A Message From the President
Frederick Community College will celebrate our 60th anniversary this year.
When our College started in September of 1957, classes were held in the evening at Frederick High School. Back then, only four programs were available to students – arts and sciences, accounting and business, engineering science, and teacher education. Two years later, nine students made up our first graduating class. Compare that to the more than 85 programs we offer today and the more than 1,000 students who graduated with a degree or certificate this year and you’ll see how much we’ve grown in 60 years.
The growth of our College can be seen in countless other ways.
We used to share library books with Frederick High School and relied heavily on the generosity of donors to supplement our small collection. Our beautiful Bess and Frank Gladhill Learning Commons, which opened in 2016, now provides our students with access to thousands of books, additional online research materials, free one-on-one tutoring help in any subject, a variety of study rooms, and a Digital Makerspace.
Our College athletics program started with the creation of the men’s basketball team in 1958. It’s hard to believe it took the team six years – and a last second basket in double overtime – to notch its first victory. Our male and female student athletes now compete in many different sports and have provided our College with many regional and state team championships.
The first meeting of our Foundation was held in 1981, and this vital office on our main campus has grown ever since. It now provides support to students who might otherwise be unable to take classes. Just last year, our Foundation provided more than $600,000 in scholarships to 740 students, as well as nearly $60,000 in Student Success Awards for 107 students.
We’ve always been an important contributor to our community. A study done in 1973 by then Economics Instructor Ronald A. Wood found that FCC generated $2.5 million for the community as part of the re-spending cycle. It also created 300 jobs that year. A similar study done of Fiscal Year 2015-2016 found that FCC contributed $348 million to our county economy. Last year, FCC employed more than 1,400 people.
Over the past six decades, more than 210,000 students have come through our doors for post-secondary education. The success FCC has enjoyed since 1957 is because of our hardworking students, dedicated faculty and staff, and supportive community who have always believed in our mission. We thank you for being part of our FCC story and we hope you’ll join us to celebrate our 60th anniversary at the FCC Fest on Saturday, Oct. 7. You can read more about the event in this e-news.
Best wishes,
Elizabeth Burmaster
President, Frederick Community College |
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Celebrating our 60th Anniversary at the FCC Fest
We invite our entire community to join us for the second annual FCC Fest on Saturday, October 7, from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. when we will celebrate our 60th anniversary.
This free event, held on our main campus, is a way for us to thank and celebrate the Frederick community and showcase FCC.
This year, FCC Fest will include a 60s-style block party theme to celebrate our 60th anniversary.
The October 7 event will feature live Motown music by the Original Moonlighters, a popular group based in Washington, D.C. Students and faculty from our Hospitality, Culinary, and Tourism Institute (HCTI) will provide an outstanding free menu including barbecue pork sliders, vegetarian chili, potato salad, coleslaw, grilled corn salad, and their signature whoopie pies. Rita’s Italian Ice will also give out free samples.
There will be activities for children and people of all ages including a climbing wall, old-fashioned games and toys, a photo booth, face painting, and more. We will have an alumni booth as well as booths with information on our Academic and Continuing Education & Workforce Development programs. Main campus tours will be offered to all who are interested.
FCC Fest is planned to be an outdoor event, but activities will be moved into the Athletics Center in the event of inclement weather.
We hope to see you there!
2017 Frederick Singles Scholarship Recipient Named
Each year, high school guidance counselors and teachers across Frederick County nominate students for the Frederick Singles Scholarship. The scholarship provides assistance for a Frederick County high school graduate from a single-parent household who plans to attend Frederick Community College.
The 2017 Frederick Singles Scholarship recipient is Cody Watkins, a 2017 graduate of Oakdale High School. We congratulate Cody, who exemplifies the qualities of resilience, perseverance, and strength.
Pictured left to right: Deborah Powell, Executive Director, FCC Foundation; Ronnie Osterman, founder and former President of Frederick Singles; Cody Watkins, 2017 Frederick Singles Scholarship Recipient; Michael Thornton, Scholarship Program Manager, FCC Foundation.
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Academics:
Announcing New Umbrella Degrees in Arts & Humanities, Social Sciences, and STEM
FCC has been working over the last year to create a new degree structure that will help students identify their academic interests more quickly and make earlier and better decisions about course selection.
