Annual Report | 2011-12 | South Florida State College

ACADEMIC SUPPORT PROGRAMS
Adult Education
South Florida State
College’s Adult
Education department
faced many challenges at
the beginning of the 2011-
12 academic year. New
state legislation required
all adult education
participants to satisfy a
workforce assessment fee
effective July 1, 2011. Adult
Education programs were
notified of this change in
June 2011, months after
grant applications were
submitted and approved
and fall schedules had been
posted without notification of these new
assessments.
As a result, SFSC administrative staff
implemented a plan to alert the community
and address the needs of participants who
would be affected by this legislation. Adult
Education programs across the Florida,
suffered a 40-50 percent reduction in
enrollment. SFSC’s enrollment decreased
49 percent, with the greatest drop reflected
in the General Educational Development
(GED) and English for Speakers of Other
Languages (ESOL) programs.
Change brings its share of resistance
and opposition in any transitional process,
but in tough times there is always hope.
Students who are currently enrolled in the
Adult Education programs are attending
classes regularly and appear to be focused
and committed to obtaining a high school
diploma.
To date, enrollment in SFSC’s Adult
Education programs has not returned to
previous levels, but it is steadily increasing.
The greatest gains have been observed
in the retention rate. The average (fulltime
equivalent) FTE per program for fall
2010 was: ABE - 37 percent, ESOL - 26
percent, GED - 39 percent. Fall term 2011
average FTE was: ABE - 42 percent; ESOL
- 32 percent, and GED - 26 percent. In
comparison, the retention rate is higher in
Adult Education programs than in previous
years; however, in the GED program more
students are completing the program and
taking the GED test before the end of the
term. This anomaly results in a reduction
in the average FTE for the GED program,
but increases the matriculation rate of GED
students to the college’s vocational and
academic programs and workforce.
TRIO STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES (SSS)
TRiO Student Support Services (SSS) is a federally funded
program designed to increase retention, graduation, and transfer
rates among first-generation and low-income students, as well
as students with disabilities. SSS serves students who are seeking
Associate in Arts (A.A.) or Associate in Science (A.S.) degrees and who
intend to complete a bachelor’s degree at a four-year institution. The
program was established at SFSC in 2010. During the 2011-12 academic
year, the program:
provided 160 students with skill development, academic advising,
mentoring, and tutoring assistance;
coordinated campus visits to five universities within the state of
Florida;
facilitated study skills, financial management, and goal
development workshops;
offered $10,000 in grant aid to needy students;
coordinated and hosted a campus-wide university transfer event
with 22 institutions in attendance; and
assisted 30 of 36 graduating students in successfully transferring to
four-year institutions.
Tutoring and Learning Center
During the 2011-12 academic year, the Tutoring and Learning
Center (TLC) added a writing lab specialist, the most
notable enhancement of its services. Emphasis was on
providing comprehensive assistance to students using the American
Psychological Association (APA) writing style, one of the standards for
scholarly writing.
In conjunction with department chairs, the writing lab specialist
developed and implemented APA workshops to meet the needs of
students from a myriad of curriculum disciplines. The workshops were
facilitated campuswide to accommodate students’ class schedules and
availability.
Overall, the TLC served 2,117 students, which is a 24 percent
increase over the previous academic year. Those students accounted for
7,209 visits totaling 10,297 hours in 2011-12.
SOUTH FLORIDA STATE COLLEGE ANNUAL REPORT AND COLLEGE PLAN 2011-12 | Page 25