PROJECT EAGLE I, "online learning project"WORK STATEMENTSynopsis Project Eagle is a multi-year strategic initiative by St. Petersburg College to build a national model for increasing access to four-year degrees and workforce training for students attending community colleges. Access is enhanced by educational opportunities that are increasingly flexible -- with courses; programs and support services to be delivered at a time and place and in a way at a pace best suited to the needs of the individual learner. SPC intends to:
SPC will accomplish these objectives by:
The plan is called Project Eagle because it is to be centered at the College's new campus in Seminole which is the hub of the College's distance and technology-mediated learning, is blessed with an infrastructure rich and technology-centric vision, and, among other features, sports an eagles' nest on the property! Background For 75 years, St. Petersburg College has monitored and responded to business and industry needs in Pinellas County and offered the programs most frequently requested by potential students in the county. The College enrolls over 50,000 students per year in its credit and non-credit programs at 4 campuses and 3 special purpose (health, law enforcement and corporate-training) centers that span the County's 280 square miles and serve nearly a million people in the Southeast's most densely populated county. With 35 college advisory boards composed of business professionals and community leaders which meet each semester, SPC always has current information about emerging demand for specific programs at all levels. In addition to information from industry and the community, SPC has information on programs desired by over 2,500 students who graduate from SPC with degrees each year. A recent survey of more than 35,000 businesses by the Pinellas Economic Development County showed that 70% of the employers were not satisfied with the opportunities or the adequacy of postsecondary job training and education, a startling statistic that shows the real need for program offerings. In Pinellas County alone, there are over 300,000 people between the ages of 18 and 44 - the universe most likely to require postsecondary education. It is well accepted that over 80% of the jobs emerging in Florida require more than a high school education. In addition, we know that the average student of the 21st Century will change careers (not merely jobs) seven times during his or her life, requiring continuing access to higher education throughout a lifetime. As Pinellas County has moved from a tourism-based economy to a much more diversified economy, including being the home to the second highest concentration of high technology industries in Florida, demand for highly skilled workers has escalated rapidly. As an example, the Senior Human Resources Managers Association in Pinellas County recently identified the lack of access to workers with associate degrees and above as a primary factor that may cause their companies to relocate out of Pinellas County or at least to curtail expansion in the County. Project Narrative Traffic and geographic accessibility are major impediments to educational access and degree completion for Pinellas County residents. To alleviate this obstacle to service, and provide reasonable accessibility to higher educational opportunity at a time, place and pace convenient to Pinellas county residents, SPC proposes:
The 1999 Florida Legislature provided $2 million for construction of a joint-use "College University Center" (CUC) facility. St. Petersburg College proposes to equip and support the CUC so it can
SPC will partner with the University of South Florida (USF), other institutions in the Florida State University System, and independent colleges and universities across the state and nation to accomplish these goals. The partners will forge significant efficiencies and savings by modifying structures already planned at SPC, to share services and apply the latest technologies, enabling students greater access to higher education opportunities and effective learning modalities. Three major factors underscore the need for a upper-division and targeted workforce programs in Pinellas County: the inadequacy of place- and pace- independent program offerings and necessary support services, traffic/transportation problems which sharply restrict access options of residents, and a startling increase in the number of SPC students who work (90% work, 50% of them full-time) and cannot access traditional baccalaureate education. The College University Center concept is a strategy - never applied on a large scale in Florida - which will foster degree-access partnerships and increase degree productivity statewide. SPC has space available at its Seminole Campus for new construction, which is a rarity in built-out Pinellas County. It is the last remaining developable site in Pinellas that meets state criteria for new campus construction. The state appropriation for the CUC -- the additional $2 million beyond $23.6 million already funded to support the Campus - provides the dollars to build an academic and student services building which will be enlarged to provide space for upper division classes and activities. By adapting that building to provide for shared use of classroom and service spaces, the State of Florida will be able to provide better access more quickly, and in some cases more effectively, than by separate undertakings at each institution or even by separate undertakings at any single college or university. In addition, SPC's Clearwater Campus has a brand new state-of-the-art building coming on-line which will incorporate the CUC classes and support services at that site. With the building construction as an asset outside the grant, FIPSE funding will equip Seminole as the hub (and other Campuses and Centers as the spokes) for delivery of workforce and upper division technology-mediated programs. Project Eagle will support the development of programs and services across all the SPC sites viewed through the prism of three entities: the VITAL (Video and Internet Technologies to Advance Learning) Network(a team of professionals responsible for coordinating the assessment, development, training, R&D, and evaluation and dissemination of new technology-mediated learning materials), the College University Center (the physical and virtual environment for providing access to upper division curricula and the hub for "touch down" activities across the county), and the Electronic Campus (an extension of the current telecourse office responsible for coordinating, integrating and monitoring the quality of all learning activities and support where the faculty and students are in a different place, on-line, in a telecourse, compressed video or other "blended" models which utilize multiple learning modalities. The College University Center The SPC Seminole Campus is the logical choice for the College University Center main site since it is the geo-population and industry center for Pinellas County. With a new road in the east corridor of the County about to be completed, SPC Seminole is easily accessible from the north, south, east and west with the furthest drive time for anyone in the county being 40 minutes. This is in comparison to the already difficult drive (and soon to be more difficult drive) to the University of South Florida main campus in Tampa. The "Nightmare of Malfunction Junction" at the intersection of Interstate 4 and Interstate 275 has a national reputation for congestion. Most of the "level of service" rankings by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) on this route are ranked with the grade of "F." It makes reasonable commuting from Pinellas County to the USF main campus in Tampa intolerable, especially during the very hours when students need to commute to fixed-facility course offerings. For example, at commuting times, safe driving requires more than an hour and a half drive for most St. Petersburg residents. Compounding this already dangerous travel situation later this year will be the start of a 10-year-plus major construction program of the Florida Department of Transportation attempting to alleviate the "Malfunction Junction" traffic problems, altering I-275 all the way from the Howard Frankland Bridge to the Fowler Avenue exit to USF. The College University Center concept assumes that SPC and its partners can make all higher education offerings in Pinellas County more readily available through coordinated management and student advisement. It views "public higher education" from the consumer-taxpayer's point of view, including coordinating delivery of academic and student support services, such as advising registration and access to computers and related technologies. For example, counselors in one common area might provide service to SPC students and CUC students from multiple universities. Through Project Eagle, SPC intends to work with university partners to develop at least 15 degree programs, with priority in the following program areas:
