Author: State College of Florida

(Bradenton, Fla., June 23, 2020) — Prospective students and parents are invited to learn more about State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (SCF) programs and services at Admissions Express events in Bradenton and Venice. Admissions Express will be 3-6 p.m. July 7, 14 and 21 at SCF Bradenton in the Library & Learning Center, 5840 26th St. W., and July 16 at SCF Venice, 8000 S. Tamiami Trail, Bldg. 100, Room 174. Appointments are required and may be scheduled by visiting SCF.edu/AdmissionsExpress. Virtual appointments are also available.

SCF’s student services will cover important topics like class registration, degree pathways and career choices, and provide step-by-step assistance to complete an application. Students and parents can learn about available opportunities for financial assistance, tour the campus and get insight on student life. Advisors will be available for questions.

Applicants can get a head start on their application at SCF.edu/Admissions and complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online at StudentAid.ed.gov. SCF’s federal school code 001504.

SCF offers associate and bachelor’s degrees as well as workforce certificates at its campuses in Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch, Venice and Online. For more information, visit SCF.edu, text 941-304-5443 or email Admissions@SCF.edu.

(Bradenton, Fla., June 16, 2020) — State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (SCF) is launching “Go Live with SCF Online” to enhance their students’ learning experience. The expanded online learning format, which provides additional structure and real-time interaction with SCF professors and classmates, allows students to receive live lectures and have question and answer sessions.

The expanded format, which provides more structure and one-on-one interaction with SCF professors and classmates, allows students to receive live lectures and have real-time question and answer sessions. Go Live with SCF Online joins the existing traditional online courses where students log in and complete studies at their own pace, and a blended format that consists of online and onsite face-to-face instruction.

“We wanted to provide an option to our students who were concerned about what returning to college in the Fall might look like,” said Executive Vice President and Provost, Dr. Todd Fritch. “We’re going to continue to be flexible and responsive to the needs of our students by modifying our face-to-face and online course options.”

SCF’s in-state tuition for online courses is half that of state universities at $102.48 per credit hour for lower division courses and $112.08 per credit hour for upper division courses. In the wake of the coronavirus, SCF transitioned 97% of its courses to online instruction this past Spring, and for the Fall 2020 semester will offer students the option to take classes online or face-to-face based on student preference and subject to availability.

Current SCF students can register via My.SCF.edu and new students can apply online at SCF.edu/Admissions. For more information, text 941-304-5443, call 941-752-5050 or email Admissions@SCF.edu.

(Bradenton, Fla., June 16, 2020) — Kids ages 8-13 are invited to not just play video games this summer but learn to create them while focusing on development of technology skills at SCF Kids’ Online Summer Technology Camp program running June 8-July 31. Due to Coronavirus concerns, face-to-face enrichment camp has been cancelled, but SCF Summer Camp will continue with online technology offerings. Expanded technology options include Javascript and Python coding, 3D design with professional-level modeling software and video game development, including Minecraft, Fortnite and Mario Kart style games.

Camp sessions include:

• 3D Game Design with Unity.
• Battle Royale: Make Your First Fortnite Style Video Game
• Code Breakers
• JavaScript Developer Jam
• Make Your First Video Game!
• Minecraft Designers
• Minecraft Modders
• Minecraft Redstone Engineers
• Pokemon Masters: Designers & 3D Makers Unite!
• Python Programmers
• ROBLOX Coders & Entrepreneurs!
• ROBLOX Makers
• Rocket Kart Racers: Design A Mario Kart Style Game
• Video Game Animation

Campers may register for the week-long sessions at 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 1:30-4:30 p.m. or both. The cost per session is $135. For the complete SCF Kids’ Online Summer Technology Camp schedule and registration information, visit SCF.edu/Kids or call 941-752-5290.

(Bradenton, Fla., April 21, 2020) – State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (SCF) will honor its Spring 2020 graduates with a virtual ceremony Friday, May 1, from 3-5 p.m., to be broadcast on Sarasota Community Radio WSLR, 96.5 FM. A video conference of the platform party and a presentation will also be streamed live on the College’s Facebook page, Facebook.com/StateCollegeofFlorida. Students, family, friends and community members can participate in the ceremony by calling or texting the radio station or via Facebook posting.

SCF had made the decision earlier to postpone the traditional commencement program for the wellbeing and safety of students, faculty, staff and the community, and in alignment with the recommendations of the CDC, DOH, and local and state authorities.  However, they were looking for an alternative way to celebrate this milestone for graduating students.

SCF President Dr. Carol F. Probstfeld said, “This is a bittersweet time for our graduating class, who are being denied the experience of a traditional commencement due to the Coronavirus. So, we’ve decided to do something different — something out of the box — to create a meaningful experience that can be shared with classmates, friends and family, wherever they may be.”

The broadcast will include music, an invocation as well as College dignitaries who will join the ceremony via video conference. Outstanding Graduate and Outstanding Faculty Excellence awards will also be announced. This will be a unique way of celebrating with SCF graduates and recognizing their success. After the degrees are conferred, there will be an opportunity for family, friends and members of the community to be able to call and text congratulatory messages to individual graduates or the entire SCF Class of 2020 on the air. Anyone watching on Facebook Live will also be able to add congratulatory messages throughout the event.

“As a community-owned-and-operated radio station, WSLR is seeking nontraditional ways to serve our community during the COVID-19 crisis,” said Arlene Sweeting, WSLR Manager. “We were happy to provide airtime to SCF to help ensure that their graduation ceremony is accessible to all that are interested in participating.”

