I would like to thank the community for the warm welcome I’ve received as State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota’s seventh President. It is an honor and privilege to continue serving the region. Two of my sons attended SCF’s Collegiate School and earned their associate’s degree from SCF. As a father and now as President, I’ve witnessed the tremendous impact of SCF and our faculty and staff firsthand.

SCF’s future is bright, thanks to the numerous contributions of our community, faculty and staff and the excellence of our students. Under the leadership of SCF President Emerita Dr. Probstfeld, the college was responsive to the community and her strategic planning prepared us for the long term. 

This fall, we’re serving nearly 8,000 credit-seeking students, most being first time in college and pursuing an associate in arts degree with plans to transfer to a university. We also proudly welcomed a record 187 associate in science in nursing students, a testament to the ongoing partnership we have with our community healthcare providers, foundations, and supporters.

Over the next year, SCF will continue expanding our community outreach, engagement and collaboration efforts. We know that the sooner and more we engage and collaborate, the more successful our students are. We will expand our calls for our associate in science, a.k.a. workforce degree program advisory committees. Subject matter expert participation guides the programming and helps establish key peer and networking opportunities for our students. And we’re also exploring new programming in growing fields, including cyber security. 

We will also continue developing our SCF Parrish campus now that we have received an additional $18 million from the Florida Legislature. I would like to express my gratitude to Sen. Jim Boyd for his leadership, sponsorship of SCF’s appropriations request and his ongoing support. Our legislative priorities this year include seeking the remaining $9 million to complete Phase I of SCF Parrish and requesting additional recurring funding to serve our student body. Such funding supports SCF’s implementation of high-demand workforce programs and services, expansion of student-centered programs and services that have demonstrated recruitment, retention and graduation rate success, and the recruitment and retention of high-quality faculty and staff.

SCF has embraced creating a workforce and student-centric college by engaging the members of our region to grow our academic programs, student services, lifelong learning and workforce development offerings. 

As the new President of SCF, I am deeply committed to SCF’s tradition of innovation and dedication to serving and supporting our community. At SCF, we meet our students, partners, and community where they are. We’re everyone’s college.

Tommy Gregory is president of State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota.