Florida's community colleges could begin offering bachelor's degrees under a new proposal with strong legislative support. The proposal would also create a Florida College System to oversee the community colleges, both two-year and four-year institutions.
The bill was passed unanimously by the Senate's Committee on Higher Education, and a similar draft is circulating in the House. All bills must be passed by the House and Senate and signed into law by Gov. Charlie Crist.
The Council of Presidents, made up of Florida community college presidents, expressed unanimous support for the bill at its Thursday meeting.
SFCC President Jackson Sasser, who is also chairman of the council, said SFCC probably wouldn't offer bachelor's degrees - at least not in the near future - to prevent damaging its relationship with UF.
"We're not competing with UF. They're the best partner we have," Sasser said. "But in the future if there are degrees that UF would choose not to offer, and it's needed by our district and by the state, then we would look at that."
He said the council supports the measure because the state needs more bachelor's degrees.
Some of Florida's community colleges, including St. Petersburg College and Indian River Community College, already offer bachelor's degrees.
Although the bill could make it through this year's legislative session, Sasser said community colleges probably wouldn't change their offerings until the budget situation is more clear.
The Florida Legislature is currently struggling with state revenue shortfalls, leading to budget cuts felt at all state schools.
"If the funds aren't there, it can't be implemented this year," he said. "Everybody knows that."
It's also unclear who will supervise the Florida College System, if created, he said.
Community colleges are currently overseen by the State Board of Education. A joint resolution recently passed by the Senate would reduce the size of the Florida Board of Governors, which governs the State University System, from 17 to eight members.
The resolution must be approved by the House and 60 percent of voters before it is implemented.
Sasser said the Florida College System would probably be supervised by a board similar to the Board of Governors. Otherwise, it would continue to be overseen by the State Board of Education, he said.
Bill Edmonds, Board of Governors' spokesman, said the board supports the idea of creating more bachelor's-degree-granting institutions. But Edmonds said the board is concerned about adequate funding for higher education, especially if community colleges start offering degrees already available at four-year universities.
"That would be our, really, only concern: that everybody is funded adequately so that both the universities can get their job done and the new community colleges can do theirs as well," he said.
