Due to contributions from generous donors, Florida College is able to offer all students five free appointments with a mental health professional. These sessions are conducted via video call and are completely confidential. After the seven free appointments, students can also opt to schedule additional sessions at their own expense.
Our on-call Registered Nurse is available to any student who needs assistance. The nurse can be contacted through the students’ online Student Portal.
Once again, your safety is of utmost concern and we are actively prepared to take all precautions as necessary. Please continue to monitor your emails, text messages, myFC and the FC website. We encourage you to review the Hurricane/Tropical Storm Preparations Plan and monitor weather reports.
Security services at Florida College are provided by the Temple Terrace Police Department by means of the TTPD Extra Duty program. During the overnight hours, Florida College has arranged for a sworn, armed, uniformed police officer to patrol our campus in a marked police department vehicle. This officer has full law enforcement powers, including the authority to make an arrest.
The college property is under the formal jurisdiction of the city of Temple Terrace and thus criminal incidents are automatically referred to the Temple Terrace police department. The college and local police have open and frequent communication regarding activities on campus.
The College and the Temple Terrace Police cooperate if students violate a state or city statute. The police provide information to the Dean of Students office for any action or follow-up that may be required, and the college may call upon local law enforcement authorities for help in investigating criminal behavior when necessary.
The College and the Temple Terrace Police cooperate if students violate a state or city statute. The police provide information to the Dean of Students office for any action or follow-up that may be required, and the college may call upon local law enforcement authorities for help in investigating criminal behavior when necessary.
All overnight visitors must obtain authorization from the residence hall supervisors or Dean of Students. Anyone seen inside residence halls without obvious proper authorization should be reported to the residence hall supervisor immediately.
For the security and privacy of the students, the campus is officially closed to all visitors at curfew. Only guests who have permission from the Dean of Students Office may visit after curfew or stay overnight in the resident halls.
New students are informed about campus security procedures and practices during orientation at the beginning of the semester and by the student handbook, posters, and information disseminated by the Dean of Students Office. Presentations concerning personal safety and residence hall security are presented at the beginning of each year by the Temple Terrace police.
A common theme of all awareness and crime prevention programs is the encouragement of students to be aware of their responsibility for their own security and the security of others.
In the event that an emergency situation–including weather-related events–arises on or off-campus that, in the judgment of the Dean of Students, constitutes an imminent threat to campus security, an immediate, campus-wide warning will be issued. It will reach all students, faculty, and staff via the Florida College emergency notification system, which will reach all college email, as well as linked cell phone messaging systems. Residence hall supervisors will also cooperate in disseminating information concerning any threat to on-campus students. The emergency notification system is normally tested during the course of the fall semester each academic year. Documentation of this test is kept in the Dean of Students Office.
In all cases of an emergency situation constituting an imminent threat, the Dean of Students Office will immediately contact the Temple Terrace police department. If an evacuation of physical structures is deemed necessary, the fire evacuation plan, posted in each residence hall room, will be followed.
When a resident student is determined to be “missing” for 24 hours, the residence hall supervisor will notify the Dean of Students, who will then immediately notify the Temple Terrace police to initiate a missing person investigation. While a student, by federal statute, has the option to designate a confidential contact person to be notified by police or college officials, if the student is determined to be missing—and a form is available from the Dean of Students Office for this purpose—the college will also contact the student’s parents, unless the student has proven his legal independence. These procedures may be implemented, as circumstances warrant, in less than 24 hours after a student is determined to be missing.
In compliance with the College and University Security Information Act, Act 73 or 1998, amended, and the U.S. Student Right to Know and Security Act, Public Law 101-542 (renamed the Jeanne Cleary Act), Florida College provides an annual report of crime statistics, policies, and programs that promote campus safety. This report is distributed to all students and is available to all prospective students upon request. Reported crime statistics for over 6,000 colleges and universities in the United States, including Florida College, may be found at https://ope.ed.gov/security/.
