4-Year Community College Degrees OK’D

By Donna Vavala, The News Herald, Panama City, Fla.

Jan. 20–Florida’s Board of Education and the Board of Governors this week signed an agreement allowing community colleges to offer four-year degrees in the fields of nursing, teaching and applied sciences. “Florida’s university system will always remain as the primary way for students to earn a bachelor’s degree,” David Armstrong, the state’s community college chancellor, said in a news release. “But in the case of professions where our state has the greatest need … Florida’s community college system provides a viable and accessible option.” Five of Florida’s 28 community colleges — Chipola, Edison, Miami-Dade, Okaloosa-Walton and St. Petersburg — already have deleted “community” from their names and are offering four-year degrees. But don’t look for Gulf Coast Community College to follow suit. “With Florida State (University) across the street and being very responsive to our needs, it doesn’t make sense,” said retiring GCCC President Bob McSpadden. “We have a tremendous relationship with Florida State. We do the first two years and they do the second two years.” Because of their geographical proximity, the two schools do more than share students. “Florida State is our security system (campus police), and our library is their library,” McSpadden said. “We also share faculty on an adjunct basis, and our classroom for engineering has been used by FSU. We talk every day and have zero conflict.” McSpadden believes more changes in the way education is offered are on the horizon. “I think higher education in Florida is going to change in the next four or five years,” he said. “I just read a 36-page report by a consultant group talking about higher education in Florida. We may end up with the California model, in which there is a flagship university on the first tier, colleges and universities are on the second tier and community colleges are on the third tier.” The agreement allowing community colleges to offer limited four-year programs was contingent upon the withdrawal of a legal challenge by Floridians for Constitutional Integrity regarding the ability of community colleges to offer four-year programs. The group, headed by former state University System Chancellor E.T. York, withdrew the legal challenge a day after the agreement was signed by state Board of Education Chairman T. Willard Fair and Board of Governors Chairwoman Carolyn Roberts on Jan. 10. Later signed by Gov. Charlie Crist, the agreement stipulates the two boards ask the Legislature to modify state law to further define and clarify the community colleges’ new role. Community colleges now can offer a bachelor’s degree in nursing, education and applied sciences, including dental hygiene, paralegal studies and public safety administration. McSpadden believes that while higher education is changing, its goal is still the same. “Our responsibility is to provide the best service to our community,” he said.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The News Herald, Panama City, Fla.

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