Patrick Flahive Joins Southwest Florida College as the Criminal Justice Program Manager

Fort Myers, Fla. – Patrick Flahive has recently joined Southwest Florida College as the Criminal Justice Program Manager.
Patrick Flahive is a certified correctional officer, law enforcement officer, general instructor, firearms instructor and first responder by the Florida Criminal Justice Standards & Training Commission. He has earned a master’s degree in Administration.

Flahive has served in the United States Air Force for five years as a munitions systems specialist and Sergeant supervising teams who maintained, tested and assembled precision guided conventional, nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

He has worked for the Florida Department of Corrections as a Correctional Officer & Sergeant for nine years where he supervised the Correctional Officers and civilian staff who maintain the safety and security of a maximum security prison.

Flahive has also worked for the Florida Gulf Coast University Police Department as a Police Officer and Reserve Police Officer for seven years, enforcing local, state, and federal laws as well as university rules and regulations.

He has been a coordinator, full-time and part time instructor at the Southwest Florida Criminal Justice Academy for thirteen years, training Law Enforcement and Correctional Officers.

He has served as a member of the Regional Domestic Security Taskforce and Joint Terrorism Taskforce for three years, determining training and operational needs at the local, state and federal levels.

Flahive has been the Assistant Director of the Southwest Florida Public Service Academy for three years where he supervised, directed, lead, and motivated more than 150 Firefighter and Criminal Justice instructors and 3,000 firefighter and criminal justice students annually.

“Southwest Florida College is a career college; we are going to make sure that students who graduate from our program not only have the academic ability to be successful but that they also have the practical ability to be successful,” Flahive said.

Southwest Florida College is an accredited, private institution of higher learning that is listening to employers and providing its students with placement assistance in today’s most demanding career fields. Campuses are located in Fort Myers, Tampa, Port Charlotte and Bonita Springs. The Institute of Interior Design at Southwest Florida College is also located within the Bonita Springs campus. For more information, call toll free 888‐526‐7973 or visit www.swfc.edu.

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Southwest Florida College is an accredited, private institution of higher learning that is listening to employers and providing its students with placement assistance in today’s most demanding career fields. The college is located in Fort Myers, Tampa, Port Charlotte and Bonita Springs. The Institute of Interior Design is also located within the Bonita Springs campus. For more information, call toll free 888‐279-2342 or visit www.swfc.edu.

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Southwest Florida College is an accredited, private institution of higher learning that is listening to employers and providing its students with placement assistance in today’s most demanding career fields. The college is located in Fort Myers, Tampa, Port Charlotte and Bonita Springs. The Institute of Interior Design is also located within the Bonita Springs campus. For more information, call toll free 888‐279-2342 or visit www.swfc.edu.

Southwest Florida College students, faculty and staff reach out to help students in need.

Fort Myers, Fla. - The Angel Tree, organized by Southwest Florida College’s Allied Health Club volunteers Claudia Portalatin, Laida Colon, and Sherry Marshburn, was created two years ago as a way to help fellow classmates during the holiday.

Students of Southwest Florida College can sign-up their children for the Angel Tree. The age and interest of each child is written on the back of paper angel ornaments and hung on the tree located on the third floor lobby of the Southwest Florida College, Fort Myers campus.

Fellow classmates, faculty and staff then choose an angel from the tree and purchase a pair of pajamas and a book for each child, based on the child’s interest.

“We thought about what Christmas was all about and what most of us remember is being a child and sitting around the tree in a pair of pajamas with a good book,” said Liz Levine, Allied Health Program Manager and Club Advisor. “We feel that this teaches kids the spirit of giving.”

This year, there are 75 angels on the tree. Students will be able to pick up their Angel Tree gifts on December 13th. Whatever doesn’t get picked up will be donated to the ACT Shelter.

Southwest Florida College is an accredited, private institution of higher learning that is listening to employers and providing its students with placement assistance in today’s most demanding career fields. The college is located in Fort Myers, Tampa, Port Charlotte and Bonita Springs. The Institute of Interior Design is also located within the Bonita Springs campus. For more information, call toll free 888‐279-2342 or visit www.swfc.edu.

