Daytona Beach, FL - The chancellor of the Florida College System (FCS), Madeline M. Pumariega, will address a class of more than 3,200 graduates during Daytona State College's (DSC) 57th commencement ceremony.
The commencement will take place in 2 parts on Monday, May 15, at the Ocean Center. A ceremony will be held for the associate of science (AS), certificate and adult education students at 2 PM. At 6:30 PM, a ceremony will be held for the associate of arts (AA) and baccalaureate degree students. A job fair will also be included for DSC graduates from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM.
Pumariega presides over the 28 colleges that make up FCS. She was appointed as the 1st female and Hispanic chancellor in August 2015, and as a product of FCS, she earned her AA degree from Miami Dade College.
The chancellor is the past president of Miami Dade's Wolfson Campus, as well as a member of the Florida Prepaid College Board, the Florida Council of 100 and other various institutions.
She holds a bachelor's in political science from St. Thomas University, a masters of education from Florida Atlantic University and is a doctoral candidate at Barry University.
(Madeline M. Pumariega)
The Class of 2017 features over 1,400 AA graduates, including 177 expected to complete their AAs this summer. Many of the graduates will transition as juniors to the University of Central Florida through DCS's Direct Connect to UCF partnership. Nearly 1,400 graduates will have earned their AS or certificate credentials. DSC's commencement exercises will also include 455 bachelor's degree recipients. This year, 1,370 students across programs are graduating with honors, including 429 with high honors. 15 students were inducted into the Daytona State College Hall of Fame; the highest honor that faculty can give a student. More than 200 veterans earned their academic credentials this year, and over 150 graduates are earning their AA, AS or program certificate days before they receive their high school diploma. And over 462 students will have earned their adult high school diploma or GED as part of the class of 2017. This commencement marks over 100,000 degrees and certificates awarded by the college since its founding in 1957 as Florida's first comprehensive community college. Photos courtesy of shutterstock.com & hxdbzxy and Daytona State College. Copyright Southern Stone Communications 2017.
