Florida SouthWestern State College

Florida SouthWestern State College (also referred to as FSW or Florida SouthWestern) is a state college in Southwest Florida. It was founded in 1962 and named after Thomas Edison as Edison Junior College, renamed Edison Community College in 1972, renamed Edison College in 2004, renamed Edison State College in 2008, and finally renamed Florida SouthWestern State College in 2014. The college has its main campus in Fort Myers in Lee County, satellite campuses in Charlotte and Collier counties, and outreach programs in Hendry and Glades counties.
The college, originally known as Edison Junior College, admitted its first students in the fall of 1962. The college was named after inventor and industrialist Thomas Edison, who frequently wintered in Fort Myers. The Lee Campus (now known as the Thomas Edison Campus) opened in 1965 on an 80-acre site with three buildings. The nursing program began on that campus with a $50,000 donation in 1968.

The name changed to Edison Community College in 1972, just after the first nursing classes began to graduate. Ten years later, in 1982, a branch campus of University of South Florida campus was dedicated. The college's arts hall, the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall, opened its doors in 1986. This Hall became the prime location for performing arts in Lee County.

Construction on the Collier County Campus at Lely lasted from 1991–92, on a 50-acre site in Naples, FL. Soon after that, the Charlotte County Campus opened in 1997, on a 204-acre plot of land in Punta Gorda, FL. This is the largest campus to date. The college revised its mission by publishing a new strategic plan, The Decade of Promise, in 2002. The college again changed its name in 2004, to simply Edison College.


Crews change the Charlotte campus back entrance sign.
The college continued to expand through the 2000s with increased funding for the nursing program and the new Richard H. Rush Library on the Lee Campus.[4] 2008 saw a fourth name change to Edison State College, and a new torch logo with blue and yellow colors to reflect the college's new status as a baccalaureate-granting state college. Multiple new baccalaureate programs opened over the next decade, including Middle Grades Mathematics, Sciences, and Language Arts Education; Applied Science in Public Safety Management; Elementary Education; and Secondary Education Biology and Mathematics.

The name, logo, and colors were changed for the fifth and final time to date in 2014. This name broke the ties to Thomas Edison, who was the college's former namesake. The new name, Florida SouthWestern State College, reflects the wide region that the college serves. One of the primary reasons for the change was to avoid confusion with Thomas Edison State College of New Jersey due to new online courses with a nationwide reach

Contents

1. Accreditation
2. History
3. Kenneth Walker resignation
4. Accreditation probation\
5. Academics
6. Students
7. Athletics
8. Campuses
9. Notable alumni
10. References
11. External links

External links

• Athletics
• Florida SouthWestern State College
• Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall