling agreed that it could be known as the School of Fine and Applied Art of the John and Mable Ringling Art Museum, lending his name and that of his recently departed wife (she had passed away in 1929) to the school, to associate the Florida Southern art school with the more famous name of the Ringlings and their museum.

The first class had only 75 students and 13 faculty members. Each student paid $783 per year for tuition, board, room, fees, and books. Students also attended chapel services every day, and the school's president or dean had to receive written permission if a student wanted to leave town.

The art school separated from Southern College and became an independent nonprofit institution in 1933, changing its name to Ringling School of Art, which still exists today with an enrollment of over 1,000 students--quite a journey from the first class of 75!

Acquisition information:
The materials in this collection were generated by the college over the period of time the events took place.
Arrangement:

The materials in this collection are arranged in as logical order as possible. Arrangement is alphabetical by program name, and alphabetical by contents and year within each series. There is one oversize box containing newspapers.

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research. Researchers must contact McKay Archives in advance for access to unprocessed born digital materials in this collection. Collection restrictions, copyright limitations, or technical complications may hinder the archive's ability to provide access to unprocessed born digital materials.

Terms of access:

This collection is owned by Florida Southern College. This collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Please inquire if you have questions - archives@flsouthern.edu

Location of this collection:
Florida Southern College
111 Lake Hollingsworth Dr.
Lakeland
FL
33801
USA