President's Perspective December 2019/January 2020

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State College

PRESIDENT’S PERSPECTIVE

D E C l JA N 2 0 2 0

H appy New Year! Northwest Florida State College is finishing out the year strong with several recent announcements focused on transfer education, workforce development and student achievement. In November, NWFSC renewed its partnership with the Crestview Technology Air Park to launch our Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) Program in support of the growing aerospace industry. Located at the Bob Sikes Airport in Crestview, the project also includes an agreement with the Hsu Educational Foundation to utilize the A&P programming and learning labs to bring STEM education to our area’s K-12 grade students. Recently, the college received notification of its acceptance into the State of Florida’s Apprenticeship System to provide on-the-job and in the classroom training opportunities to emerging carpenters, plumbers, machinists and other construction trades in our area. NWFSC has received several grant awards to enhance this programming, including a $100,000 expansion grant from the State, in partnership with CareerSource Okaloosa/Walton, and three Pathways to Career Opportunities grants totaling $275,000 from the Florida Department of Education. Additionally, in November, the College signed a new MOU agreement with Troy University to assist NWFSC students transferring to the University. This 2+2 agreement offers a seamless transfer pathway for our students with enhanced benefits, like fee waivers and tuition discounts. Notably, our team has moved the institution from two transfer agreements in 2017 to now holding nine university transfer agreements across eight institutions, thus demonstrating our priority to student achievement! (continued on next page)

VO LUME 3, NO. 10

HSU EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION & CRESTVIEW TECHNOLOGY AIR PARK PARTNERSHIP

Dr. Paul Hsu (seated, left) and Northwest Florida State College President Dr. Devin Stephenson (seated, right), along with trustees and friends of the college agreed to a long-term lease between NWFSC and the Crestview Technology Air Park (CTAP) at Bob Sikes Airport and a Memorandum of Agreement with the Hsu Educational Foundation to house its new Airframe and Powerplant Program.

On November 6, the College’s Board of Trustees approved a long-term lease with the Crestview Technology Air Park (CTAP) at Bob Sikes Airport and a Memorandum of Agreement with the Hsu Educational Foundation to house its new Airframe and Powerplant Program. Northwest Florida State College’s collaboration with the Hsu Educational Foundation creates a unique learning environment where students in grades K-12 have the opportunity to utilize the state-of-the-art facilities for STEM education around the College’s A&P programming with the ultimate goal of introducing them to advanced technology in high-growth industry sectors.

“It is a historic moment for Northwest Florida State College to enter into this agreement, and I am humbled to be surrounded by such great visionaries for our College and this region,” said Dr. Devin Stephenson, President, Northwest Florida State College. “I am sincerely appreciative of the enthusiastic support we received from members of our Board of Trustees to advance our mission of educational opportunity, economic development and improvement of the quality of place for the citizens of Okaloosa and Walton Counties.” STRATEGIC PLAN: Goals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6


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