The State Board of Education has authorized St. Petersburg College to offer a trio of new four-year degrees aligned with job market demands.
Board members, meeting Wednesday in Tallahassee, unanimously approved the programs and praised the university for being at the forefront of connecting students with jobs.
A new bachelor’s degree in cardiopulmonary sciences will be offered online only, while bachelor’s degrees in digital media and English education for middle and high schools will be taught online and in person.
A document describing the cardiopulmonary sciences major says the program was designed to prepare graduates for jobs including respiratory care managers and case managers, from neonatal care to acute critical care. It says there will be about 35 job openings a year in the college’s service area.
The proposal was supported by the University of South Florida and several regional hospitals.
Matthew Liao-Troth, SPC’s vice president for academic affairs, told the state board that the degree would be a step up from respiratory therapists, a field the college trains students for in its bachelor of health sciences program.
The need for respiratory therapists has grown since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the proposal, and annual salaries for the position are around $61,000.
According to SPC’s proposal, the digital media degree is expected to train graphic designers, digital videographers, animators, content and instructional designers, deposition videographers and game designers. There are estimated to be about 200 job openings a year in those fields in the area, with annual salaries of just over $62,000. The proposal received letters of support from USF, the Pinellas County School District and WEDU PBS.
Liao-Troth said the university currently offers an associate’s degree in digital media and that graduates earn about $42,000. But she added that a lot of “American companies are looking for a bachelor’s degree.”
She spoke of Darlene Sanchez, a motion graphics creative director who returned to college to earn a bachelor’s degree after being praised for her portfolio but was passed over for other projects because she didn’t have a four-year college degree. After earning her bachelor’s degree, she was hired by Tampa Bay Lighting, Liao-Troth said.
State board member Ben Gibson called the title one that could be “very lucrative” for a low cost.
The college’s new secondary English education degree will help prepare middle and high school English teachers, as well as English department chairs. The Florida Department of Education has identified secondary English teachers as an area of “critical shortage.”
SPC’s proposal indicated that 118 jobs are expected to be created in the area annually with an average salary of about $65,458. USF offers a similar degree program, but produces an average of 29 graduates per year.
The university supported SPC’s proposal, along with school districts in Pinellas and Pasco counties.
Stay up to date with Tampa Bay’s top headlines
Subscribe to our free DayStarter newsletter
We’ll deliver the latest news and information you need to know every morning.
You are all registered!
Want to receive more of our free weekly newsletters in your inbox? Let us begin.
Explore all your options
Liao-Troth said the focus will be on producing graduates for the Pinellas district, where there is a high demand for secondary English teachers.
Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association, spoke in favor of the new title, saying his daughter, a ninth-grader in Volusia County, spent the first nine weeks of the year without an English teacher. It is her third year at the school without a full staff of teachers, said Spar, who encouraged the board to consider the factors that cause teachers to leave the state.
In an interview, Liao-Troth said SPC regularly analyzes industry and private sector data, along with regional demand, to evaluate its offerings. The university has phased out degrees that don’t lead to well-paying jobs or easy transfers, she said.
The three newest degree programs had been planned since before the pandemic, he said.
Board member Monesia Brown praised SPC President Tonjua Williams for “being at the forefront of identifying opportunities to really be a change agent in the community” and partnering with the private sector.
While other universities are taking similar steps, Williams has been “leading the way,” Brown said. “You guys have been really aggressive on this and I think you’ve set a great example of what all of our universities should be doing.”
Divya Kumar covers higher education for the Tampa Bay Times, in collaboration with Open Campus.
JOBs Apply News
For the Latest JOBs Apply News, Follow ©JOBs Apply News on Twitter and Linkedin Page.
