2005 proved a year to remember at OCC

The 2005 calendar year was an extraordinary one at Orange Coast College.

Longtime dean and vice president Robert Dees was named in April as the college’s ninth president. An OCC faculty member and administrator for 29 years, Dees began his career here in 1976 as an English professor. He was dean of the Literature and Languages Division for 14 years and served for seven years as the college’s vice president of instruction.

The dance team captured its seventh successive national title last January at the National Dance Team Championships at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla. The four-member all-girl stunt team also took a national crown.

Seven OCC student films were screened in April at the 2005 Newport Beach Film Festival. It marked the second year in a row that works by OCC students were featured at the prestigious fest.

George Dosoglu and Anne Ward were saluted in May by the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce as OCC’s male and female students of the year for 2004-05. Student government leader Shana Jenkins was named in May to the 2005 Phi Theta Kappa All-California Academic Team. Jenkins was also student speaker at commencement.

The college’s facility master plan moved forward in 2005. The remodel of Watson Hall, a new admissions and counseling facility on campus, began in the spring and will be completed next August. The new baseball field was started in late summer and will be finished this month. Construction also began on the Doyle Arts Pavilion and Café, the fitness center and a new campus library. There were also numerous classroom, facilities and utilities upgrades made throughout the campus. Funding was provided by the November 2002 passage of a local ballot item, Measure C.

Architecture students garnered 11 of 15 awards -- and the top four prizes -- last May in competition sponsored by the Orange County chapter of the American Institute of Architects. The 11 students earned $3,600 in prize money. The competition was open to all architecture students attending Orange County colleges and universities.

The School of Allied Health Professions honored 136 graduates on May 25 at the annual pinning ceremony. The school consists of 13 health programs, ranging from cardiovascular technology to medical transcription to neurodiagnostic technology.

OCC awarded 1,965 degrees and certificates at its 57th commencement May 26 at the Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa. Two weeks earlier, 134 students were recognized for leadership and service at the college’s 47th Honors Night Ceremony, and 308 students received scholarships valued at nearly $350,000.

The college’s culinary arts team grabbed a gold medal and the national championship in July at the American Culinary Federation’s Student Team National Championship in San Antonio, Texas.

OCC’s athletic teams captured three state titles in 2005, bringing to 74 the total number of state championships the Pirates have won since the college was established in 1947. Coach Janice Maran’s women’s tennis team won the state title last May. The women’s cross-country team secured its fifth successive state championship in November. The cross-country squad has now won a total of 12 state crowns. Coach Chuck Cutenese’s women’s volleyball outfit grabbed a state championship in December.

In September, a stellar trio of former students was inducted into the OCC Alumni Hall of Fame. Inductees included Inonge Mbikusita-Lewanika, ambassador to the United States from the Republic of Zambia; Brent Mayne, a 15-year Major League Baseball star; and Paul Frank, director and head designer of Paul Frank Industries.

In October, the California Community College chancellor’s office announced that OCC ranked first out of the state’s 109 community colleges in the number of students it transferred in 2004-05 to the 23-campus California State University system, and No. 2 in total combined transfers to the CSU and the 10-campus University of California systems.

Crime statistics on campus dropped for the fourth successive year in 2004-05. The numbers were announced in October. Campus crime statistics for 2004-05 were 1.1% lower than the previous year, 18.9% lower than 2002-03 and 48% lower than 2000-01. Since 1992-93, OCC’s enrollment has grown by more than 12%, yet crime is down by 50.3%.

Leon G. Skeie, professor of physical education and athletics, was named in November as the college’s faculty member of the year for 2005-06. A member of the staff for 32 years, Skeie will be honored during a special ceremony on campus in April. He’ll be a speaker at the 2006 commencement ceremony.

Orange Coast College’s Foundation raised a record total $5.4 million in donations during the 2004-05 academic year. The legendary 80-foot racing yacht Kialoa III was donated to the college’s School of Sailing and Seamanship in May by her owner, Jim Kilroy of Marina del Rey. She was valued at $1 million. In August, Roy E. Disney gave the college his record-breaking 86-foot yacht, Pyewacket, which was built in 2004 at a cost of $7 million.

All things considered, 2005 was a pretty spectacular year at Orange Coast College.

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Registration for spring classes is underway by telephone, through Jan. 26. Spring classes begin on Monday, Jan. 30.

The admissions office is open from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Fridays. Spring applications may be filed in that office. Online applications may also be submitted at orangecoastcollege.edu.

Though more than 18,000 students have already signed up for the spring semester, nearly 50 percent of the 2,022 course sections remain open. For application or registration information, call (714) 432-5072.

* JIM CARNETT is senior director of community relations at Orange Coast College. He writes the biweekly On Campus at OCC Column. Reach him at jcarnettocc.cccd.edu or by calling (714) 432-5725.

20060110h2yyvsn1(LA)20060110isuqa0nc(LA)The college’s School of Sailing and Seamanship was given the racing yacht Kialoa III in May.