Much of the success of St. Petersburg College is due to the fact that Carl M. Kuttler Jr. has been at the helm for 30 years.
As president of St. Petersburg College, Dr. Kuttler has been involved in the following leadership initiatives:
Put together, wiith the help of St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker and philanthropists Bill Hough and Gus Stavros, an arts initiative for Downtown St. Petersburg that turned The Palladium over to St. Petersburg College and brought American Stage and the Florida Orchestra to SPC’s Downtown Center as tenants.
Led the college through the legislative process that allowed it to be the first community college in the state to offer four-year degrees. Currently, St. Petersburg offers more than 20 four-year degrees.
Brought the University Partnership Center model to Pinellas County. At the UPC, SPC and other colleges and universities work together to bring affordable bachelor’s and graduate degrees to the citizens of Pinellas County. Seventeen colleges and universities offer about 90 degrees through the University Partnership Center.
Sponsored the conference, “Focus on Learning: Planning the Community College for the 21st Century” at SPJC in 1998. This brought together educators from around the country sharing their vision for the future of community colleges. Topics included: architectural challenges, instructional delivery methods, delivering student services online and technological implications of the new learning environment. This conference resulted in a series of leadership videos, along with a handbook, for use by other higher education institutions.
Encouraged college administrators to grow the college's Certificate Programs almost sevenfold in the space of a year, with expansion of the programs continuing.
Continues to champion technology in education, most recently through a unique partnership that has made SPC a national prototype in interactive-classroom innovations.
Provided the kind of leadership that has enabled SPC to triple its number of learning sites (from three to nine) during his 27-year tenure.
Consistently led the college to numerous Top 10 national rankings, as determined by U.S. Department of Education data.
Vastly expanded SPC's international education and global outreach. At one point, students from more than 111 countries studied here.
Raised funds to bring SPC to national prominence with such gifts as:
• More than $20-million in paintings and property from Allen and Isabelle Leepa, which was cited in the February 1998 Forbes magazine as the most valuable gift to a community college in history.
• $11.2-million in land and facilities given to the college in 1988 by the Allstate Insurance Co.
• $9.4-million in gifts and $6.5-million from the Florida Legislature to establish one of the nation’s finest allied health education centers.
• $2-million gift in March 2005 from Bill and Hazel Hough of St. Petersburg to help build the Downtown Center.
Pushed the expansion of public-protection initiatives at Allstate, resulting in the Criminal Justice Institute, Counter Drug Training, the Southeastern Public Safety Institute, a unique federally backed program (over $35-million) in Counter Terrorism, and the nation's first two-year program in Emergency Administration and Management.
Spurred the growth of the Nursing Program to make it one of the most prolific in the nation (consistently ranked in the Top 10 for degrees conferred over a 20-year period).
Lent consistent support to SPC's Program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, which now is nationally recognized as one of the oldest such programs in the U.S.
Lent similar support — with similar results — to Women on the Way, which backs and boosts the efforts of persons (including men) resuming academic pursuits after being away from a college environment.
In May of 2008, the college celebrated Kuttler's 30th year as president.
