In their last two meetings, members of the Gulf Coast Community College District Board of Trustees discussed in detail the idea of our college moving forward with state college designation. The trustees are charged to ensure that Gulf Coast meets the highest standards of excellence, and they take their duty to safeguard the interests of this institution in a purposeful and thoughtful manner. Earning the state college designation is a rigorous progression, and the trustees and I intend to hold our core community mission first and foremost throughout the process.

There is a considerable outline to follow before this change can be granted to our college, and we will be deliberate in our approach to ensure all avenues have been discussed and reviewed prior to submission. At this writing, 15 of the current 28 community colleges in Florida have made the shift or are in the process of changing to state colleges. The 2009 legislature even changed the name from the Division of Community Colleges to the Florida College System. This newly named system encompasses all public community and state colleges and allows community colleges across the state to offer baccalaureate degrees. One reason for this change to a state college model is that Florida is not keeping pace with the number of bachelor’s degrees needed for the modern workforce. The state’s universities are unable to meet these growing needs, especially in key workforce areas. As a state college, we would not be allowed to offer master’s or doctoral degrees, and we have absolutely no interest in these areas. Our primary goal is to meet regional workforce needs where there are documented voids and not duplicate universities. Offering degrees in this manner provides cost efficiencies to the state and substantial savings in tuition to our students.

Our primary community college mission will not change if we were to offer baccalaureate degrees; we will still focus on open access and hope for all students, workforce education programs, outreach to the underserved, remedial education and complying with current articulation agreements with universities. The beauty of the colleges within the Florida College System is that we are all locally controlled and are able to meet needs of our communities more rapidly and more economically. We will expand our mission to give individuals opportunities to stay in this region and earn certificates, associates and bachelor’s degrees. Again, it is our intent to work in cooperation with our educational partners and not to duplicate services. A growing trend in our student population is an increase of more non-traditional students. For example, this summer we had a substantial enrollment growth and 57% of our students are over the age of 25, and 22% are over the age of 44. Many are seeking new opportunities to retrain or upgrade their skills and would like to have the opportunity to access a full range of baccalaureate degree programs without extensive and burdensome travel or expense. 

Our goal at Gulf Coast Community College, as espoused by our five-year strategic plan, is to work in partnership with our educational and economic partners. We believe our future direction should be more college and university partnerships with less duplication. We will continue to work closely with our valued FSU PC partners and we recognize that no one college or university can offer all that is needed. With a college/university partnership approach, we could offer a multitude of degrees to meet the needs in this region. Why not join the efforts of Gulf Coast, FSU PC, University of West Florida, Troy University, and others in a university/college center partnership? We all have strengths and excellent programs to put on the table, so why not team up to meet the growing needs for our changing area?

We are dedicated and passionate about our college and this region we serve, and with our talented faculty and great staff, we will continue to offer cost-effective programs for Northwest Florida. We will always keep our open access mission and will strive to serve this community at a higher level, working together to reap tremendous dividends.

“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” - Henry Ford.