Funding Our Future

By Jamie Smith

The State College of Florida Foundation and its seventeen board members are faced with no small chore—to raise funds, including capital, to remove any potential obstacles for deserving students who want to improve their lives with a State College of Florida (SCF) education. SCF offers associate and bachelor’s degrees, as well as workforce certificates.

Established in 1957, SCF is the region’s first and largest public college, serving 11,000 college credit students annually at campuses in Bradenton, Lakewood Ranch and Venice, and via online classes. Another 14,000 community members attend professional development and personal enrichment classes.

The College has graduated more than 50,000 students since 1959. More than 20,000 have stayed in the community serving in prestigious positions, such as Sarasota County Sheriff Tom Knight, Centerstone CEO Melissa Larkin-Skinner and Florida House of Representatives member Jim Boyd. Others have moved around the world to successfully practice in various professions, including doctors, nurses, dentists and musicians. For example, the recent movie Tag was written by alumnus Rob McKittrick, or perhaps you’ve heard another alumna, Jade Turner, perform at Asolo Rep in the production of Ragtime.

For local young adults, SCF is their community college, widely known by word of mouth. However, for newer residents and those retiring to the community, SCF is in the unknown middle of the broader educational system. It’s not the K-12 system everyone is anxious and eager to help, or the celebrated and boasted university that is promoted by numerous alumni. 

Herein lies the challenge for the Foundation’s board of directors and new capital cabinet consisting of recently appointed Board Chair, Mike Fuller; Board Treasurer, Lisa Bristow; and Board Director Chris Romine. Mr. Fuller is committed to ensuring that everyone in the community has an opportunity to get to know SCF and its foundation. He has experienced, first hand, the lack of knowledge of SCF and its impact locally and abroad. “Education is the key to open up so many opportunities for students and provides the foundation of change within communities,” he said. 

For many students, SCF provides the necessary and affordable option to achieve a college degree, with more than 70 percent transferring to a university of their choice, including Ivy League institutions such as Yale and Harvard. Alumnus and board director Chris Romine is making it his personal mission to help the community understand that SCF is more than the traditional or stereotyped community college. “Young adults back in the day – and still today – are unsure of what they want to do and need personalized attention, experiential learning opportunities, and internships to help guide them along,” he said. SCF provides a complete college experience that encourages students to explore all possible professions through degrees within science, technology, engineering, arts and math, as well as athletics.

Many of the board members are asked the same two questions by potential supporters. “Don’t you receive state funding?” and “The college is affordable; how is it students cannot afford it?”

The short and simple answer is yes, SCF does receive state funding; however, it’s complicated, constantly changing, and based on taxed revenue sources that fluctuate with the economy, including phone landlines that are becoming extinct as many consumers switch to cell phones as their primary service. SCF also has not raised its tuition in the last eight years to ensure students have an open-access opportunity. For the 2018-19 fiscal year, SCF received a legislative budget cut of nearly $1.3 million.

The socioeconomic factors that afflict students of the K-12 system often follow them throughout high school. These students must decide if a high school diploma will be all they can achieve or if additional opportunities can be afforded with a higher education and college degree. It’s not a matter of “Should I?” but rather a matter of “Can I?” while avoiding homelessness or going hungry. SCF recently learned that more than 75 percent of its nursing and health professions students are living at or below the poverty level.

Mr. Romine points out that just because SCF is affordable doesn’t mean it can’t compete with other universities. “SCF enhances our community in so many ways. Our nursing program is one of the best in the state. SCF allows students to stay at home for a couple of years, work, and possibly save money to give them an economic head start,” he said.

Fuller says the impact of helping young children continue their education has a profound impact on communities. He recalls the story of an SCF alumnus who was living in his car headed down a negative path when someone intervened and provided not only housing, but a full scholarship to SCF. The graduate is now pursuing his passion as a musician in local symphonies and orchestras while gainfully employed.

With the help of the community and generous donors, the Foundation and its directors have made an impact. Last year, more than $1.6 million was disbursed to over 1,100 deserving scholarship recipients, and as of August 2018, total giving was nearly $2.4 million toward equipment, faculty, program enhancements, and capital campaigns.

Thanks solely to the community’s generosity, the Foundation also is almost halfway toward their fundraising goal for a new Studio for the Performing Arts, which will feature an intimate recital hall and much needed practice space and classrooms for SCF’s music program.

As head of the Foundation’s Capital Cabinet, Fuller realizes how important the arts are to the community. “STEM is what builds a community, but it’s the arts that really make a community a home. As you get older, you realize how important arts are to a well-balanced community. Try to imagine life without the arts.”

When asked “Why SCF?” and “What inspires your dedication to SCF and its Foundation?” Fuller’s answer is that “it’s very motivating to work with a dedicated leadership and highly qualified faculty and staff who make it their daily mission to serve students.”

“We realize we are among the many deserving organizations that need funding,” added Fuller. “But if your passion is education, and you wish to make an impact on the local youth, we invite you to learn more about SCF and its students. How many other social issues in our community would be solved or greatly diminished if we could give the gift of education?”

For more information on State College of Florida Foundation, please visit scf-foundation.org or call 941.752.5390. 

For more education news, check out Ryan Van Cleave’s monthly Education Matters.