Collaborative Curriculum Development

Guest Correspondence

Education can no longer afford to be a linear exercise where we teach, students study and employers hire graduates. Today’s economy demands a collaborative approach. At the State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, we must bring the workplace into the classroom to create skill-based education to equip students for real jobs in real companies in Manatee and Sarasota counties.

An innovative curriculum that meets the academic standards of faculty, the knowledge and critical thinking requirements of the workplace and the aspirations of the student is a collaborative effort. Between now and 2020, we will boldly engage in this crucial process through the third priority of our 2015-2020 Strategic Plan. We will aggressively engage faculty, program managers, business leaders and community leaders in collaborative curriculum development from start to implementation for programs that are rapidly responsive to workforce needs.

I am committed to generating opportunities for our faculty and students to boldly engage employers. We must increase the number and quality of cutting edge, innovative programs in rapid response to our community’s needs. SCF is the place where students can combine working in the community while pursuing their education. We will partner with businesses to grow our students into their future employees and their current employees into future leaders.

We will also collaborate with the other higher education institutions in Manatee and Sarasota Counties to create opportunities for our students. We kicked off 2016 with the announcement of the partnership between the Consortium of Colleges on the Creative Coast and a trio of community foundations to develop synergistic programs between the region’s higher education institutions. Together with New College of Florida, Ringling College of Art and Design, the University of South Florida, Sarasota-Manatee, Florida State University/Ringling Center for the Cultural Arts and Eckerd College, we will market our region as a “multiversity,” with almost all the characteristics of a research university. One result of this collaboration will be cross registration, in which students can take classes for credit on a space available basis at another C4 institution while paying their home school rates.

As we develop innovative curriculum for inside the classroom, we also plan to greatly expand our internship opportunities for our students. I am committed to creating an environment in which SCF will be the first call employers will make because we will collaboratively develop internship programs where they can, for a modest investment, give very capable and eager students the chance to prove themselves. When they do, our business partners will have an exceptional graduate ready to help them grow their business.

SCF has been the community’s college for 58 years and is a proven and trusted partner for the future of our region. Partner with us to develop the kind of employees your business needs.

Dr. Carol Probstfeld is president of State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota.

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