In addition, the 2013-14 budget also provides for a 1.8 percent raise for Valencia employees.

In other action, the board:

• okayed the transfer of $1 million to complete the purchase of the college’s new telephone system;
• approved the transfer of $4 million to be used for renovating the new District Office in Metrowest; and
• learned that Valencia will spend about $1 million in 2013-14 to comply with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

In other news, Dr. Joyce Romano, vice president of student affairs, and Dr. Kathleen Plinske, president of Valencia’s Osceola Campus, informed trustees that Valencia has received a $1.5 million grant to increase the number of minority students transferring to state universities as STEM majors.  The Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation grant, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, will be administered by Valencia, but will also include Seminole State College and Lake-Sumter State College. Over a three-year period, the three colleges will try to double the number of minority students entering the University of Central Florida with a major in a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) field.

In 2011-12, 761 (or 16.4 percent) of the 4,656 of the students who transferred to UCF from Valencia, Lake-Sumter and Seminole were STEM majors. Of that number, 321 (or 6.9 percent of all transfers) were minority students majoring in STEM fields.

To increase minority participation in STEM fields at Valencia, Seminole State and Lake-Sumter, the grant administrators will hire a full-time project director, full-time STEM advisors, and provide scholarships, research stipends and STEM career workshops for students. In addition, the college plans to hold seminars for local high-school teachers who teach STEM subjects.

As the college leading the grant, Valencia will receive $750,000 to operate the program.

The Valencia College Board of Trustees’ next meeting is scheduled for July 16 at the Osceola Campus.

Valencia senior Jacob Heck, who is finishing his senior design project course this summer, has landed a job in which he’ll be responsible not just for making sure the trains run on time – but assuring that they get to their destinations safely.

That also makes him the first graduate of Valencia’s electrical and computer engineering technology program to land an engineering job.

Heck, 29, has been hired by XO Rail, one of the nation’s leading railroad signal and communications engineering firms.  Working from the company’s Jacksonville office, Heck will be working as a signal engineer, a job that incorporates the electronic and controls for the crossing signals, speed limit zones and switching signals. He’ll be part of a team creating an automated backup conductor, which is a safety backup system to prevent collisions and accidents.

The idea, Heck says, is that if the conductor falls asleep or is text messaging on his phone, the trains can be automatically slowed or stopped.

Landing your first job as an engineer is exciting – and Heck is ready to get started.

“That can be the toughest part of getting started: Landing that first engineering position,” he says. “From there on, however, you have work experience in the field.”

Ali Notash, who is program chair of Valencia’s electrical and computer engineering technology program, says that Heck’s hard work has paid off, and he is “ready for such an exciting challenge.”

Jacob came to Valencia in 2008, fresh out of the Marine Corps. He earned his A.A. pre-major in engineering and moved on to the University of Central Florida to study electrical engineering. Because he was always more interested in the technical aspect of engineering – and not the theoretical – he was excited when Valencia introduced the bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering technology. The program, which UCF dropped because of budget cuts, focuses on hands-on aspects of engineering, allowing students to learn how to program microprocessors, use circuit simulators, solder components and learn to use instruments for troubleshooting.

So after two semesters at UCF, he returned to Valencia, where he felt right at home. “The class sizes, the professors, everything, I enjoyed better over here,” says Heck.

While studying for his degree, Heck worked full-time, gaining valuable experience in the electronics field.  He worked as an avionics technician for a company in Sanford, doing modifications on trainer aircraft for the U.S. Navy. More recently, he has been working for an Orlando company as an avionics integration technician, modifying planes for foreign military use.

Because Heck wanted to relocate to Jacksonville – where he and his wife have family – he searched online for engineering job openings. When he spotted the job for XO Rail, he applied – even though his degree was pending.

Although fall classes begin in a few months, it’s not too late to apply for financial aid. But to be eligible for financial aid, you must fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

To help students and parents fill out the applications, Valencia College is offering free workshops on Thursday, June 13.