2020 Spring graduates will receive their diplomas by mail, accompanied by a special commemorative program. Graduates are also invited to walk at the Winter 2020 ceremony in December if they choose to do so. To learn more about SCF, visit SCF.edu.

(Bradenton, Fla., April 9, 2020) — The State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (SCF) Music Program and SCF Foundation will award more than $200,000 in scholarships for the 2020-2021 school year.

Students graduating from high school who wish to perform in the SCF Choir, Symphonic Band, Jazz Band, Guitar Ensemble, or Bradenton Symphony Orchestra, as well as all pianists, should apply for ensemble scholarships at SCF.edu/Music and SCF Foundation music scholarships at SCF-Foundation.org. Students need not be music majors to be eligible for the scholarships.

Because SCF is limiting on-campus activity due to the coronavirus, applicants will audition via video instead of in person. After registering as a “Future Student” at SCF.edu/Music, applicants are asked to record a video audition of up to six minutes in length and provide a link to the video in the application.

In addition, full tuition scholarships of $3,500 are available for musicians accepted to the Presidential String Quartet and the Presidential Jazz Combo. Auditions for those ensembles are tentatively scheduled for Friday, Sept. 4. Scholarships for private lessons are also available for all music majors.

For more information, contact Robyn L. Bell, music program director, at BellR@SCF.edu, 941-752-5579, or visit SCF.edu/Music. Deadline for early scholarship applications is May 1.

(Bradenton, Fla., Mar. 24, 2020) — State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota’s (SCF) program directors, faculty and lab managers worked together this past weekend, gathering supplies from SCF’s Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch and Venice campuses to respond to the need of two local area hospitals: Manatee Memorial Hospital (MMH) and Venice Regional Bayfront Health. Both hospitals are accepting donations of supplies while challenged with responding to the pandemic Coronavirus – COVID-19.

Having representation on Manatee Memorial’s and Venice Regional’s Board of Directors, SCF reached out to offer its supplies understanding there may be a need. “In times like these, we need to work together and help each other where we can,” said Dean of Nursing and Health Professions Matt Connell. “Our faculty were eager to help local healthcare providers serve our community. And we know our students would be proud.”

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) that included masks, isolation gowns, exam and sterile gloves in the thousands from the College’s health sciences program were delivered Monday and Tuesday. Since its founding in 1957, SCF has offered an Associate in Science in Nursing (ASN) Degree for those wishing to obtain a Registered Nurse (RN) license. In 2009, SCF expanded its nursing program to include the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree.

“On behalf of our patients, staff and physicians, I want to personally thank President Probstfeld and Mr. Connell for stepping up and supporting our community. Their donation during this healthcare crisis is much appreciated. We are all in this together.” Kevin DiLallo, CEO, Manatee Memorial Hospital.

Students within SCF’s nursing program benefit greatly from the close partnership the College has with Manatee Memorial Hospital and other local hospitals. In January 2019, MMH opened its first Dedicated Education Unit for SCF’s nursing students. Students complete their clinical hours in-part at area hospitals, providing them with invaluable hands-on learning and interpersonal skills; and as of 2019, approximately three in five nurses at local area hospitals were SCF alumni.

“We are grateful to SCF for donating supplies to help protect our medical teams and patients,” said Venice Regional CEO Karen Fordham. “Ours is a special community where people and institutions pull together to help one another. Thank you, SCF!”

To learn how you can donate supplies to MMH, contact Betty Chambliss, Director of Marketing and Communications at 941-745-7545. To donate to Venice Regional, contact Julie Beatty, marketing manager at 941-483-7797.  To learn more about SCF, visit SCF.edu.

(Bradenton, Fla., March 12, 2020) — State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (SCF) photography instructor Peter Gedeon was recently recognized with an honorable mention award for a 10-image series titled “Planet Ag” from the London International Creative Competition.

The competition judged work in 11 different categories including painting, video and film, application design, architecture and fashion.

“Planet Ag” features nudes covered in silver paint against minimalist backgrounds. In his entry, he writes, “I am exploring the delicate balance between avoiding the objectification of the unclad bodies and the celebration of the divine beauty of the human figure.”

The title comes from the periodic table — Ag is the symbol for silver. “My models often pose in unusual postures or with unusual objects,” he explained. “Planet Ag” asks the question: “What if we finally encounter one another, a different civilization originated from outside of planet Earth? How receptive, tolerant, resilient we are; how do we react when we come face to face with strangely different customs, cultures?”

The stark texture of silver paint on skin is something Gedeon has experimented with for several years, but the concept goes back farther than that. “It goes back to when I was 5,” he said. Using an old pencil sharpener, “my hands would get messy. I would get amazed at the transformative power of how the graphite changed the appearance of the skin.”

Gedeon is an accomplished artist with group exhibitions in 56 countries, 220 major awards and 35 solo exhibitions in six countries. Gedeon says he enters competitions for the critiques he gets from judges. “It’s a great source of information and it’s very useful feedback.” It’s a concept he tries to impart to his students at SCF. “One of the most important aspects I try to emphasize — you cannot properly judge your own work. There’s so much involved in the making of it, it will be clouding your critical eye. You need someone who can pull your head out of the work and ask ‘Step back and look now, can you see this?’”

And that, he said, is the key. “To tell a student why a good picture is good is kind of explaining one kind of recipe. But if you can drive them to the cookbook, they can make their own beautiful dishes in multiple ways and in a creative way.”

To learn more about the Art, Design and Humanities department at SCF, visit SCF.edu/Arts.

Photo Caption: State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota (SCF) photography instructor Peter Gedeon.