Cheryl Vanande joins Southwest Florida College as the Graduate Placement Coordinator for the Port Charlotte Campus

Port Charlotte, Fla.  – Cheryl Vanande joined the Southwest Florida College, Port Charlotte campus as the Graduate Placement Coordinator. Vanande has an impressive background, with over 25 years of experience in training, development and human resources management.

She said she is pleased to be a part of Southwest Florida College because of its focus on student success. Which Vanande said is “a success that is thought out and includes future employers’ needs.”

“Students matter, employers matter and the community benefits. Our students leave with a real education that is career-oriented, competency based, and is what employers are looking for,” she said.

Vanande is currently the president of CNO, Inc., a nationwide provider of training, consulting and publishing services. Prior to establishing CNO, Inc., Vanande served as Manager of Training and Organizational Development for Charlotte County’s Board of County Commissioners (BCC), headquartered in Port Charlotte, Fla. In addition, Vanande is a retired (reserve) Navy Commander.

Her educational background includes a master’s degree in Public Administration from Florida Gulf Coast University (2003), and a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts from the University of Iowa (1982).

Vanande has earned certifications/licenses in:

• Professional Human Resources (PHR)
• Performance Leadership Instructor
• Achieve Global Instructor: Customer Service Program Instructor, and Integrated Leadership Concepts, Applications and Practices
• Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) Administrator
• Emotional Intelligence (EI) Instructor
• CPR and First Aid American Red Cross Instructorships

Vanande is a founding member of Charlotte County’s Toastmasters Club, currently serves on the Southwest Florida Chapter of the American Society for Training and Development, is a past board member of the Charlotte County Society of Human Resources Management, past member of the American Society of Public Administrators, past member of the Florida Public Personnel Association and certified labor relations negotiator.

“My personal goal in my new position is to help each and every graduate maximize their potential for obtaining a career position. Basically, make sure they stand out in the sea of applicants so they get an interview opportunity where I know they will shine,” Vanande said.

Southwest Florida College is an accredited, private institution of higher learning that is listening to employers and providing its students with placement assistance in today’s most demanding career fields. Campuses are located in Fort Myers, Tampa, Port Charlotte and Bonita Springs. The Institute of Interior Design at Southwest Florida College is also located within the Bonita Springs campus. For more information, call toll free 888‐526‐7973 or visit www.swfc.edu.

Southwest Florida College Students Earned Top Awards at the ASID Annual Student Design Competition

Bonita Springs, Fla. – Four students from the Institute of Interior Design at Southwest Florida College claimed top awards at the annual ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) Student Design Competition, held on September 24, 25 and 26 in Marathon, Fla.

In the residential design category, Sandra Dressler won first place for the second year in a row and received a check for $500. First time competition entrants Alexandra Hutchinson and Mary Seca took second and third place respectively in the residential design category earning a check for $250 and $175.

Sandra Dressler also won second place in the commercial design category and received another check for $250. Student Chris Beebe won the student rug design competition. Beebe earned a check for $500 and will have the honor of seeing his rug manufactured of silk in wool in Tibet. The rug was on display at the ASID South Florida Chapter Annual Design Conference and will be used in the home show in Naples early next year. Following the home show, the rug will be auctioned off at an ASID fundraising event.

“We all had a wonderful time at the conference and we hope that even more students will attend next year’s conference in Jupiter, Fla.,” said Linda Petersen, Program Manager of Interior Design at the Institute of Interior Design at Southwest Florida College. “We are very proud of all our winners and we are looking forward to seeing how great they will become when they graduate.”

The ASID Student Design Competition is open to all interior design programs in the South Florida area. Projects are judged on the overall professionalism of the design, the presentation of the design, and the appropriateness of the design in relation to the design requirements.



Southwest Florida College is an accredited, private institution of higher learning that is listening to employers and providing its students with placement assistance in today’s most demanding career fields. The college is located in Fort Myers, Tampa, Port Charlotte and Bonita Springs. The Institute of Interior Design is also located within the Bonita Springs campus. For more information, call toll free 888‐279-2342 or visit www.swfc.edu.