At Valencia’s FAFSA Frenzy events, the college’s financial aid teams will be on hand to assist students and parents who are filling out the FAFSA. The workshops are open to both first-time applicants and students who are reapplying for next year. The workshops are also open to students who will not be attending Valencia.

FAFSA Frenzy events will be held on June 13, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the following locations:

■ Osceola Campus, Building 2, Room 131

■ East Campus, Building 5, Room 213

■ West Campus, Building 11, Room 133

Students must bring a number of documents, including their Social Security card, driver’s license and proof of 2012 income. Non-citizens must bring their alien registration card. Students who are dependents must also bring their parents’ Social Security numbers, proof of income (taxable and untaxed) and driver’s license information.

Students will also need a FAFSA application Personal Identification Number (PIN). To save time, go to www.pin.ed.gov to register for a PIN number in advance.

For more information, visithttp://valenciacollege.edu/finaid/fafsafrenzy.cfm

Valencia participates in most federal, state and local financial aid programs, awarding over $130 million each year to students. Approximately 46 percent of Valencia students receive financial aid. Among those students is the largest enrollment of Bright Futures recipients among Florida State Colleges.

Valencia’s Osceola Campus is located at 1800 Denn John Lane, Kissimmee. The East Campus is located at 701 N. Econlockhatchee Trail, Orlando. The West Campus is located at 1800 S. Kirkman Road, Orlando.

Orlando, FL – Valencia College ranks 17^th in the nation for the number of degrees awarded to Hispanic college students, according to the annual Top 100 Colleges for Hispanics list.

The Top 100 Colleges for Hispanics list is published by The Hispanic Outlook in Higher Education magazine. The magazine staff highlights the colleges and universities with the largest Hispanic enrollments and the colleges and universities where the most Hispanics receive undergraduate and graduate degrees.

The rankings were compiled using data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics. The magazine relied on data submitted for 2011.

Valencia was ranked 17^th in degrees awarded because, of the 6,627 degrees the college awarded in 2011, 1,674 (or 25 percent) were awarded to Hispanic students.

In addition, Valencia College ranked 18^th in the nation in the number of Hispanic students enrolled. Of Valencia’s 42,631 students enrolled in 2011, 30 percent – or 12,901 – were Hispanic.

Also, Valencia was ranked 26^th in the nation based on the number of Hispanic students enrolled full-time.  Of the 17,759 students enrolled at Valencia full-time in 2011, 31 percent — or 5,537 – were Hispanic.

“At Valencia, we recognize the growing diversity of our community and we are proud to be the first step in many Hispanic students’ journey to college,” said Dr. Sanford C. Shugart, president of Valencia College. “Valencia is focused on helping students succeed and these rankings underscore that commitment. “

Valencia is one of 356 colleges and universities recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Defined as nonprofit degree-granting institutions with full-time equivalent undergraduate enrollments that are at least 25 percent Hispanic, HSIs educated more than 1.4 million Hispanic undergraduates and graduates in 2011-12. These institutions represent 10.5 percent of the nation’s nonprofit colleges and universities, but serve 56 percent of all Hispanic students.

In 2011, there were 52.5 million Hispanics living in the United States, plus an additional 3.5 million in Puerto Rico. Hispanics represent 17 percent of the U.S. population and their numbers have grown 45.5 percent from 2000 to 2011, the largest growth among all population groups.

Valencia’s commencement exercises took place at 10 a.m. at Silver Spurs Arena, Osceola Heritage Park, on U.S. Hwy. 192 in Kissimmee.

It wasn’t. Although the health-care field is growing, Zenia discovered that the Orlando area was already full of nuclear medicine technologists—and even though the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts higher-than-normal job growth for workers in this field, Zenia couldn’t find any full-time jobs.

“There aren’t many positions and the people in this field tend to stay where they are,” she says. “They get a job and they stay there.” And with local colleges pumping out new graduates each year, Zenia  found the region was saturated with nuclear medicine techs.

Unable to find a full-time job, she settled for a part-time job at a hospital in Lake County—which means a one-hour commute from her home in Deltona.

Frustrated—and worried about paying back her student loans—Zenia started investigating going back to college to earn a bachelor’s degree in radiography. When she learned that Valencia College had started a new bachelor’s degree program in Radiologic and Imaging Sciences, Zenia was thrilled. Although she could have attended the same private college where she earned her associate degree, she was already feeling overwhelmed by the student loans she’d taken out to pay for that.

At Valencia, however, the cost of earning a bachelor’s degree was significantly cheaper than at a private college.

She was also excited because Valencia’s classes were primarily online, allowing her to do her classwork and homework anytime—even if that was 2 a.m. For Zenia, who has a three-year-old daughter, “that flexibility is great.”

Although most of her contact with her professors was online, Zenia enjoyed their interaction. “The instructors are very knowledgeable,” she says. “They really help you out. They’re there to make sure you get through the program and they really care about our success. That’s super important, especially for working professionals—to know that the faculty will really work with you.”

Like many of her classmates, Zenia, now 32, worked while earning her bachelor’s degree. And Zenia, whose bachelor’s degree specialization was quality management, now hopes to find a job in the field. “I really like the whole quality aspect—making sure that everything is done in a certain way, making sure the machines are up to date and working properly and everything is done according to regulations,” she said.

Eager to be one of the first students to earn a bachelor’s degree from Valencia, Zenia took more courses than she might have in order to finish by May 2013.

“I could have graduated in the summer,” she says, “but I took as many classes as I could so I could be in that first graduating class.”

Now her mom, her brother, her husband and her daughter, Leilani, have a special celebration planned for graduation. The family—originally from Puerto Rico, but now living in Deltona—plans to stay in a hotel near Disney the night before graduation and then watch with pride as Zenia walks across the stage the next day.

“I’m extremely excited,” says Zenia. “And so is my family. They are so proud of me and they’ve been so supportive. They’ve helped me through this whole experience.”

Bladimir had to make a decision. Because he had lived in Rhode Island the age of nine, when his parents emigrated from Colombia, he opted to stay at URI.  But with his parents in Florida, his residency status changed and, Bladimir, who was struggling with the large class sizes at URI, then lost his financial aid.

His path to college then detoured to Florida, where he worked for a year before enrolling at Edison State College in Fort Myers. There, he loved the small classes and the interaction with his professors. After earning his A.A. at Edison State, Bladimir moved to Orlando to study engineering at the University of Central Florida.

But after he arrived on the Orlando campus, he found himself facing the same problems that plagued him at the University of Rhode Island. “Once again, in those big classrooms, it was hard to concentrate,” says Bladimir. “It’s hard to listen to a teacher when he’s all the way down there… and you’re all the way up here.”

When UCF put him on academic probation, Bladimir decided to take a few classes at Valencia, in hopes of boosting his GPA. He knew the classes would be smaller, and if they were anything like Edison, he’d get more interaction with the instructors.

As luck would have it, one of his first classes was taught by Dr. Ali Notash, who taught the class about lasers. “I thought it sounded pretty interesting,” Bladimir recalls. “I began thinking, ‘Maybe I want to go into this field.’” So when Notash told Bladimir that Valencia was planning to take over UCF’s bachelor’s program in electrical engineering technology, Bladimir was excited.  Finally, he could get an engineering degree at a college that offered the small classes where he could thrive.

And after he started in Valencia’s engineering program, in classes of 20 to 30 students, he was excited to find that Valencia’s professors teach engineering from a hands-on perspective, not the theoretical material presented at most universities.

“When we came here, we didn’t know how to use some of the equipment in the lab, like oscilloscopes and that kind of thing,” Bladimir says. “So the professors took us back to basics.”

