GENERAL INFORMATION

Purpose Statement

Okaloosa-Walton Community College is committed to quality educational programs and services which provide the opportunities for students to achieve their goals and which satisfy community needs. To this end, the college seeks to help improve the quality of life by offering excellence in academic, occupational, cultural, economic, and personal development programs and services.

Goals

• To provide a college environment that promotes equity and access to college programs for all citizens.
• To provide student and community services and activities that enhance the quality of educational life.
• To provide freshman and sophomore courses leading to baccalaureate degrees.
• To provide associate degrees and occupational programs that prepare students for careers in the public and private sectors.
• To provide leadership and support for the economic development of Okaloosa and Walton counties.
• To provide college preparatory instruction in basic skills, literacy programs, adult secondary education, and vocational preparatory instruction.
• To provide social and cultural opportunities in Okaloosa and Walton counties.
• To provide a variety of continuing education opportunities.
• To provide leadership in the application and use of technology.

Background

Located in the coastal heart of Northwest Florida, Okaloosa-Walton Community College has earned a reputation for educational excellence and community involvement. As one of Florida's network of 28 public community colleges, OWCC offers post-secondary education opportunities within reach of every Okaloosa and Walton County citizen. The college's two-county service district stretches from the Gulf of Mexico to the Alabama state line and encompasses a population in excess of 190,000 permanent residents.

In addition to a 264 acre campus in Niceville, OWCC operates a joint campus with the University of West Florida in Fort Walton Beach, the Chautauqua Center in DeFuniak Springs, the Robert L.F. Sikes Education Center in Crestview and full-time centers at Eglin Air Force Base and Hurlburt Field.

When its doors first opened in August of 1964 in a temporary campus of vacant buildings in Valparaiso, OWCC had a faculty of ten instructors, three support personnel and five administrators for the 309 full-time and 458 part-time students on hand. Now, more than thirty years later, approximately 100 full-time and 212 part-time instructors, as well as 234 support staff and 9 administrators (including 5 instructional department administrators) serve more than 16,600 students annually at the college's six campuses and centers. Since its inception, more than 170,000 persons have been served by Okaloosa-Walton Community College.

Originally named Okaloosa-Walton Junior College, the college remained at the temporary Valparaiso campus until December 1968 when the college moved to the permanent Niceville campus. Located between State Roads 85 and 285, the 264 beautifully wooded acres of the Niceville campus were transferred to the college from the Eglin Air Force Reservation by an act of Congress in January 1966. OWJC changed its name to Okaloosa-Walton Community College in 1988 in order to more accurately reflect the college's scope and mission in the local community.

A unique "2+2" program was established with the University of West Florida in 1982, and an act of Congress designated a permanent site for the OWCC/UWF Fort Walton Beach campus in 1989. The 156 acre Fort Walton Beach campus now boasts a fully integrated program from the freshman year through graduate school and annually serves a combined enrollment of approximately 6,000 students.

Throughout the college's history, OWCC has earned a consistent record of educational excellence. The college received a citation from the U.S. President in 1972. In 1984, OWCC received the coveted "Secretary's Award" from the U.S. Secretary of Education for its Drafting and Design Technology program, and in 1989, the Electronics Engineering Technology Program was designated a "Center of Electronics Excellence by the Florida Department of Education.

The median grade point average for OWCC students who have transferred to the state university system consistently ranks within the top five in the state. OWCC instructors are consistently selected as state finalists for the "Professor of the Year" Award of Excellence. The college debate team won state and national championships in 1993, 1994 and 1995 and the OWCC Musical Theater has ranked first in the state for the past ten years.

In addition to a record of regional and national accolades, OWCC offers state-of-the art student computer labs, a top-rated sports complex and a full program of intercollegiate and intramural sports, a child development center, and a Criminal Justice Training Center. A new 120,000 square foot fine and performing arts center on the Niceville campus provides students the finest in instructional facilities for dance, music, theater, the visual arts and the Humanities.