TU: Bill could cap four-year degrees at FSCJ, other state colleges
Florida Times-Union
Perhaps the decision came when Pedro Gutierrez suffered about a $10,000 monthly pay cut in the aftermath of the housing market crash and filed for bankruptcy.
Or perhaps it came as he battled his toddler in a Ramen noodle slurping contest.
Or maybe Gutierrez decided to go back to school when he realized, even as a former finance manager at a car dealership, he couldn’t compete against degree-holding candidates for jobs, not even jobs as basic as a bank teller.
He enrolled in Florida State College at Jacksonville, earned his bachelor’s degree and just last month opened his own medical clinic, Health Pro Medical.
Stories like Gutierrez’s, however, may become a lot harder to find in the near future.
Companion bills proposed for the current Florida legislative session in both the Senate and the House seek to cap the number of students enrolled in bachelor degree programs at state colleges. The senate bill currently awaits scheduling in the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Higher Education.
Sponsored by Education Chairwoman Sen. Dorothy Hukill, R-Port Orange, the College Competitiveness bill plans to narrow the role of state colleges. If it passes, a community college’s primary responsibilities will focus on providing lower-level undergraduate instruction and preparing students for the workforce. Four-year degrees would be labeled as secondary priorities.
This, says a prepared statement issued by Florida Senate President Joe Negron’s office, would avoid wasteful duplication of programs offered by state universities, state colleges and technical centers. Additionally, oversight would be given to a 13-member State Board of Community Colleges, which could then alter or discontinue four-year degree programs that do not meet board standards.
Cynthia Bioteau, Florida State College at Jacksonville’s president, said such a model would not benefit Jacksonville.
“FSCJ takes our role as a community college very seriously, and we translate that into understanding access to our community is critical,” she said. “In many different industry sectors today, baccalaureate degrees are the entry level. So, as we work hand in hand with UNF, not duplicating any baccalaureate degree that they provide, but supplementing baccalaureate degrees that get people directly into the workforce.”
The concept of a state college system appeared in Florida in 2007 when a consulting group hired by the Board of Governors recommended its creation as a cost-effective pathway to a bachelor’s degree. As it was, the state lacked a growing workforce with four-year degrees — and the state’s universities were not providing one.
The Florida legislature passed a bill establishing the state’s first college system. It originally authorized nine out of 28 colleges to offer regional and statewide bachelor degrees. Now, 27 of 28 college offer degrees in 179 programs.
FSCJ provides 13 bachelor’s degree options and 45 associate’s degrees. If the bill passes, it would place an enrollment cap on those upper-level programs at 8 percent. FSCJ officials estimate their upper-level enrollment for 2016- 2017 will be 9.47 percent of total enrollment. Under the pending legislation, they’d have to roll back.
According to Bioteau, limiting degree programs restricts the college’s ability to respond to local businesses and could lead to increased unemployment.
Already, FSCJ must seek approval from the University of North Florida before degree creation, and each degree must be backed by data to ensure it would benefit the local workforce economy. These degree programs do not overlap with those offered at the state university.
FSCJ employs a “2 + 2” partnership with UNF, which filters state college students to the university after certain degree requirements are met.
For Gutierrez, however, a traditional state university was not an option.
He couldn’t afford the tuition, nor could he adhere to the demanding class schedule. FSCJ enabled him to earn a degree on his budget and his timeframe. The flexible class offerings and multiple campuses were indispensable, he said.
“Anytime you seek to cap or limit something, you leave someone out,” Gutierrez said. “Everybody in class was over 30, over 40 — and they all have responsibilities. So where do you put them when you say everybody but you because we’re capped?”
Jacqueline Rudloff, now an attorney for Deutsche Bank, knows she wouldn’t be where she is now without the opportunities provided by FSCJ. As a working adult, she too needed higher education that fit her budget and her schedule. She found both in the bachelor of applied science in supervision and management program.
“We will never become — nor do we ever want to become — a university. We want to become the college of Jacqueline and Pedro,” Bioteau said. “When we can educate the populations that live in our community, that is premier education.”
Students currently enrolled in FSCJ’s four-year programs will not be impacted if the legislation be enacted.
The University of North Florida refused comment on the higher education legislation.
Amanda Williamson: (904) 359-4665