St. Petersburg college initiatives
St. Petersburg College continues to bolster its national reputation and leadership in designing and implementing high-quality, structured Career and Academic Pathways for all students.
Better Jobs, Better Lives — Unlocking Opportunity
In 2023, SPC joined 10 community colleges across the country for the Aspen Institute’s Unlocking Opportunity: The Post-Graduation Success and Equity Network.
The overall goal of the network is to help thousands more community college students, including students of color and those from lower-income backgrounds, enter and complete programs that lead directly to jobs that pay a family-sustaining wage or to completion of a bachelor’s degree. The selected colleges work closely with Aspen and its partner, the Community College Research Center (CCRC) at Columbia University, as well as coaches and field experts, on comprehensive reforms.
SPC is focusing on strengthening its academic programs and expanding career and educational opportunities to help students to attain better jobs that ultimately lead to better lives. SPC’s Unlocking Opportunity team of Workforce, Student Affairs and Academic Affairs leaders attend network convenings, share best practices with other colleges, and gain insight and support from coaches and learning sessions. The initiative has also focused on strengthening corporate partnerships and enhancing partnerships with universities across the state, including the University of South Florida, Florida A&M University and the University of Central Florida.
This “Better Jobs, Better Lives” initiative has provided a framework that has guided the development of the College’s new 2024-2027 strategic plan.
Community of Care
Find out what makes St. Petersburg College a Community of Care.
Pathways
In 2015, St. Petersburg College was chosen as one of only 30 community colleges in the nation, and only one of four in the state, to participate in the American Association of Community Colleges' (AACC) Pathways Project. During the project — funded by a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation — college officials attend collaborative institutes, where participants share best practices that can be replicated at other schools.
SPC was chosen based on its work to merge academic and student support services into a holistic, meaningful approach to help students successfully earn degrees and certifications more quickly. The result is the convergence of a five-pronged approach to student support called The College Experience and the College's Career and Academic Pathways into a seamless experience of support and direction for students.
Known as the AACC Guided Pathways, concerted efforts aim to create a unified student experience, take the guesswork out of course selection, offer personalized support, deliver relevant and clear communication and provide students with a concise roadmap to graduation and economic opportunity.
The COLLEGE EXPERIENCE
The College Experience is a collegewide initiative comprised of five core student support measures: new student orientation, integrated academic and career advising, student learning plans, early alerts and student coaching system, and out-of-classroom supports.
ACHIEVING THE DREAM
For its ongoing work on student success, in 2012 SPC joined the Achieving the Dream National Reform Network, the nation's most comprehensive non-governmental reform network for student success in higher education history. In 2015, Achieving the Dream named SPC a Leader College, a national designation awarded to community colleges that commit to improving student success and closing achievement gaps. SPC was the only college in Florida selected to receive the designation that year and continues to work on success efforts.