Proposed changes threaten State College of Florida’s mission, president says

— Florida state Sen. Dorothy Hukill was a bit surprised recently when she learned that State College of Florida Sarasota-Manatee President Carol Probstfeld has taken a firm stance against a bill Hukill is sponsoring in the Florida Senate.

Senate Bill 540 and its companion, House Bill 831, would move the 28 Florida College System schools like SCF out from under the auspices of the State Board of Education and establish a State Board of Colleges.

“It is a valid concern that a state board focused solely on the state college system would infringe on local control and attempt to create statewide solutions to unique, regional issues,” Probstfeld said, in a meeting with the Bradenton Herald recently.

“If it was me I would rather have a board dedicated to my mission,” said Hukill, R-Port Orange, in response to Probstfeld’s concern.

“They keep saying they are local boards,” Hukill added. “We keep telling them their local boards are not to be touched.”

But it’s not just having a new state board that alarms SCF’s president.

Hukill’s bill also would prohibit state colleges like SCF from providing employees to their foundations to help with fund-raising; limit the number of baccalaureate degrees a state college school could award; and establish new performance measures that would require SCF’s full-time associate degree students to graduate within two years.

Also known as “College Competitiveness Act of 2018,” Senate Bill 540 could hit the Senate floor for the final time on Feb. 8, said Adam Hilton, a Florida Legislature analyst.

House Bill 831, which is sponsored by Rep. Joe Gruters, R-Sarasota, is still in its first committee, Hilton added.

Should SCF employees be paid to raise funds?

Probstfeld and Hukill are strongly at odds on the issue of should state colleges be able to provide personnel services to their foundations.

“Without personnel services from the college, the SCF Foundation would not be able to maintain the staff and services it provides for the college today,” Probstfeld said.

“You are a college,” Hukill said. “You hire an instructor to teach my child. That instructor, in reality, might be fund-raising. Do you think your child’s professor should be fund-raising or teaching your child?”

“They will say it’s for a worthy cause, for dorms or scholarships,” Hukill added. “But the bottom line is that the student is paying tuition to be taught. It will increase transparency that you can’t use state personnel for these college fund-raising services.”

SCF provides $374,000 worth of pay for employees who are part college employees and part foundation employees. In 2016, the SCF Foundation returned more than $2.1 million for student scholarships, program enhancements and equipment, Probstfeld said.

“If our foundation had to raise that ($374,000) to pay for personnel costs, there would be 200 students who would not get scholarships and likely, not come to college,” Probstfeld added.

Should SCF have a baccalaureate cap?

The bill would force SCF and other state college schools to keep its roster of four-year baccalaureate degree students to 20 percent or less of the school’s full enrollment. There currently isn’t a cap, Hukill said.

SCF is currently at 8 percent of its students in four-year programs, Probstfeld said.

The 20 percent cap gives Probstfeld concern because graduates of SCF’s four-year nursing programs have been in high demand by local employers.

“If I doubled my nursing program we would be in jeopardy (of hitting the cap),” Probstfeld said. “I would love to double my nursing program.”

Said Hukill in response: “The bill emphasizes the mission of state colleges and that mission is to be the primary access point of workforce credentials. What this bill is saying is that is that, state colleges, your primary mission is workforce accreditation and transferable college degrees and the second is baccalaureate.”

How long should a student attend school?

Part of a package of performance measures would make SCF responsible for how fast full-time students, who make up 35 percent of the student population, graduate, Probstfeld said.

“It doesn’t represent who are students are,” Probstfeld said. “Only a small percentage start as full-time students and finish as full-time students.”

“A lot of kids incur debt and leave school without credentials,” Hukill said in defending the measure.

A request for comment from Gruters on Thursday concerning Probstfeld’s concerns was not immediately received.

This story was originally published February 1, 2018 at 4:50 PM with the headline "Proposed changes threaten State College of Florida’s mission, president says."