Honoring Excellence: SCF Welcomes 7th President with Focus on Student Excellence and Increasing Graduation Rates

By Christy Pessemier | Feature Photo by Nancy Guth | October 2024

---

SCF’s new President, Tommy Gregory, has an extensive and impressive resume. He’s a former military prosecutor, law firm partner and legislator, Sarasota commercial litigation attorney, and previously served as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the Florida House of Representatives. Gregory also served in the Air Force for two decades and was deployed three times in support of Operation Southern Watch, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation Enduring Freedom. 

Despite enjoying what he did in his career in law and government, Gregory was intrigued and decided to apply when he became aware of the opening for the position of SCF President. 

What inspired him to take action? In his earlier years in the Air Force, he was given some guidance he’s followed his entire life. 

“I think the biggest reason I was interested, really, goes back to the advice a general officer gave me about 25 years ago,” Gregory said. “I was a young officer, a captain at the time, and I asked this general for his advice, and he said ‘Captain, you should go out and volunteer for the biggest, hardest jobs you can find.’”

“As a young officer in the military, that advice served me well because, when you’re at a big busy place, you learn the most,” he added. 

The search for the position of president was extensive and was led by higher education executive search firm Myers McRae. Gregory was selected by the college as their top choice last April. 

Since the torch was officially passed to Gregory from previous SCF President Carol Probstfeld, on July 1, 2024, Gregory says it’s been a “productive” start so far.

“We’ve done a lot of work in the last two months,” he said. “I think that’s always the case at State College of Florida. This college has always been a productive college. There are continually students onboarding and graduating and a lot of things are happening here.”

SCF started out with humble beginnings. What began as a small college of 502 students in 1957 meeting in a former high school building in Bradenton has now grown to 20,000 credit and non-credit seeking students attending classes at three campus locations. Additional campus locations are in Lakewood Ranch and Venice and there are 42 buildings between all three campuses.

Enrolled students are a combination of degree-seeking students, adult learners, and those involved in workforce development training programs. Though most students are local, there are currently 72 international students from 34 different countries. 

Each year, enrollment numbers increase and that’s why new plans are underway for a fourth campus location in Parrish. It’s in the first phases of design for a building that will be approximately 45,000 square feet, and Gregory says they hope to break ground by the end of 2026 to begin the building process. 

“Parrish is, of course, one of the fastest growing regions in all of Florida and all of the country, really,” Gregory said. “Southwest Florida has been booming.”

Before they can fully respond to this growth, however, they’ll need to get the necessary funding. 

“We’ve already received $27 million from the State Legislature,” Gregory said. “We have $13 million more to go. So I hope we’ll get $4 million from the local area and then we’ll need to go back and advocate for $9 million more from the Legislature.”

Programs of Study at SCF include Associate in Arts (A.A.), and Associate in Science (A.S.) degrees and certificates in a wide variety of focuses including arts, humanities, communication and design, business, education, industry, manufacturing, and construction, public safety, STEM fields, and social and behavioral sciences and human services, among many others. 

There are also workforce certificates and non-credit courses in workforce training, traffic safety institute, and professional licensure and continuing education online courses. 

According to Gregory, many people are surprised to find that SCF offers four-year bachelor’s degrees as well.

“We’re still educating the public on the reality that the state college system in Florida is not the community college system that people my age and older grew up being familiar with,” he said. “It used to be that you could only get your AA and not a lot more.”

Today, Gregory says, there are not only three dozen total degree programs, but seven bachelor’s degrees are available at SCF’s three campuses and online. 

Another collaboration unique to SCF is FleetForce, a company that trains and certifies professional commercial drivers to earn their CDL at the Bradenton and Venice campuses. 

SCF and FleetForce have the only DOL (Department of Labor) registered CDL Apprenticeship Program in the state. Since the program began in the fall of 2021, 571 CDL drivers have entered the workforce. 