In the past, community college students who were unsure of what major they wanted to pursue would likely work toward a General Studies degree. Upon transferring to a four-year college or university, students may have found that although they completed the required 60 credits for their AA degree, the courses they selected did not directly apply to their bachelor’s program, extending the time it would take them to complete their bachelor’s degree.
In order to facilitate a more seamless transfer experience for FCC students, the new structure includes umbrella degree programs in Arts and Humanities, Social Sciences, and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). These new umbrella degrees, with focused concentrations under each umbrella, will help students who have a general sense of their academic interests identify an appropriate major and complete their degree more efficiently. For example, students who know they want to study something related to science but aren’t sure of exactly what, can now take advantage of the STEM umbrella degree. Starting in the STEM program instead of in General Studies will ensure students interested in science can get customized advising assistance, learn from science faculty members, and start to hone in on what science-related major is best for them.
The new umbrella degree programs keep the flexibility of the General Studies program and ensure students take more courses in the disciplines that will be relevant to their larger academic and transfer goals.
These programs offer our students more focused options, but they will not replace the General Studies degree program.
The General Studies degree program will still be an option for students at FCC and will continue to benefit students who want the most flexibility in course selection. General Studies will continue to provide a credential for students who do not see a match between their future goals and FCC program offerings. Some non-traditional students will continue to benefit from the flexibility that General Studies allows to tailor a program around alternative forms of transfer credits like Prior Learning Assessment and military experience.
In addition to the three newly approved umbrella degrees which will be offered this fall, FCC has also submitted a proposal to the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) to approve a new STEM Technology umbrella degree.
Many people came together to ensure the success of this new degree structure. We thank Dr. Molly Carlson, Erin Peterson, Mary Scire, and Dr. Brian Stipelman for their hard work conceptualizing and developing these degrees.
We thank these Department Chairs for their input, flexibility, and creativity in ensuring our existing programs fit under these umbrella degrees and for developing new areas of concentration to expand the degree options available to our students:
Dr. Kathy Brooks
Dr. Paula Chipman
Dr. Marc Frankenberry
Gary Hull
Dr. Ken Kerr
Dr. Michael Powell
Dr. Karen Wilson
We also thank all other faculty members who made significant contributions to this successful restructuring that will benefit our students.
Athletics:
Congratulating our NJCAA All-Academic Team Members
We are proud of the many student athletes we have at FCC who excel both in the classroom and on our fields and courts.
We congratulate our 14 student athletes who were recently named to the NJCAA All-Academic Team as well as our softball team members who received the top academic team honor for the third year in a row.
One of our student athletes, baseball player CJ Mackinson, was selected to the NJCAA All-Academic First Team, which requires a 4.0 GPA.
These student athletes were selected to the Second Team, meaning they earned between a 3.80 and 3.99 GPA:
Dennis Beauclair, Jr. (Soccer)
Hunter McMillion (Softball)
Jacob McIntosh (Basketball)
Shaylin Ruane (Lacrosse)
Hannah Smith (Soccer)
Julian Young (Lacrosse)
These student athletes were named to the Third Team, which requires a GPA between 3.60 and 3.79:
Kaitlin Byrnes (Soccer)
Ryan Capstick (Baseball)
Jacob Katopol (Lacrosse)
Johanna Mettler (Softball)
Meghan Proctor (Softball)
Katie Shugars (Softball)
Megan Whalen (Softball)
Our softball team (pictured above) was named an NJCAA Academic Team of the Year, which requires an average team GPA of 3.0.
Congratulations to these team members:
Morgan Andrew
Brenna Baran
Krysta Bethel
Katherine Boersen
Kristen Durbin
Kayla Eaches
Ashley Garcia
Kayla Geho
Brooke Holmes
Tatum Manz
Rachel McKeever
Hunter McMillion
Johanna Mettler
Meghan Proctor
Katie Shugars
Danielle Tyler
Megan Whalen
Morgan Willis
Hunter Yusko
"Frederick Community College is extremely proud of our All-Academic Team members for their high level of academic excellence," said Rodney Bennett, FCC Director of Athletics. "The balance between academics and athletics can be challenging, but this group of student athletes has proven they have what it takes to succeed at both.”
These students serve as role models for all our student athletes. We thank them for showing us what it means to prioritize education while representing our College in their chosen sport. We also thank our coaches for reminding our student athletes of the importance of their education as they commit themselves to their teams.
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