In addition to smaller classes, the professors reached out to help students. “My professors here know me,” Bladimir says. “One of my teachers said, ‘Email me any time of the day and I’ll get back to you.’ And they do. I sent him an email at 12 a.m. and I got an email back from him at 12:03 a.m.”

During the program, the students in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology program learn, among other things, how to program microcontrollers and microprocessors. For his senior design project, Bladimir and a classmate are designing and building a machine that will sort candies like Skittles and M&Ms by color.

“It’s definitely challenging, but you learn a lot,” Bladimir says.

Like many Valencia students, Bladimir worked throughout his college career. To support himself and his wife,who’s a student at UCF, he works nights as a valet at an upscale hotel. He and his fellow engineering students have become a tight-knit group, though they see each other primarily in class.

 “A couple of the guys have kids, some of them have daytime jobs,” says Bladimir, “so we socialize in class. But we’ve all gotten to know each other.”

Now, at age 29, he’s on the verge of making history—becoming one of the first students to earn a bachelor’s degree from Valencia College.  And Bladimir—who learned English by watching cartoons—now hopes to get a job in the power-generation field or communications engineering.

He also hopes that other students will discover Valencia’s small classes and hands-on approach to engineering education.

“Hopefully the word will get out about this program,” he says. “The only reason I found out about it was because I took Ali Notash in a lasers class … but it turned out to be pretty cool.”

[embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHhT7GHJICE[/embed]

Kissimmee, FL – On Saturday, May 4, about 1,200 Valencia students will receive their associate degrees as Valencia College celebrates its 44^th spring commencement at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee.

But another 20 Valencia students will make history at this commencement ceremony – becoming the first students to earn their bachelor’s degrees at Valencia College.

Eleven of the graduating seniors are earning bachelor’s degrees in Radiologic and Imaging Sciences, while nine students are earning their bachelor’s degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology.

The two programs are Valencia’s first bachelor’s degree programs. The college began offering the two bachelor’s degree programs in the fall of 2011. The graduating students have either completed their coursework or will finish it in summer 2013.

This year’s commencement address will be given by 19-year-old Chacoryia Burns, who was named the 2012-2013 Distinguished Graduate by the Valencia Alumni Association.

Although an expected 1,200 students are participating in commencement ceremonies, 7,515 students have graduated in the summer, fall and spring semesters. Valencia holds one commencement ceremony each May.

To recognize this year’s graduates, the college has posted the names of all 7,515 Class of 2013 graduates on a Lynx bus. The bus will be parked outside the Silver Spurs Arena, where students and their families can pose beside it for graduation photos. After commencement ceremonies, the bus will be used on Lynx bus route 15, which travels from downtown Orlando to Valencia’s East Campus, on Econlockhatchee Trail.

Valencia’s commencement exercises will take place at 10 a.m. at Silver Spurs Arena, Osceola Heritage Park, on U.S. Hwy. 192 in Kissimmee.

At Valencia College, students in the college’s Cardiovascular Technology (CVT) program learn by using training simulators that deliver a virtual-reality experience.  Valencia’s  CVT program educates and prepares students to become Invasive Cardiovascular Specialists known as a Cardiovascular Technologists (CVT).

Using a state-of-the-art Simbionix simulator, students gain hands-on experience placing guidewires, stents and balloons, but they also learn the intricacies of cardiac rhythm management,  BTK (below-the-knee) procedures designed to save the lower leg, particularly important for diabetics.

“Ultimately, the use of simulation in the health science programs at Valencia is critical to the student’s training, said Penny Conners, Dean of Allied Health at Valencia College.  “In our cardiovascular technology program, with the aid of the Simbionix simulator, our students are able to replicate the exact procedures that they will be performing in the hospital setting. In this regard, simulation helps the students to understand and put safety first for the patients so they can give the best care possible while working in their field.”

Click here to watch a video of Valencia students using the simulator.

The ANGIO Mentor provides experience with basic/advanced guidewire and catheter skills, familiarity with endovascular procedures, and immerses them in the cath lab team experience.  Using the simulator, students also learn how to operate the C-arm, patient’s table, fluoroscopic screen, as well as how to read the hemodynamic monitoring and administer medications due to complicated treatment.  The simulator offers hands-on training that is designed to enhance manual dexterity and improve appropriate instrument decision making.  Because of the simulator’s high-end haptic, students learn a realistic sense of touch needed for learning how to insert guidewires, balloons, stents and other interventional devices.

“The ANGIO Mentor has been widely embraced by medical colleges in the education of surgical residents and fellows,” said Inbal Mazor, vice president of marketing for Simbionix. “Now, our portable haptic simulators and vast library of modules and cases have been embraced by community college CVT programs.”

How many Valencia College nursing students and faculty members does it take to change the world?

Apparently, not many.

That was the lesson that nursing faculty delivered this January and February as they urged students, staff and faculty members of the nursing department to participate in a unique public-service event.

Every year on Learning Day — which was held on Feb. 8 this year — Valencia College staffers perform some type of community service –  work that ranges from landscaping in local parks, to walking dogs at a no-kill shelter, or volunteering in area schools. But this year,  members of the nursing faculty had a different idea. They decided to perform 26 Acts of Kindness, part of a national movement to reach out and help fellow Americans.

The idea came from NBC news correspondent Ann Curry. In the days after the shootings of 26 children and teachers in Newtown, Conn., she tweeted this idea:  “What if? Imagine if everyone could commit to doing one act of kindness for every one of those children killed in Newtown.” Her idea quickly gathered momentum and 26 Acts of Kindness was born.

At Valencia, Kim Laughman, along with a handful of other nursing faculty members, discussed different ways they could honor the victims and families. “We thought, ‘What would happen if we let everyone in the Nursing Department know that we wanted to perform 26 Acts of Kindness to show support for our own community. Would they want to join us?’ ” said Tommi Graves, another nursing professor.

The response, says Graves,  was overwhelming. For three weeks, 26 full-time nursing faculty members and adjunct faculty, along with staff members and nursing students collected hundreds of donations.  By Learning Day, their cars were full of goods to deliver.

• Food was collected for Pooky’s Pantry, a food pantry for Valencia College students in need of a meal.
• Salad dressing was collected for the Orlando Union Rescue Mission.
• VNSA (Valencia College Nursing Student Association) wrote letters and valentines to soldiers serving overseas.
• Coupons were clipped and donated for military families to use in military PX stores.
• Clothes and coats were collected and sorted for the Union Rescue Mission and the Orlando Coalition for the Homeless.
• New and gently used socks & shoes, and clothes were bagged up for Park Place Adult Behavioral Center.
• Board games, craft materials, & books were boxed for Park Place Children’s Behavioral Center.
• Blankets, towels and pet supplies were gathered for the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Orlando.
• Nursing students put donation jars in nursing classrooms and collected change for Shepherd’s Hope, a Central Florida medical clinic that relies on donations and volunteers to provide health services for people without health insurance.
• Handmade blankets, cookies and valentine baskets with “sock cupcakes” were made  for Crossroads Nursing Home in Davenport.
• A valentine-card distribution chain was coordinated to deliver Valentine’s Day cheers to nursing home residents at another center.
• Toys, books and children’s clothing were collected and sorted for the Methodist Children’s Home in Sanford.
• VNSA collected food for the Community Food and Outreach Center to be dispensed to low-income families in the Michigan Avenue area in Orlando.
• Peace books were gathered to be distributed to different organizations.
• Paper products were collected for Matthews Hope, a homeless outreach program in Winter Garden
• A mysterious donor made and delivered many cupcakes to the nursing teams on West Campus and staffers at Florida Hospital South’s cardiac unit, where many Valencia nursing students do clinical and practicum rotations. .

