St. Petersburg College - Case For Support 2022

ST. PETERSBURG COLLEGE & YOU

Celebr at ing the Power of ou r Com mu n i t y

1EMPOWER ED

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For nearly a century, St. Petersburg College has provided
its students with a proven pathway to success.

Students as young as 15 and as old as 75 who are willing to
do what it takes to change their own lives are welcome on
our campuses and in our centers.

D E M P O W E R M E N T.EVERY STUDENT ENROLLMENT IS AN ACT OF 2

Empowered by the completion of an SPC degree or certificate leading
to a better life for them and their families.
Empowered that by taking an active role in bettering themselves,
others will value their actions as much as they do.
Empowered by the idea that generational poverty can end one family at a time.
This is the transformative power we see every time a new student logs on
or walks through our doors.

Their hard work, combined with our community partners, is
changing Pinellas County for the better – one student, one
family, one business at a time.

Today, as we prepare our beloved college for its centennial
celebration, we’re seeking to engage friends, investors,
and partners throughout the Tampa Bay region. Working
together, we’ll make a real difference for students today and
far into the future.

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J O D Y P I K E associate degree | nursing D

Life hasn’t been easy for SPC student Jody Pike. By the time she went into the foster care
system at 13, Jody, now 25, had seen her mother battle addiction, her father imprisoned
and had spent the better part of her young life caring for her younger brothers.

At 21, with a child of her own on the way, Jody enrolled at SPC, determined to become a
nurse. Just as she worried the effort would become too great, Jody learned about the RISE
(Road to Independence, Success, and Excellence) program developed at SPC to provide
support for students who have aged out of the foster care system.

RISE is funded in part by Educate Tomorrow, a Helios Education Foundation grant. It provides
Jody, and students just like her, with housing and food security so they can focus on doing
what they need to do to earn their degrees and take the next steps in their life journeys.

Jody graduated with an associate degree in nursing and plans to continue to the bachelor’s
program. RISE, and other privately funded programs like it, help our students make their
dreams of a better life come true.

AT ST. PETERSBURG COLLEGE, WE EMPOWER OUR STUDENTS TO ACHIEVE

SUCCESS.

Students come to us seeking better, higher-paying jobs. They enroll in short-term certificate programs and
longer-term degree programs. Most do so while working and raising a family.

Thanks to our community partners – people, foundations, and corporations who are
invested in their success – we can assist them on their journey from students to alumni.

Our students, with assistance from investors just like you, are improving their economic mobility regardless of
race, gender, or class. Because of this support, they:
■ Don’t have to choose between feeding their families and attending classes
■ H ave access to transportation, technology, and childcare so that they can continue their studies
■ Can change their economic circumstances in a short period of time
■ B ecome alumni, inspiring and mentoring the next generation of students from their communities,

and in so doing, help break the generational cycle of poverty
■ Become professionals in our community, solving our region’s most urgent challenges by inventing

and implementing solutions in a variety of fields

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D E T E R M I N E D4

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B E LO N G I N G

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IF WE’VE LEARNED ONE THING IN NEARLY A CENTURY
OF SERVICE TO THE TAMPA BAY COMMUNITY, IT’S THIS:

EDUCATION H OLDS THE KEY
TO ECONOMIC MOBILITY.

SPC offers much more than a traditional pathway for college-age students. We provide workforce
certificates for a variety of fields including medical, nursing, and veterinary medicine, professional
certifications, first responder training, and so much more for students of all ages who are focused on
upskilling, reskilling, and changing their lives for the better.

These programs are not created in a vacuum. We’re working with corporate partners
throughout the region to create the workforce for today – and tomorrow – that
Tampa Bay needs to thrive in a high-tech, high-touch 21st century economy.

Every day we seek new partners to invest in our students so that we can provide them with employees
that are ready to go on day one. Employees that will create an immediate and long-term impact on
company bottom lines. Employees like Robert Goddard.

G R O B E RT G O D D A R D rapid credentialing

A seven-year Army veteran, Robert Goddard had proudly served the country in global
hot spots throughout the Middle East. After the Army, he started down several possible
career paths, but nothing provided the sense of belonging that he felt during his time
in the military.

When he and his partner learned they were soon to be parents, he knew he needed to
find a career path that could fulfill his need for brotherhood and structure while still
providing for his family. That’s when he learned about the Rapid Credentialing program
at St. Petersburg College’s Power Florida Training Center.

Made possible by a partnership with Duke Energy and PowerTown, a contractor
that works with major utilities, the training center was the answer to Robert’s career
ambitions. Now well on his way to a life as a lineworker (and the $52,770 median salary
that goes with it), Robert and his new family will benefit from this program both now
and into the future.

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AT SPC, WE PROVIDE A PLATFORM FOR YOUR

PASSION.

Whether you seek to invest in our programs or lift up our students, the opportunities to make a difference are
nearly endless. The impact your investment will make won’t simply be felt on our campuses or in our centers but
will reverberate throughout Pinellas County and the Tampa Bay region.

Consider that of our students:

■ 7 0 percent are Pell Eligible
■ 3 1 percent have children
■ 46 percent are 25 or older
■ 7 2 percent are working while attending college

Consider the cumulative effect of our programs:

■ S t. Petersburg College supplies trained and skilled employees
that average a salary of $51,248 upon graduation


■ SPC has a total economic impact of $1.2 billion on the Tampa Bay Region

■ S PC alumni generate $2.5 billion in annual income for Florida’s economy

By engaging with SPC, you will educate our students and empower our state and region.

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PA S S I O N

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OUR PARTNERSHIP

PRIORITIES

■ A cademic Excellence

By implementing targeted interventions for students to include mentoring, career coaching and
tutoring, SPC will close specific achievement gaps and increase degree completion. Additional
investments in technology, faculty innovation, and student support will allow us to create a
dynamic inclusive environment that facilitates growth, opportunity, and student success.

■ President’s Fund

A critical focus for St. Petersburg College President Dr. Tonjua Williams is ensuring students have
what they need to complete their educations. Therefore, her focus will be on student services like
mental health wellness, transportation, food insecurity, utility support and assistance for housing.
The President’s Fund will provide Dr. Williams with the flexibility she requires to address urgent
needs, launch new initiatives, and allow the college to stay nimble and proactive.

■ Community Anchor

Among SPC’s most iconic community fixtures is the Palladium. The Palladium fosters artistically and
culturally diverse performing arts that bring audiences and performers together in a world-class
setting. It does so while also providing a classroom for our students in the arts. The Palladium’s
renovation will be a key focus for SPC as we approach our centennial celebration.

HOU GH FA M I LY F O UN DAT IO N GI

At the height of the pandemic, St. Petersburg and the entire Tampa Bay region were in desperate need of
professionals in a variety of medical fields. This need came at a time when the very nature of the pandemic
made the kinds of hands-on instruction necessary for training nearly impossible to get.

A generous gift from the Hough Family Foundation solved both challenges at once. Thanks to the foundation’s
generosity, St. Petersburg College was able to add instructors and double the number of students it could
certify as patient care technicians in hospitals and clinical medical assistants (CMA) in doctors’ offices. Both
programs helped students go from unemployed to starting salaries near $30,000 a year in just a matter of
weeks.

The gift also had a tremendous impact on SPC’s nursing degree and certificate programs, leading to a doubling
of capacity at its Simulation Lab. Those students were able to complete valuable laboratory coursework at the
height of the pandemic and move on to helping real people throughout our communities.

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IVING BACK

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spcollege.edu

P.O. Box 13489 | St. Petersburg, FL | 33733-3489
727.341.4772