But there’s still work to do. Currently, 16,000 CDL jobs are vacant statewide, and 2,000 drivers are needed locally. 

“We’re training and certifying commercial drivers every week,” Gregory said. “Because the community needs it.”

Right now, the most popular program at SCF is the nursing program, which has grown significantly in numbers in the last five years at SCF. The college partners with Sarasota Memorial Hospital, Manatee Memorial Hospital, and other medical facilities to train and educate students in the medical field. 

“It’s a combination of community need and community support,” Gregory said. “The population needs nurses, and the hospital needs nurses, so the hospital supports our program financially and provides work experience, along with scholarships and medical supplies.” 

“We’re producing a lot of educated people for our community,” Gregory said. 

The nursing and health professions degrees also have many options, including dental hygiene, B.S. degree in nursing, occupational therapy assistant, radiography, and a health services administration B.A.S. degree. 

As far as what’s ahead, Gregory says the focus will always be on graduating more students. With an alumni of 61,500 since SCF opened in 1957, their numbers will continue to grow. 

Another area he’s trying to get the word out about is tuition. Though traditional four-year colleges often require student loans, SCF is an affordable option. Students who qualify for scholarships have even better options. 

“Our tuition rates are half of what any of the state universities are in Florida.  We’re much more affordable than people realize and, in some cases, free,” he said. “So, one of our challenges is making sure we educate the community on how affordable it actually is, and that people know our credits are one hundred percent transferable.”

“We haven’t raised tuition rates in 13 or 14 years, which is really dramatic,” he added. “So, we were affordable even 13 and 14 years ago.”

A big part of spreading the word is meeting with local business owners and decision makers in the region and state. 

Though Gregory’s work as a prosecutor was inside the military, he worked for nine years trying cases as a lawyer in Sarasota and Manatee Counties, and then went on to serve six years in the State House of Representatives representing both counties.

“I know a lot of people and have worked with many people here locally,” he said. “My network is pretty vast and strong and I rely on that network to get more help and resources for this college.” 

To do the work he needs to do to keep SCF successful, Gregory says having a team is a key component, just as it was for him when he served in the military.

“You’ve got to have a leadership team providing the vision and keeping everyone on track,” he said. “To me, this is a great combination of a big busy job that requires leadership, and the bonus and benefit is the mission, which is serving the community.” 

Gregory says his team at SCF consists of about 10 people and they are involved with “everything you can imagine,” to represent the college in the community, including the Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, Manatee Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Development Corporation, and a number of organizations that they are on the board of, or leading. 

To help support the college and get the necessary resources for SCF’s scholarship program, the State College of Florida Foundation, Gregory also regularly meets with business owners and people in the community to advocate for this program.

The State College of Florida Foundation has many avenues to get involved. Donors can give to ongoing capital projects, existing scholarships, a Legacy Society that helps build future generations through gifts to the foundation, or planned giving arrangements. Each of these helps to ensure vital ongoing support for student scholarships.

Though it’s only been three months since he came on at SCF as President, Gregory is quick to answer when asked what his favorite part of his new job is.

“Oh, that’s easy,” he says. “It’s graduation. I think that’s always going to be the thing that I’m most excited about in the future too,” Gregory said. “To hear their stories and see and learn about the struggles they’ve dealt with and are dealing with—whether they’re 19 years old and had a hard life, or they’re 45 years old and maybe they’re raising kids on their own and still finding time to juggle raising a family and taking classes,” he added. 

“You realize it’s not just changing their life when they walk out of that auditorium at graduation, but it’s changing their entire family’s life. That’s pretty exciting.” 

Though there is no official term for the president at SCF, Gregory has already decided how long he plans to work in his position.

“This is a big, challenging job and I find it thrilling and rewarding,” he said. “I plan to serve in this job until I retire.”

To donate to the State College of Florida Scholarship Foundation, go to SCF-foundation.org or to learn more about SCF’s programs, go to SCF.edu