In the event of a hurricane or tropical storm, FC Storm Team will closely monitor weather projection and conditions and will provide updates to students and their families. To view our Hurricane/Tropical Storm Preparations Plan, click the link below.
Florida College is a drug-free and alcohol-free work and educational environment. The unlawful manufacture, sale, delivery, unauthorized possession, or use of any illicit drug is prohibited by Florida College. The college not only complies with federal, state, and local laws regulating the possession, use, and sale of drugs or alcohol, but has a well-defined and established code of conduct—as written in the student handbook—that specifically states that: “The use of alcohol and drugs by our students is absolutely prohibited.” Violation of this standard at the college is clearly stated as grounds for a student’s automatic suspension for at least the balance of the semester in which the violation occurred.
As required by CFR 86.11, Florida College publishes and distributes to all current students and employees its Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Program as part of the annual Campus Security & Fire Safety Report. This program is reviewed annually by the Dean of Students to determine its effectiveness and to implement changes if they are needed. The elements of the program are:
The Dean of Students office is the referral center for students and employees who voluntarily request assistance with substance abuse. These individuals will be counseled and referred to the appropriate professional assistance program. Penalties may be imposed upon an employee for drug abuse violations up to and including termination of employment or requiring satisfactory participation in a drug abuse assistance or rehabilitation program approved for such purposes by a federal, state, or local health, law enforcement, or other appropriate agency.
Moderate to high doses of alcohol cause marked impairments in higher mental functions and the loss of memory. High doses of alcohol can cause respiratory depression and death.
Long-term consumption, particularly when combined with poor nutrition, can also lead to dependence and permanent damage to vital organs such as the brain and the liver. Physical effects of drugs include increased heart rate, bloodshot eyes, dry mouth and throat, and increased appetite. The use of drugs may impair or reduce short-term memory and comprehension, alter sense of time, and reduce the ability to perform tasks requiring concentration and coordination. Motivation and cognition may also be altered making the acquisition of new information difficult. As you can see from the above, there are major health risks associated with the use of illicit drugs and the abuse of alcohol.
Federal guidelines state that any Pell Grant recipient must certify that he or she will not engage in unlawful activities related to controlled substances during the period covered by the grant.
Federal guidelines focus strongly on illicit drug use and distribution. For a first offense of drug possession, a student loses eligibility for federal financial aid for one year from the date of conviction. For a second offense, a student loses eligibility for federal financial aid for two years from the date of conviction. For a third offense and subsequent offenses, a student has indefinite ineligibility for federal financial aid from the date of conviction.
For a first offense for the sale of illegal drugs, a student loses eligibility for federal financial aid for two years from the date of conviction. For a second offense and subsequent offenses, a student has indefinite ineligibility from the date of conviction.
Federal regulations require enrolled students convicted of a drug offense after receiving federal financial aid to notify Florida College immediately. The student will then become ineligible for further federal financial aid and must repay federal financial aid received after the conviction.
In addition to its own internal audits and efforts, the college is inspected annually for fire safety by the local professional firefighters of Temple Terrace, who walk the campus and building interiors and make specific recommendations to the college regarding its fire safety.
The following detection, warning, and control systems are in place in our residence halls:
At least one planned fire drill may be conducted each semester in each residence hall. Other unannounced drills may be held at any time. While evacuation procedures were discussed this year, no fire drills were conducted.
The college handbook states the following regarding fire safety in the residence halls:
The following evacuation procedures for residence halls are stated in the student handbook.
Federal statutes mandate our keeping of a fire logbook book and reporting all fires that occur in our residence halls. The non-emergency contact for any fire already extinguished in the residence halls is the Dean of Students or the Dean of Students office. The fire log is kept in the dean’s office for public examination upon request.
Contact the Dean of Students Office
Future improvements in fire safety will include definitive scheduling of fire drills for each residence hall.