“This experience,” said Graves, “reminded us that it is important to remember that it doesn’t take a ‘Learning Day’ to show acts of kindness and generosity.”

For Paula Pritchard, Valencia’s nursing dean, the outpouring of support was no surprise.

“Our faculty are very giving; they always give to the community, and our students are always the first to volunteer for any type of community service,” Pritchard says. “That’s really the heart of nursing. And I think the spirit of Valencia and the philosophy of the institution absolutely lives and breathes within the students and faculty of our division.”

At Valencia’s FAFSA Frenzy events, the college’s financial aid teams will be on hand to assist students and parents who are filling out the FAFSA. The workshops are open to both first-time applicants and students who are reapplying for next year.

Students who complete their FAFSA on site are eligible for door prizes. Attendance at Valencia is not required to participate in the event or the drawing.

FAFSA Frenzy events have been scheduled for the following locations on dates when high schools in Orange and Osceola counties are not in session:

•  Friday, Feb. 15, 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., Osceola Campus, Bldg. 3, Rm. 100

•   Monday, Feb. 18, 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., East Campus, Bldg. 4, Room 100

•   Monday, Feb. 18, 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., West Campus, Student Services Building (SSB), Room 142 (Atlas lab).

Students must bring a number of documents, including their Social Security card, driver’s license and proof of 2012 income. Non-citizens must bring their alien registration card. Students who are dependents must also bring their parents’ Social Security numbers, proof of income (taxable and untaxed) and driver’s license information.

Students will also need a FAFSA application Personal Identification Number (PIN). To save time, go to www.pin.ed.gov to register for a PIN number in advance.

For more information, visit http://valenciacollege.edu/finaid/fafsafrenzy.cfm

These events were made possible with support from Valencia’s Student Development office and from USA Funds, a nonprofit organization that helps American families benefit from postsecondary education.

Valencia participates in most federal, state and local financial aid programs, awarding over $130 million each year to students. Approximately 46 percent of Valencia students receive financial aid. Among those students is the largest enrollment of Bright Futures recipients among Florida State Colleges.

Valencia’s Osceola Campus is located at 1800 Denn John Lane, Kissimmee. The East Campus is located at 701 N. Econlockhatchee Trail, Orlando. The West Campus is located at 1800 S. Kirkman Road, Orlando.

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For more news about Valencia College, please visit www.valenciacollege.edu/news

]]> http://news.valenciacollege.edu/valencia-today/valencia-offers-workshops-to-help-students-fill-out-financial-aid-forms/feed/ 0 http://news.valenciacollege.edu/valencia-today/who-gets-more-curious-with-age-research-scientists-says-shugart/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=who-gets-more-curious-with-age-research-scientists-says-shugart http://news.valenciacollege.edu/valencia-today/who-gets-more-curious-with-age-research-scientists-says-shugart/#comments Thu, 24 Jan 2013 21:06:20 +0000 Linda Beaty http://news.valenciacollege.edu/?p=9179

