Palm Beach Community College to change name

By Palm Beach Business.com

LAKE WORTH — Palm Beach Community College will become Palm Beach State College. The college’s board of trustees approved the change Tuesday evening but the date of the change has yet to be determined.

 “This is a significant moment for PBCC,’’ college President Dennis Gallon said after the trustee’s monthly meeting. “The board’s decision is about more than a name. It is about recognizing the changing needs of our students, community and workforce and changing to meet those needs, while reaffirming our commitment to an open door to higher education.”

The board voted in June to make the change to reflect the college’s new bachelor’s degree offering, but delayed action on the name to give a college-wide committee representing staff, faculty,  students, alumni and trustees an opportunity to study the issue and make recommendations.

The College also sought input from the community, faculty, staff and students through an online survey in April, which showed that 77.8 percent of the 1,790 respondents agree that PBCC should change its name. Just over 40 percent favored Palm Beach State College as the new name. Palm Beach College, with 34.3 percent of the votes, was the second top pick.

The College is aiming to have the name change effective in January, but it plans to immediately begin promoting that the change is coming. It has not yet been determined whether the College will change its colors, mascot or slogan, but the committee will continue to meet and make additional recommendations.

“I’m happy with the name change. The time is right,’’ said Trustee David Talley.

PBCC began offering its first bachelor of applied science degree in supervision and management this fall with tracks in health, public safety or business administration. Five hundred students have been accepted into the program, and more than 340 are enrolled in courses this fall.

The College is seeking state approval to offer two more bachelor’s degrees —  in nursing and in information management technology.

PBCC is among 14 of Florida’s 28 community colleges now offering bachelor’s degrees, and most of them have dropped “community” from their name.

This is the second time PBCC has changed its name since it was established in 1933.  It first changed from Palm Beach Junior College to Palm Beach Community College in 1988.