As we here at Tallahassee Community College prepare for the start of the fall semester, I am so excited to welcome our faculty, staff, and especially our students to the start of what will be a great new academic year.

The state of our College has never been stronger.

Over the past few years, we have worked hard to improve student success, expanding access to higher education in new markets, implementing strategic support initiatives that move the needle, and building out new programs that are in demand and provide good wages for our graduates. As a result, our success rates are up, recognitions continue to roll in, and prospective students are taking notice. Our enrollment for this fall semester has consistently trended higher than we have seen in many years, bucking national trends in our industry.

Not only are students taking notice, but so are our state leaders. We are grateful for the support of Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature, which allocated significant new funding to TCC for this fiscal year. They have seen the impact of what we’re doing here in the Florida College System, and thanks to those dollars as well as a projected increase in revenue from enrollment, we will be able to make several decisions and investments that will directly benefit our students and our College:

• Continue to hold tuition at its current level for the 12^th straight year.
• Invest $500,000 to launch three new bachelor’s degrees this fall in the critically in-demand fields of Elementary Education and Exceptional Student Education, as well as Business Administration.
• Invest $750,000 to reorganize our academic divisions with a focus on STEM, and to expand our Associate of Science degree offerings in careers that have seen rapid growth in recent years.
• Invest $250,000 for the creation of the new Office of Transfer Services to help strengthen and expand our celebrated transfer programs.
• Invest a $1.6 million state appropriation for our charter school program into the Tallahassee Collegiate Academy to expand access to a college education for area high school students.
• Invest $100,000 to expand our successful Math and Writing Champions programs through scholarships and support services that directly benefit students, particularly in critical gateway courses.
• Invest $165,000 in additional funds to double the number of mental health counselors available on campus to our students and help implement new investments as designated by students from student fees into contracted mental health services.
• Continue to expand our nursing program thanks to an increase in state funding of nearly $1 million a year.
• Invest in our people by providing a 6% pay raise for all employees in a regularly established position, and allocating 1% of the College’s budget on personalized professional development for all faculty, staff, and administrators to help position our team for the future.

Our impact is far greater today than ever before. With new higher-level degrees, increased national recognition, and more than 60 percent of our students now coming to us from outside of our service district, the time has come once again for us to assess the need for a change to our name.

This is not a decision I take lightly. While this institution has gone through a name change before, not to mention at least five different logos, the word “community” is important to us. I am incredibly proud of the fact that I have worked at Tallahassee Community College for 24 and a half years now and been president for 12 and a half. This is not about changing who we are; it’s about defining who we are and where we are going. It’s about momentum and relevance.

Founding TCC President Fred Turner once reassured all faculty and staff after our last name change that our core mission was the same then as when we first opened our doors. That still holds true to this day.

“Operation of Tallahassee Junior College is based upon the four recognized purposes of an academic community: to teach, to learn, to serve the teacher and the student, and to guard the public interest. This is espoused at the College by an open-door policy, an avowed dedication to teaching, solid administrative support, and a program of studies designed to meet the needs of the community.”

– President Fred Turner, 1970

Over the coming months, a task force comprised of College employees, students, and alumni will be working with a consultant to examine our current brand’s effectiveness to determine if our name should remain or needs to be updated. They will gather research and make a recommendation to move forward with a name and logo change, or to remain as we are. We anticipate a recommendation will be presented to the District Board of Trustees in November.

TCC has generated a tremendous amount of momentum over the past several years. How we stay relevant is how we use it to best serve our students. We didn’t arrive where we are by accident, and we’re not going to continue to be regarded as highly as we are by accident.

As we welcome students to our campus for the new fall semester, I am proud to report that the state of the College is strong, and the sky is the limit for TCC.

Welcome to the 2023-24 academic year!