Manatee Community College has jumped aboard a higher education bandwagon stampeding across the state. And MCC president Lars Hafner is the right person to hold the reins.
That trend is the transition of many of the state's community colleges to four-year degree-granting colleges, all in order to energize Florida's economy by training students for skilled positions in fields lacking an adequate workforce.
The potential for MCC to attract more students - and the resulting better educated workforce for Manatee and Sarasota counties - holds promise for our region.
Today, too many MCC graduates leave the region to pursue higher degrees because certain four-year programs are not available here. The problem is too few return, leaving employers in the lurch. MCC aims to plug that educational gap and give local businesses a leg up in keeping graduates home.
MCC is looking at bachelor's degrees in nursing, math, science and applied sciences, the latter including such tracks as environmental studies, nonprofit leadership and technology management.
Nursing alone is a critical need throughout the state. Just last year, 11,000 positions for full-time registered nurses could not be filled. A new state report warns that if the shortage continues unabated, that number will balloon to 52,000 by the year 2020 - crippling Florida's health care system.
Clearly, action is vital.
Vernon DeSear, spokesman for Manatee Memorial Hospital and Lakewood Medical Center, told Herald reporter Donna Wright that area hospitals welcome a four-year degree program in nursing and talks are under way with MCC. Nurses here would not be forced to leave the area to pursue a bachelor of science in nursing.
The big picture
To date, 14 of Florida's 28 community colleges have jumped at the opportunity to become state colleges granting four-year degrees.
An additional six have indicated interest. MCC now joins that group after the school's board of trustees gave Hafner approval to send a letter of intent to the state commissioner of education.
In this endeavor, MCC could not have selected a better president to succeed Sarah Pappas, who retired this summer after leading the school for 11 years.
Hafner not only plays the political game with aplomb - he served in the state Legislature from 1988 to 2000 - he presided over St. Petersburg College as the former community college expanded into four-year degree programs in 2001. As provost, he sought out partnerships with nearby schools, including the University of South Florida.
USF president Judy Genshaft sits on the 11-member Florida College Task Force, which is tasked with drafting recommendations to the Legislature about the very transition of community colleges into four-year schools.
At the committee's initial meeting early this month, Genshaft made a point that bodes well for MCC and other higher education institutions in the area. Noting that the new college model carries the potential to alter post-secondary education in the state, she cited the solid relationship between USF and St. Petersburg College as an illustration of a well-run partnership between a state university and a four-year college. The two schools do not offer the same programs and work together to serve both students and business, Genshaft stated in a St. Petersburg Times article.
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