If you're the kind of person with "blazing curiosity," chances are that you've got the right stuff to become a research scientist. "You'll wake up in the middle of the night, wanting to know the answer to a question. You'll read books that cause people to say, 'You're crazy to read that stuff,' " Dr. Sandy Shugart, Valencia College's president, told a group of honors students and members of the East Campus Student Research Community on Thursday, Jan. 24.  Speaking before more than 80 students and faculty members at the East Campus Performing Arts Center, Shugart told them that if they decided to pursue a career in scientific research, they'll discover a fascinating career -- and an engaging life. Even students who don't become scientists, however, can learn to think like researchers.  "Research isn't just a tool; it's a way of engaging, of asking better questions," Shugart said. As a freshman in college at the University of North Carolina, Shugart said he didn't have a particular major or career in mind. Instead, he focused on figuring out the answers to the questions and issues that intrigued him. The question forefront in his mind, he said, was basic: "How do we know the 'truth' is true? That question grabbed me when I was 18." Inspired in part by Jacob Bronowski's 13-part BBC documentary series, "Ascent of Man," -- in which Bronowski traced the history of civilization through man's understanding of science -- Shugart decided to pursue chemistry. "I did not go to college to get a job. I went, hoping to avoid it altogether," he told the audience. "I became a chemistry major -- but I should have become a philosophy major." Along the way, he gravitated toward thought-provoking books such as Lewis Thomas's "Lives  of a Cell," Bronowski's "Science and Human Values" and anthropologist Loren Eiseley's "The Immense Journey."  And, like many college students embarking in their own career paths, Shugart's route was meandering: Though he started in chemistry, he ended up in higher education. Although he never became a research scientist, Shugart learned the basic tools of a research scientist: observation, awareness of your own biases, the ability to find patterns in data, understanding outliers, generating hypotheses, how to test hypotheses. It may sound boring, but he says it's essential, he told the students, many of whom are students in Valencia's Seneff Honors College, and are interested in participating in research projects as undergraduates. "If you're serious about research, you'll put in the hours of drudgery," he said. Learning to play a musical instrument may be tedious in the beginning, he noted, but allows musicians to play wonderfully complex music later on. And for students who aren't quite sure what majors or careers to pursue, Shugart offered words of encouragement. "Wandering," he noted, "is an important part of wondering."]]>

• a “green screen” room where students and faculty members can create their own videos for use in presentations;
• outdoor learning spaces that feature benches and glass boards, complete with markers;
• large science-related murals, such as a giant mural of the periodic table of elements;
• and a multipurpose room next to the bookstore, which allows the bookstore to expand during times of heavy use, such as book buyback periods.

The students, who are studying to become cardiovascular technicians, are learning how to help cardiologists perform life-saving procedures – putting stents in patients’ arteries, inserting catheters and balloons and implanting pacemakers.

And because they have patients’ lives in their hands, Keller pushes her students hard.

Using a computerized mannequin, she simulates the worst possible scenarios that a student might encounter when trying to help a patient with heart problems:  A patient who’s allergic to the contrast dye injected into his veins; a patient who goes into anaphylactic shock; a patient who starts hemorrhaging during a procedure;  or a patient whose kidneys begin to fail.

“Our goal is to simulate every complication they’ll encounter in a hospital,” says Keller, professor of cardiovascular technology. “We want them to be prepared for every scenario.”

For students in the program, the instructors’ scenarios are a challenge. “We love problem-solving,” said Nalini Ghisiawan, a second-year student who transferred from the University of Florida into Valencia’s CVT program “We love hands-on work.”

And it’s that kind of problem-solving attitude that students need to excel as a cardiovascular technologist, Keller says.  While many of the students in the program started out as nursing majors, they gravitated toward CVT for different reasons.  Some decided that nursing wasn’t for them, while the more technically-oriented work of a CVT fit their personalities better. Some are adrenaline junkies – excited by the prospect of working in an environment as demanding and fast-paced as an emergency room.

Oria Marrero, 27, was working at an Orlando cardiology group, scheduling patient surgeries, when she decided to go back to college. In anatomy class, she knew that becoming a cardiovascular tech suited her – especially when her class began studying different organs. “When they teach you the different organs, the heart was the only one that I really found cool,” she says. “I’m not attracted to the lungs and other organs.”

It’s high-stress and hard work, but the students who stay in the program tend to be detail oriented (though some may describe themselves as “anal”), and visual learners. They are also happy to be studying and preparing for a career that will keep them busy – and challenge them every day.

Graduates of the two-year program earn $22 to $25 an hour or about $60,000 a year upon graduation. And last year, 100 percent of the program’s graduates found jobs – most working in catheterization labs at Central Florida hospitals.

“People in this field are constantly learning something new,” says Keller. “The equipment’s always changing.”

During the two-year program, students not only take classes and practice in Valencia’s cath lab, but they also must spend at least 800 hours working in cardiac cath labs at area hospitals. These “clinical rotations” allow students to learn at the side of other cardiovascular technicians and cardiologists.