It is anticipated that some programs will be delivered by multiple institutions using different modes of instructional delivery. In addition, a priority will be given to coordination of transferability of course work among various university programs to ensure limited duplication and increased flexibility for students. For example, one specific upper division accounting course might be required in several different business-related programs, offered by different institutions but could be taken in a program offered by any of the institutions and transferred to the other. (Note that Florida higher education institutions work within a "common course numbering system" which makes this course brokering process much easier.) The College University Center in Pinellas County will be the first of its kind in Florida, adapted and expanded from similar University Centers at Malcomb Community College (Michigan) and the North Harris Montgomery Community College District (Texas). The Center brings the promise of the best of both worlds: high tech and high touch, with shared resources and "blended" (multi-modal) courses designed to meet the time, place and pace requirements of individual learners. Higher education faces a period of rapid and sweeping changes. The SPC College University Center model takes advantage of community colleges' strengths in helping students find their way to degree paths of success and anticipates many adaptations expected in modes of delivery of instruction. Workforce Programs and Courses Apart from the upper division and graduate programs, Pinellas County industries are looking to the College for support in delivering new curricula using new learning paradigms -- especially "just-in-time" learning in a variety of place-and pace-independent formats. At the same time, workforce leaders and working adults are looking for a complete gamut of support services and "touch down" zones -- places to stop in when face-to-face contact and/or central/collaboration space is needed and appropriate. Over the period of the FIPSE grant, the College proposes to develop a series of web and/or vidweb courses or course components to support these workforce (and upper division course) needs, along with electronic solutions and new models for providing access to the full range of student support services. Among the deliverables in the "workforce" component: a complete AA (general transfer) program on-line, an associate's degree in business administration program on-line, an ethics telecourse (on-line already available), plus technology-mediated certificates in a variety of areas (subject to formal needs assessments) including computer security, emergency management services, crime scene technology, a program specializing in treatment of tumors, dental hygiene, and specialties within the larger areas of hospitality management and environmental technology. The strategic objective is to offer up to three learning modalities based on the curriculum and needs of the learners: all face-to-face, all distance, or some of each (blended). Under Project Eagle, SPC proposes to develop a minimum of 160 technology-mediated (principally web-based) courses, approximately 40 each year including general education (requirements plus high volume and bottleneck) courses sufficient to offer a full A.A. degree on-line (approximately 40 courses), vocational/technical degree and certificate courses in specific workforce niche areas (approximately 80 courses) and targeted upper division/baccalaureate web-based courses (approximately 40 courses). Student and Academic Support Services Providing first-rate learning opportunities is not sufficient for most prospective students -- those who have not been used to traditional college environments or those who have been employed and away from the educational arena. SPC proposes to complement the academic course and program offerings by developing and delivering academic and student support services for students working at-a-distance or in a "blended" environment. These services will include electronic "point-of-entry" services (admissions, testing, orientation, registration) and on-going support (portfolio development for assessing prior learning, academic counseling, cybertutoring, career exploration, etc.). In addition, the College's cyberlibrary will be enhanced to create "webiographies" for courses and programs developed over the course of the project, giving students 24/7 access to a wide range of materials that are course specific. Project staff will also take the leadership in the development and implementation of the Florida Academic Counseling and Tracking System for Students (FACTS) which will allow students statewide to access many student service functions in a distance learning mode. The College will work with its vendor partner for bookstore sales, Follett, to enhance the opportunity for on-line textbook purchases, and with other college partners on test proctoring and provision of services for distance students. The College "touch down" access points will also serve as a convenient place for students to receive assistance in the use of the technology, principally Internet, resources. The College will need to adjust traditional schedules (e.g., fixed start-and-stop dates and set hours) to address the new paradigm. This will require a change in administrative systems and, in some cases, the College culture. In addition to the support for the College University Center (program development, production and access equipment and infrastructure college-wide), workforce programs and courses, and student and academic support services, the College is requesting funding for and intends to mount a vigorous assessment, research and development, and evaluation component as part of the project. See the section on Project Evaluation for a full description of this component. Both the College-University Center and workforce development components of Project Eagle will rely on a tightly-integrated, strategically planned approach which maximizes the use of new (in the case of Seminole) and existing Campus and Center facilities. Funding from Project Eagle will be used to support "access points" (elsewhere in this application listed as "touch down" points) on each of the major sites as well as for the college-wide technology support services (i.e., Administrative Info Systems) which handles the operational end of the delivery system, e.g., telecourse delivery, student support computer applications, help desk services, etc. Diagrammatically, the integrated production, delivery and operations system will look like this:
Upper division work will be coordinated through the College University Center at the Seminole Campus with "workforce programs" coordinated through the Electronic Campus (for "distance" offerings) and, the College's Corporate Training Center (for traditional on-site corporate programs). Physical "touch down" points and/or program offerings will be available at all the College sites throughout Pinellas County. Project Objectives and Activities The specific objectives of Project Eagle are as follows:
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