The start of the new school year at Florida Keys Community College was interrupted by the evacuation order for Hurricane Ike, but that sort of thing isn't unusual for the southernmost Junior College.
The college, located on Stock Island's College Road across from the hospital, is undergoing some radical upheavals this year. A new president was hired by the board of directors and she was given a mandate to get the somnolent school moving into the 21st century. Dr Landesberg-Boyle took her mandate seriously and has ruffled no end of feathers.
The college was built about three decades ago and after a handful of presidents got the place going one Dr Seeker ensconced himself as the top dog and stayed there long past his sell-by date. Seeker was so entrenched the school started to essentially unravel under his neglectful eye, and he only retired for the second time, permanently when FKCC was threatened with losing its accredited status. There were only 570 Full Time equivalent students a few years ago and numbers were shrinking...the future looked awfully grim.
The light at the end of the tunnel came when Dr Landesberg-Boyle was hired, a brash energetic leader who came down from Up North and started to make changes. The worn out sidekicks of the former President protested long and hard as the new leader demanded full schedules and hard work from the somnolent faculty. They rebelled and started a whispering campaign alleging the new President was bi-polar and a carpet chewing fiend given to fits of uncontrollable rage.
Weirdly enough the college now has more than one thousand FTE (Full Time Equivalent) students and accreditation is safe. The president has opened the college campus to winter time concerts for the community on its spacious lawns.
She has successfully petitioned Tallahassee for some sixteen million dollars for capital projects on campus; she has started a collaboration with a four year university to allow locals to get four year degrees through FKCC and she has opened up classrooms on campus to the School District to get at risk students specialised instruction. Landesberg-Boyle has also found money to expand the nursing program and I have seen on campus stirrings of excitement that there may be a better future ahead. Others will disagree saying Landesberg-Boyle is a disaster, but change doesn't come easily and the struggle is engaged on campus between the oldtimers and the president.
All this innovation and forward thinking has garnered her praise from the Citizen newspaper and lots of angry critical letters to the newspaper as well. Letter writers accuse her of using the college as a stepping stone in her career, as though that's a bad thing, and one letter writer even suggested that because the Board of Directors is composed mainly of prominent Republicans that a political conspiracy is in the works at the college. That such charges make no sense, does not deter the detractors from continuing to try to undermine the innovator leading the college. As you can tell I enjoy her leadership and am reaping the fruits of her work in my own studies. I wish she had been hired at the start of my road to a degree.
I like the college campus, I enjoy the architecture and the layout of the buildings. They have a suitable open air, tropical feel to them, a series of corridors shady and dark connecting buildings and classrooms in buildings that are painted bright colors. The new college president is overseeing an upgrade there too and yellows and blues and greens and reds are being replaced with more muted colors, which is not exactly to my taste. I like pastels too, what can I say? This is the pottery building:
Which houses this:
Which is a kiln. FKCC has a well known potter who teaches this subject, and I have no knowledge of him or his Art. My wife does, she took his class and he stands in the pantheon of the gods in her mind. Here is his altar:
I was mentioning the corridors that give the campus it's open feeling:
I showed up for my first class of the year at 9am, an in between time for many classes and the halls were pretty much devoid of students. Some were studying:
Some were pausing to talk:
Some were pausing to contemplate:The college, located on Stock Island's College Road across from the hospital, is undergoing some radical upheavals this year. A new president was hired by the board of directors and she was given a mandate to get the somnolent school moving into the 21st century. Dr Landesberg-Boyle took her mandate seriously and has ruffled no end of feathers.The college was built about three decades ago and after a handful of presidents got the place going one Dr Seeker ensconced himself as the top dog and stayed there long past his sell-by date. Seeker was so entrenched the school started to essentially unravel under his neglectful eye, and he only retired for the second time, permanently when FKCC was threatened with losing its accredited status. There were only 570 Full Time equivalent students a few years ago and numbers were shrinking...the future looked awfully grim.The light at the end of the tunnel came when Dr Landesberg-Boyle was hired, a brash energetic leader who came down from Up North and started to make changes. The worn out sidekicks of the former President protested long and hard as the new leader demanded full schedules and hard work from the somnolent faculty. They rebelled and started a whispering campaign alleging the new President was bi-polar and a carpet chewing fiend given to fits of uncontrollable rage.Weirdly enough the college now has more than one thousand FTE (Full Time Equivalent) students and accreditation is safe. The president has opened the college campus to winter time concerts for the community on its spacious lawns.She has successfully petitioned Tallahassee for some sixteen million dollars for capital projects on campus; she has started a collaboration with a four year university to allow locals to get four year degrees through FKCC and she has opened up classrooms on campus to the School District to get at risk students specialised instruction. Landesberg-Boyle has also found money to expand the nursing program and I have seen on campus stirrings of excitement that there may be a better future ahead. Others will disagree saying Landesberg-Boyle is a disaster, but change doesn't come easily and the struggle is engaged on campus between the oldtimers and the president.All this innovation and forward thinking has garnered her praise from the Citizen newspaper and lots of angry critical letters to the newspaper as well. Letter writers accuse her of using the college as a stepping stone in her career, as though that's a bad thing, and one letter writer even suggested that because the Board of Directors is composed mainly of prominent Republicans that a political conspiracy is in the works at the college. That such charges make no sense, does not deter the detractors from continuing to try to undermine the innovator leading the college. As you can tell I enjoy her leadership and am reaping the fruits of her work in my own studies. I wish she had been hired at the start of my road to a degree.I like the college campus, I enjoy the architecture and the layout of the buildings. They have a suitable open air, tropical feel to them, a series of corridors shady and dark connecting buildings and classrooms in buildings that are painted bright colors. The new college president is overseeing an upgrade there too and yellows and blues and greens and reds are being replaced with more muted colors, which is not exactly to my taste. I like pastels too, what can I say? This is the pottery building:Which houses this:Which is a kiln. FKCC has a well known potter who teaches this subject, and I have no knowledge of him or his Art. My wife does, she took his class and he stands in the pantheon of the gods in her mind. Here is his altar:I was mentioning the corridors that give the campus it's open feeling:I showed up for my first class of the year at 9am, an in between time for many classes and the halls were pretty much devoid of students. Some were studying:Some were pausing to talk:
While others were arriving:
Not with all the comforts of home though:
I arrived on the Bonneville, and in a town pulullating with scooters I am hardly alone on my two wheels, though the immense parking lots are predominantly filled with cars, even though the college is on the main Key West/Stock Island bus loop:
When I mentioned immense parking lots I meant really big, as in acres of tarmac, which is handy for concert goers at Tennessee Williams concert and performances in winter:
The nursing program has always been popular as its been an avenue to a good job and I'm told enrollment has doubled. This following a great deal of controversy when a popular director of the program was let go. Pundits thought the program would die but apparently not so. FKCC not unnaturally has an active dive program, as well as marine biology and marine engineering and they are looking to expand. 
I've seen an increase in the number of foreign, principally Bahamian and Bermudian students in marine propulsion since the new energy has been put into recruiting. There are also plans to create dormitory housing to encourage students to attend in a town notorious for expensive housing costs. All this innovation but the college remembers its past as well:
To me FKCC is a huge community resource, it's a place that gives depth to daily living at the end of the road, offering continuing education for curious adults and gives young people a chance to get technical educations that can help keep them here. This a full service junior college like anywhere else in the States. It has a cafe that offers a very decent con leche and a full menu of food, there's a library with lots of computer access as well as a full sized pool free for students. I also enjoy sitting around when I get a chance and in a town with limited parks the college is an oasis:
The Japanese Torii seem popular in various incarnations:
But appearances can be deceptive. Someone seems to have duplicated the torii look just down the road from the one in the photo above:
It's actually the trash collection area. I'd like to think it's a pleasant little joke but that's probably too much to hope for. These days with all the controversy at the college I sometimes feel like there's barely a handful of us who show up on campus feeling cheerful. I see a great future for Florida Keys Community College, and I'm glad we have it in our community.
The nursing program has always been popular as its been an avenue to a good job and I'm told enrollment has doubled. This following a great deal of controversy when a popular director of the program was let go. Pundits thought the program would die but apparently not so. FKCC not unnaturally has an active dive program, as well as marine biology and marine engineering and they are looking to expand. I've seen an increase in the number of foreign, principally Bahamian and Bermudian students in marine propulsion since the new energy has been put into recruiting. There are also plans to create dormitory housing to encourage students to attend in a town notorious for expensive housing costs. All this innovation but the college remembers its past as well:To me FKCC is a huge community resource, it's a place that gives depth to daily living at the end of the road, offering continuing education for curious adults and gives young people a chance to get technical educations that can help keep them here. This a full service junior college like anywhere else in the States. It has a cafe that offers a very decent con leche and a full menu of food, there's a library with lots of computer access as well as a full sized pool free for students. I also enjoy sitting around when I get a chance and in a town with limited parks the college is an oasis:The Japanese Torii seem popular in various incarnations:But appearances can be deceptive. Someone seems to have duplicated the torii look just down the road from the one in the photo above:It's actually the trash collection area. I'd like to think it's a pleasant little joke but that's probably too much to hope for. These days with all the controversy at the college I sometimes feel like there's barely a handful of us who show up on campus feeling cheerful. I see a great future for Florida Keys Community College, and I'm glad we have it in our community.
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3 comments:
Conch:
Seems like quite a nice place to go to school indeed... Out of curiosity, what do people do for advanced degrees down near zero? I'm assuming Miami would be the closest place for a bachelor's Degree? And what's this you say?? The college President is rumored to be gay?? JC must hate her too I suppose....
Blameonbuffet
The college is in the process of becoming a four your school with a Bachelors degree in Nursing and one in Management. By the way the president is straight.
Landesberg-Boyle has a husband, he has been seen so I know it's not a rumor! I think he must be quite a support for her because she is getting grief from every entrenched self interest in the college.
Mostly people get degrees on line if they want to get a college education without leaving the Keys. One hopes the four year courses will be expanded as time goes by.
A lot of people are critical of Boyle saying FKCC is just a stepping stone on her path,as though that's a bad thing. I hope we get the benefit of all the good ideas she has before she moves on. Changing locations to improve your job prospects used to be called a "career" Up North. Down here it's called being a sell out. Oh well.
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