Antelope Valley College

Antelope Valley College is a comprehensive community college located in Lancaster, California, USA. It is operated by the Antelope Valley Community College District, with a primary service area of convert|1945|sqmi|km2 covering portions of Los Angeles and Kern counties. Instruction is offered at multiple sites, including Palmdale and Lancaster, as well as through online and instructional television courses.

The college offers Associate in Arts/Associate in Science (two-year) degrees in 67 fields, as well as certificate programs in 56 vocational areas.

The main campus in Lancaster hosts a satellite location of California State University, Bakersfield-Antelope Valley, where students can obtain bachelor's and master's degrees.

History

The institution began classes September 10, 1929 as a department of Antelope Valley High School in Lancaster. It was established as Antelope Valley Junior College, providing the first two years of a college education for those living in what was then a remote, rural area. (The college name was later modified to Antelope Valley College to reflect the comprehensive nature of the college.) The average daily attendance at the college was 13, during the 1929-30 school year.

There was little growth in enrollment at the college during the depression years that followed. Alfalfa farmers in Antelope Valley were hard hit during the 1930s, and the smallest junior college in California suffered serious financial difficulties. Teachers took a 20 percent cut in salaries, which ranged from a state-mandated minimum of $1,350 a year to a $1,595 maximum.

Average daily attendance (ADA) at the college reached 100 by 1939, but with [ [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II] ] World War II, attendance plummeted. Attendance reached a low of 13 during the war, the same ADA as the year the school was founded.

There were pressures to close the junior college, but trustees and staff held out until veterans returned from the war. Enrollment grew steadily during the postwar years, partly because of the GI Bill of Rights and partly because Antelope Valley began developing an aircraft industry.

In 1959, groundbreaking was held for a new college campus on convert|110|acre|km2 at Avenue K and 30th Street West.

The college has expanded the campus size to approximately convert|135|acre|km2 through land purchases.

Today

Antelope Valley College today has grown to a student population of approximately 14,000 students. It serves as the largest and primary source of higher education in the region.

The college also maintains a temporary leased site in the City of Palmdale, which currently serves 470 students. Plans call for creation of a full campus in Palmdale to better serve residents of the fast-growing Palmdale and South Antelope Valley area. The college district recently purchased 60 acres of land in southern Palmdale on 25th Street East, south of Avenue S, for the new Palmdale campus. Once the student enrollment of the temporary campus reaches 500 students, the College District can begin construction of the new campus. [ [http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_9100777?source=rss AVC buys land for Palmdale campus - LA Daily News ] ]

Antelope Valley College is accredited by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges.

Among the many programs through the college are an associate degree program in registered nursing approved by the Board of Registered Nursing, an airframe and powerplant technician program certified by the [ [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Aviation_Administration] ] Federal Aviation Administration, and a lower division engineering program that coordinates with an engineering degree program offered locally through California State University, Fresno. Other programs include aircraft fabrication and assembly (including composite materials), computer graphics, respiratory therapy, Firefighter I Academy and wildland fire technology.

In conjunction with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, the Lancaster campus hosts the Sheriff's Training Academy, at Antelope Valley College, which meets the requirements of the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) for training members of the sheriff's department and other law enforcement agencies. The community college district is governed by a locally-elected Board of Trustees consisting of five members serving four-year terms, plus a student trustee elected annually by members of the student body.

Notable alumni

*Jim Slaton, former Milwaukee Brewers pitcher, current bullpen coach, Seattle Mariners. [ [http://www.avsports.com/halloffame/jslaton.asp Jim Slaton, Antelope Valley High School] , AVSports.com Hall of Fame. Accessed August 28, 2007.]
*Kevin Appier, [ [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Appier] ] former Kansas City Royals/Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim pitcher.
*Sharon Runner, 36th District, California State Assembly Member. Although she attended Antelope Valley College, she failed to obtain a degree from the institution. [ [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharon_Runner] ]

References

2. Office of Public and Governmental Relations, Antelope Valley College

3. "A History of the First 34 Years of Antelope Valley College," by Roy A. Knapp, D.Ed, Lancaster, California, 1966

External links

* [http://www.avc.edu/ AVC home]