Higher Education Degrees Around the Corner

Beginning in the fall, graduates of high schools in Gulf and Franklin counties can earn a two-year college degree without ever straying too far from home.

As part of its new mission to expand its reach into neighboring counties, Gulf Coast Community College has created what college officials are calling a "cluster" program that will allow Gulf and Franklin students to earn an Associates of Arts degree at the Gulf/Franklin Center on U.S. 98 in Port St. Joe.

The program is mapped out as a three-year effort in which students will be able to earn every credit required for an A.A. and will be able to do it right around the corner, at the Gulf/Franklin Center.

The program is set up in such a way that specific core courses are offered in specific semesters, with opportunities to add electives along the way.

There are some prerequisites:

* There is no age limitation, but students must be graduates of high schools in Gulf or Franklin counties or must have earned their GED, or high school equivalency diploma, in one of those two counties.

* There is a cap of 25 students per cluster cycle, meaning that every two years a new group of students will enter the program.

* Financial assistance, from Pell Grants to scholarships will be available to students in need of financial assistance.

* Student scores on the College Placement Test, SAT or ACT must show the student college ready. If not, some remedial courses might be required before entering the cluster program.

* Students in the cluster program must maintain a 2.0 GPA.

A significant promise college officials are making is that regardless of enrollment in a specific class within the cluster, that class will "make," or go forward.

Previously, classes had to have 12-15 students in order to be conducted at the Gulf/Franklin Center. If not enough students enrolled in that class, students were forced to go to the main Panama City campus to enroll and take the course.

"These courses will make regardless of the number," said Brenda Galloway, director of the Gulf/Franklin Center. "We are guaranteeing that these courses will make."

The cluster program concentrates on the core courses needed to earn an AA, including two English courses, two math courses, a humanities course, etc.

"Each semester they can go outside the cluster and take an elective, though in most cases electives will be driven by (the student's) major," Galloway said.

The cluster program has been roughly 18 months in the formulation and came about as the brainchild of Galloway and Denise Butler, a member of the GCCC Board of Trustees as well as the Franklin County School Board.

"We needed to do something to address the needs of the students in Gulf and Franklin counties," Galloway said. "We have the ability to make our students confident and go out into the community and grow."

The cluster program got a boost from a special advisory committee recently established by GCCC to examine ways the college could extend its community reach beyond the Bay County main campus.

The college, under new president Dr. Jim Kerley, has expanded its horizons at an almost eerily ideal time. It was 10 years ago that the Gulf/Franklin Center opened, just as the old St. Joe paper mill was shutting down for good.

Now, with the real estate market having cooled, Gulf and Franklin counties are again in need of another spark to the economy that can be generated by a strong higher education presence.

"It's the right thing to do to help our communities and our students," Kerley said. "If we can continue to do this it will grow the campus and the opportunities.

"We are committed to working together with the school system. We are committed to providing more opportunities at the Gulf/Franklin Center.

"Higher education is in the middle of a lot of things. You need a strong higher education component in a community. People are not going to get ahead without a strong higher education component."

The cluster program also addresses some specific needs.

For starters, it is targeting the non-traditional student, those who may have left high school in the rearview mirror but now want to continue their education, working folks looking to better their station.

Secondly, with the higher costs of gas and in turn transportation, offering students a guaranteed chance to earn their two-year degree close to home becomes a financial advantage.

Thirdly, with a wide variety of potential grants and scholarships available, the working man or woman won't be set back in continuing their educations due to fiscal factors.

"We will ensure that we will have the financial resources to assist those students who need it," Kerley said, noting that the college will take something of a financial hit if classes have six or seven students. "We are going to guarantee that in three years they can get a degree and never leave this campus."

The cluster program will also be available to those high school students interested in dual enrollment, getting a head start on their college careers.

"They are saying to our community that you are so important to us we are doing this," Butler said. "The college is making a real commitment."

Superintendent of Gulf County Schools Tim Wilder added, "We've asked them to step up to the plate and they have done so. Now it's our turn to prove the students will come."