New HCC dean ready for new challenges

The South Shore campus of Hillsborough Community College has grown beyond school officials' wildest expectations.

So much so that administrators have already commissioned a revised growth plan, added more classes and initiated new programs.

Campus President Allen Witt has charged his replacement as academic dean, Judy Nolasco, with continuing the expansion of programs at the college to meet growing demand.

"Dean Nolasco brings a wealth of experience as a public school teacher, professor and administrator," Witt said. "Her wide experience will help to increase our vocational programs, while strengthening our university transfer curriculum.

"As a long time resident of the South Shore area, she brings a special dedication for increasing the educational opportunities of our area. We are fortunate that she agreed to head our academic team."

Although new to the HCC SouthShore campus, Nolasco is no novice. She taught high school English in Hillsborough County from 1988 to 2000; was an assistant dean for science and technology programs at HCC's Ybor campus; became a full-time English professor in 2003; and, in 2008, became the first academic assistant to the campus president.

"I'm very excited to be here," she said of her new position. "I love the job, especially the challenges of a new campus. I'm looking forward to creating new programs and classes, working with the faculty and watching the campus grow.

"Once I learn what the community's needs are, that's where I will focus my attention," she said, adding she will be looking at how best to assess college-level, general education courses that everyone at the college is required to take.

Nolasco wants to define what the workforce in the area specifically expects of a college graduate these days, and then address their needs through programs the campus offers.

Some examples, she said, are programs in alternative energy, solar energy and energy auditing. She wants to start "something for seniors" to capitalize on all their potential, perhaps having them as guest lecturers and including them in more of the college's goings on.

In the fall, additional classes in computer science, medical coding, small business management, entrepreneurship and accounting will be added.

Born in Newark, N.J., Nolasco was raised in Miami, where she graduated from Miami Norland High School. She married, had a daughter and moved to California, where she attended Orange Coast Community College. Graduating in 1982, she moved to Tampa and enrolled in the University of Tampa's Women's Re-entry Program.

She graduated from UT in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in English and education, and then went on to the University of South Florida, earning a master's in English in 1996.

Despite her busy schedule, Nolasco is taking her last two classes toward her doctorate in higher education administration and leadership from Nova Southeastern University.

She and her husband, Fernando Velasco, who coordinates the MBA program at UT and teaches economics, live in Apollo Beach. She has been a resident of the community since 1982. Their two daughters, Sara Mercer and Jennifer Wells, are both teachers - Mercer at Apollo Beach Elementary and Wells at Valrico Elementary.

When she's not working, which isn't often, Nolasco enjoys spending time with her four grandchildren and walks for exercise.