It’s been about a year and a half since our trustees approved a measure to develop a proposal for a much-needed Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree at Tallahassee Community College, and just over a year since a moratorium was put in place by the Florida Legislature to halt all new degree programs in the Florida College System. With the moratorium soon expiring, we have much hope we will be able to proceed with our proposal and meet the…
The value of any community college to a student lies in their ability to provide not just opportunity, but equity of opportunity. Without understanding that students are individuals who chose our institution for unique reasons, we can fool ourselves into assuming that all students are alike. Where they come from, how they got here, and what their plans are for their future are all factors that influence a student from their very first day of class to the moment they…
Every year, I look forward to observing Christmas as part of my personal faith. I also take the time to try to learn something new about the many different nationalities and beliefs represented in our College and throughout our community. With students, faculty and staff from over 80 countries, I think it is important to take a moment and recognize the great diversity of holidays that are also celebrated in December from Hanukkah to Kwanzaa. There’s so much good cheer…
Every morning, before the rest of my household is awake, I pour myself a cup of coffee, sit down (lately in front of the fire) and practice what I like to call daily gratitude. This is the time I take to reflect on the things I am thankful for that day. Some items on this list repeat, but others I am reminded of from the previous day’s events, maybe during a staff meeting or at a reception or even just…
In my last blog, I wrote about taking the next few months to recognize each of the key stakeholders of our College and explain the view ahead for them leading up to some big changes our College is preparing for. In light of last week’s Open Forum with classified staff, I would like to continue the conversation by addressing my vision for the staff here at TCC, one of the most important stakeholder groups of the College. In 1999, I…
I write this week from Orlando where I’m taking part in the Future of Florida forum and will be a part of a panel discussing the state of higher education and how it can assess and meet the needs of Florida workforce moving forward. Later this week I will be attending another forum back in town on the Future of Higher Education in Florida in which participants will be discussing attainment, accountability and challenging status quo ideas of post-secondary learning….
What makes us successful? Is it the number of students we enroll or the number of students we graduate? Is it how many faculty who have Ph.D.’s or how many awards our faculty have won? Is it the percentage of the state budget we receive or the percentage of the community who support us? The faculty and staff of TCC have been asking these and other questions and having a lot of conversations about our values and how we can…