The Administrative & Professional Collaborative (APC) is the representative voice for the Administrative & Professional employees of FSCJ.

In an effort to build cohesiveness, awareness and collegiality, each month we put a “spotlight” on one of our members. November's Administrative and Professional Collaborative (APC) Spotlight shines on Dr. Karen Kelley. As an instructional program manager (IPM) in the Workforce and Online department, Dr. Kelley provides leadership by supporting the Medical Assisting and Pharmacy Technician Career Certificate programs. In addition, she also serves the workforce development and entrepreneurship efforts in various health care-centered programs.

Dr.  Kelley is an accomplished professional with 12 years of experience at various institutions including hospitals, urgent care facilities, and general and specialty physicians' offices before transitioning to academia in 2007. Dr. Kelley obtained an associate degree in Radiology Technology in 1996. She was the Valedictorian of her bachelor's degree program in Health Sciences, which she completed in 2012. She obtained her master's degree is in Educational Leadership and Administration in 2013, and she earned her doctoral degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Capella University in March 2020, with a 4.0 GPA. 

Dr. Kelley has served FSCJ since 2015 in the role of full-time faculty, program director and currently IPM. As a full-time faculty of the Medical Assisting Career Certificate program, she has ensured and maintained a 100% RMA national exam pass rate and a 98% employment placement for graduates. As a subject matter expert, Dr. Kelley has been a strong advocate and collaborator with other internal divisions at FSCJ.

As director and now IPM, she secured a Medical Assisting contracted night cohort for training resulting in a 100% RMA pass rate and a 3% pay raise for each student. This collaboration with UFJPI, Career Source, and the FSCJ team is currently recruiting for a second cohort. The FSCJ team's creative solutions consisted of contracting through Business Solutions, using a Continuing Workforce Education (CWE) platform for curriculum, and working with Workforce Operations to deploy the program.

Partnership efforts with CWE have also resulted in a phlebotomy program, RMA Certification review course, and a basic health care course in response to employer and community demand. Dr. Kelley partnered with the ESOL and Adult Education Departments to create an iBest program within the Medical Assisting Career Certificate program. The first MA-ESOL cohort will complete in September 2021.

Currently, Dr. Kelley is working on an upcoming project and may be developing a hybrid Pharmacy Technician program specifically for hospital incumbent workers in collaboration with UF Health (Shands), Career Source, and the Workforce Operations team. Other projects planned will be to update and streamline both the Medical Assisting and Pharmacy Technician Career Certificate programs. 

Dr. Kelley has served and continues to serve on various committees to fulfill the community college's mission.

In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family and pets, including her ducks. She enjoys shows such as “The Good Doctor,” “Law and Order,” “Criminal Minds” and “CSI.” She has also been focusing her attention on her family heritage in Cuba and Poland. Fun fact: her great, great, great, grandfather, Perucho Figueredo, wrote the Cuban National Anthem in 1868.

Our spotlight shines on each campus/center at least once a year. Nominations for the spotlight may be directed to your campus representative or any officer. Learn more about APC on our website, http://blogs.fscj.edu/apcollaborative.