ATC forum on solar and renewable energy gains a co-sponsor

The Florida Planning and Zoning Association has added its name to the list of those co-sponsoring Solar and Renewable Energy and Careers of the Future, a free forum scheduled for Feb. 28, from 8 a.m. to noon, at Daytona State's Advanced Technology College.

Featuring speakers and panel discussions by and for business leaders, industry experts and educators, the forum will explore the possibilities for growing robust solar and renewable energy industries in Florida. Keynote speakers and panel discussions will focus on these fledgling industries from a variety of perspectives.

“Our intention is to put out in the public eye some of the issues the state faces in growing these industries and to bring to the forefront the idea that we can move forward,” said ATC spokesman Jack Selter.

Along with FPZA and Daytona State’s College of Technological and Occupational Programs, the forum also is being co-sponsored by the Florida Solar Energy Industries Association and the Employ Florida Banner Center for Clean Energy, whose partners will be on hand to display the latest in renewable energy technology. While it is free and open to the public, representatives from area industry and manufacturing are particularly encouraged to attend to learn how new and emerging technologies can help them cut costs and enhance productivity.

The tentative agenda calls for three panel discussions that include the community applications of solar and renewable energy and their economic implications; the industry from the perspective of utilities and higher education; and key questions as the industry moves forward in the state and how colleges can respond with workforce training programs.

The ATC is located at 1770 Technology Blvd., just north of LPGA on Williamson Boulevard.

For more information or to RSVP, please call or email Mr. Selter, (386) 506-4177; selterj@daytonastate.edu, or Bridgette Cherry, (386) 506-4162; cherryb@daytonastate.edu.

You may RSVP online at www.reepedia.com/registration-form.html.

Daytona State to host Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region IV competition

Up to 1,500 thespians from across the southeastern United States will converge on Daytona State College Feb. 1 – 5 for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region IV competition.

This is the first time Daytona State has hosted the prestigious event, a prelude to a national competition that will take place this April at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Twelve Daytona State students are among those who will compete against students from more than 125 colleges and universities across the southeast for a chance to go to the national event.

“We are very fortunate to have been selected to host this event,” said college Theater Director Geoffrey Kershner, who helped bring the Region IV competition to Daytona State this year. “The competition is a great way to galvanize the students and let them see the level in which students at other institutions are working. The competitive nature of this event gives our students a real sense of what it’s really like in the world of theater.”

Students will vie for scholarships and a chance to advance to the national level in a variety of categories, including short plays, classical acting, music theatre, comedy acting, program directing and playwriting. Students also will compete in the areas of stage design, technical management, sound design, makeup, dramaturgy and a wide variety of other categories. Competitions will take place on the Daytona Beach Campus Theater Center and Goddard Theater, as well as downtown at the News-Journal Center. A number of workshops for students also will be featured during the festival, including a sound engineering component that will highlight the college’s state-of-the-art sound studio housed in the News-Journal Center. (View a pdf version of the week's program here.)

The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival was started in 1969 with the goal of improving the quality of college theater in the United States. Today, it has grown to involve more than 18,000 students from 600 colleges and universities nationwide, where theater departments and student artists showcase their work and receive outside assessment by theater festival respondents.

While next week’s productions and workshops are not open to the public, special arrangements have been made with the University of Central Florida, a 2010 KCACTF regional winner, to give an encore performance of their play "Dames at Sea" at 2:30 p.m. on Feb. 6  at the News-Journal Center. The performance is free to Daytona State students, as well as Volusia and Flagler County students. Tickets for all others are $8 a person or $15 for two.

For more information, please call the News-Journal Center Box Office, (386) 506-3377. Tickets also are available at the box office beginning two hours before the performance.

Agreements simplify transfer process for marine and environmental science students

Daytona State's Institute of Marine and Environmental Sciences has brokered transfer agreements with Stetson University and Florida Atlantic University, helping to streamline the transfer process for associate of arts degree majors interested in pursuing bachelor's degrees.

The agreements will help students to clearly identify courses required for their bachelor's degrees while at Daytona State. The institute currently offers four AA degree tracts: Marine Science, Marine Biology, Environmental Science, and Ocean Engineering. 

"The articulation agreements ensure that the courses offered at Daytona State are comparable to those offered by the universities,” said program advisor and associate professor, Dr. Debra W. Woodall.  “They also help students to better focus their efforts and identify the university they'd like to transfer to in order to pursue their chosen bachelor's degree. We also have initiated articulation agreements with other universities such as the University of Central Florida to increase transfer options for our students."

Typically, a transfer student pursuing a bachelor's degree will take 60 credit hours at Daytona State to first earn an AA degree, saving nearly $5,000 in tuition costs (compared with Florida public universities); transfer students also generally experience higher graduation rates.

For more information on these articulation agreements visit www.DaytonaState.edu/IMES or contact Dr. Woodall:  (386) 506-3765; woodald@DaytonaState.edu.