Palomar College

For the transit center that serves the campus, see Palomar College Transit Center.

Palomar College is a public community college in San Diego County, California. The main campus is in San Marcos and three centers and four education sites are located elsewhere throughout north San Diego County.

Palomar College

Motto in English	Learning for Success
Type	Public community college
Established	September 23, 1946; 78 years ago (1946-09-23)
President	Star Rivera-Lacey
Location	San Marcos , California , United States
Campus	Multiple sites
Colors	Scarlet and silver
Mascot	Comets
Website	www.palomar.edu

Academics

Palomar College library

Palomar college sign

Palomar College offers 250 associate degree and certificate programs as well as programs for students wishing to transfer to many different four-year universities, including institutions in the University of California and California State University systems. These programs are organized into five academic divisions:

• Arts, Media, Business Administration
• Career, Technical and Extended Education
• Languages and Literature
• Mathematics and The Natural and Health Sciences
• Social and Behavioral Sciences

A Palomar College Ford Police Interceptor Utility car parked outside of the cafeteria

In addition, Palomar College and other local adult schools in North County work collaboratively to leverage services and resources to better serve adult education students in the areas of Adult Basic Education, ESL, GED, HISET, high school diploma, and post-secondary education and vocational training. Palomar College is the lead member of the Education to Career Network of North San Diego County. ETCN is one of 71 consortia in the state of California and is funded by the California Adult Education Program. Members of the ETCN consortium are Escondido Adult School, Palomar College, Poway Adult School, Ramona Adult School, San Marcos Adult School, and Vista Adult School.

Media

The Telescope is a student-run publication, produced by students enrolled in journalism courses and funded entirely through advertising.^[1]

Impact is a student-run magazine also produced by students in the college's journalism program. It has been published annually each spring semester since 2011 by the editorial staff of The Telescope.^[2]

KKSM is the college's student-run radio station. It is broadcast 24/7 from the Jonathan Downey Memorial Studio. It has a 500-watt AM signal.^[3]

Palomar College Television (PCTV) is the college's PBS television station. It has been active since 1975.^[4]

Associated Student Government

The Governing Board of the Palomar Community College District has authorized the students of the District to organize a student body association named "Associated Students of the Palomar Community College District".^[5] The association is required by law to "encourage students to participate in the governance of the college".^[6]

The governing body of the association is named "Associated Student Government" (ASG).^[7] The ASG is a student-run organization at Palomar that strives to create a better campus for its students. Members of the ASG serve on campus-wide shared-governance committees and hiring committees, lobby State and Federal representatives on student issues, attend leadership conferences, and are responsible for Comet Week, Springfest, and some campus-wide activities. Members of the ASG have opportunities to attend conferences, special on-campus parking, and serve on campus-wide committees as the "voice of the students."

The Associated Students periodically participates in meetings sponsored by a statewide community college student organization named Student Senate for California Community Colleges. The statewide Student Senate is authorized by law "to advocate before the Legislature and other state and local governmental entities".^[8]

Athletics

The intercollegiate athletic program at Palomar College consists of a combined 22 men's and women's sports teams, averaging over 450 participating student-athletes per year. Men's and women's sports include basketball, volleyball, tennis, soccer, swimming, water polo, and cross country. Other Sports are football, baseball, softball, golf, wrestling, track and field.^{[citation needed]}

Honor Societies

Phi Theta Kappa

Palomar College is home to the Alpha Omega Rho (ΑΩΡ) Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa (PTK), the official international honor society for two-year colleges. The chapter recognizes and encourages academic achievement among associate degree students. Eligibility for membership requires the completion of at least 12 transferable semester units and a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.5.

Students who meet the criteria are typically invited to join each semester, though eligible students may also apply directly. Active members have opportunities to engage in service, leadership, fellowship, and scholarly activities through campus events, regional conferences. Benefits of membership include access to exclusive transfer scholarships, leadership development, publication opportunities in Nota Bene—PTK’s literary journal—and the honor of wearing Phi Theta Kappa regalia during commencement ceremonies.^[9]

Notable alumni

• Todd Bankhead – professional football player
• Joey Beltran – professional mixed martial artist^[10]
• Lizet Benrey – painter
• Ken Block – Rally Car driver and founder of DC Shoes
• Travis Browne – professional mixed martial artist^[11][12]
• Matt Chico – professional baseball player
• Tom Dempsey – professional football player
• Ryan Dahl – software engineer, inventor of Node.js
• Pita Elisara – professional football player
• Lina Fanene – professional wrestler and plus-sized model
• Saalim Hakim – professional football player
• Tim Hill (attended) – professional baseball player
• James Hoyt – professional baseball player
• Candi Kubeck – captain of ValuJet Flight 592, which crashed into the Florida Everglades on May 11, 1996.
• Bobby Lee (attended) – comedian and actor
• Tommy Lister Jr. – actor and professional wrestler
• Tom Luginbill – college football player and analyst for ESPN
• Brett Salisbury – college football player and author
• Robert Stromberg – Oscar-winning art director, production designer, special effects artist, and filmmaker
• Jesse Taylor (attended) – professional mixed martial artist^[13]
• Kenbrell Thompkins (attended) – professional football player
• Taylor Tomlinson, stand-up comedian, writer, and television host
• Nick Vincent (born 1986) – professional baseball player

Notable faculty

• Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz (1921–2014), surfer and physician
• Joyce Cutler–Shaw (1932–2018), multidisciplinary artist; taught from 1974 to 1978.^[14]