As CVTs, they work side by side with cardiologists.

And, just as a caddy anticipates what golf club a golfer wants, the CVT anticipates what the cardiologist will do next – and is ready with the correct catheter or guide wire or equipment.  “At that table, you’re like husband and wife,” says Marrero.

And eventually, cardiologists often turn to CVTs for advice. “They earn respect from the physicians.  There will come a point when a cardiologist will turn to them and say, ‘How does Doctor So-and-So do this?’” says Keller. “They ask the CVTs because the CVTs perform these procedures all day long, every day.”

The respect from the physicians is gratifying, but it’s the joy of seeing the patients – before and afterward – that excites these students.

Moise Louis, also in his second year in Valencia’s CVT program, says there’s no greater feeling than watching a patient perk up within minutes after a stent is placed. Someone who has been drained of color and is listless often feels better – and looks better —  immediately after blood begins flowing through what was once a blocked artery.

“That’s what’s so wonderful about this field,” he says. “And patients and their families thank you for saving their lives.”

The exhibition will feature the works of members of the college’s art department faculty. The artwork represents a wide range of media, including sculpture, ceramics, drawings, photography and paintings.

Participating artists include: Courtney Canova, Michael Galletta, Rima Jabbur, Grazyna Kleinman, Allan Maxwell, Jackie Otto Miller and Camilo Velasquez.

The faculty exhibition has been held annually since 1975, when Valencia was founded.

The opening reception will be held on Friday, Oct. 26, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

The gallery is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The gallery is located at Valencia College’s East Campus, Building 3, 701 N. Econlockhatchee Trail, Orlando. For more information, call 407-582-2298 or 407-582-2268.

A donation from the Consulate of Mexico will help create $40,000 in scholarships for Mexican-American and international students from Mexico attending Seminole State College of Florida, Valencia College and Daytona State College.

A total of $20,000, which will be matched by the institutions’ foundations, was awarded to the colleges during a ceremony at the Orlando Mexican consulate on Tuesday, Oct. 9. Seminole State will receive $8,000, and Valencia and Daytona State will each receive $6,000.

“We appreciate this donation from the Mexican Consulate, which will provide crucial scholarship support for students of Mexican descent at Seminole State,” said John Gyllin, executive director of the Foundation for Seminole State College. “We look forward to continuing our relationship with the consulate and cultivating other partners that will assist our growing Hispanic population at Seminole State.

“We are so grateful to our community partners like the Mexican Consulate. Through their good work, we are able to offer scholarships and student support for those in need,” said Michelle Matis, vice president and chief operating office for Valencia Foundation. “Valencia’s student population is 30.5 percent Hispanic, and it is wonderful that scholarship funding is available to these emerging leaders in our local community.”

The funding is part of the Institute for Mexicans Abroad (IME) “BECAS for a Better Life,” a fundraising program that was created by the Mexican government in 2005 to support the development and well-being of Mexican migrant students living in the United States. The program receives about $1 million from the Mexican government. Additional support is received through donations from companies, local governments and individuals.

The colleges were chosen, in part, because of the number of Mexican-Americans they serve and the programs they offer, including English language studies. The scholarships can be used to pay for tuition and fees, educational supplies and textbooks.

Valencia and Seminole State both rank among the top colleges in the nation for associate degrees for Hispanic students. Reflecting the growing diversity of Central Florida, both colleges have seen a large increase in Latino enrollment. Between 2007 and 2012, Latino enrollment increased 59 percent at Seminole State and 56 percent at Valencia.

This is the first year that Seminole State and Valencia have received these scholarships. All three Florida College System institutions are among the 20 largest producers of Associate in Arts (A.A.) degrees in the nation.

More than 61,000 residents of Mexican descent live in Seminole, Orange, Volusia and Osceola counties, according to the 2010 U.S. Census.