St. Petersburg University will introduce five new programs this fall to meet growing workforce demands and give graduates a market advantage in the fields of health, education, technology, and business.
Cardiopulmonary Science Bachelor of Science
SPC will offer a bachelor's degree in cardiopulmonary science to meet the growing demand for registered respiratory therapists with advanced training and skills. This program is specifically designed to help RRT practitioners move up the respiratory care career ladder and is a stand-alone credential that replaces the Respiratory Care subplan of the Bachelor of Health Services Administration.
The new degree will be offered exclusively online. Available in 8-week courses, a student can focus on one or two courses at a time.
Our extensive curriculum leads to advanced qualifications, professional growth and development in leadership, management, teaching and research. Hospitals increasingly prefer to hire practitioners with bachelor's degrees for bedside clinical positions.
The course includes patient education and advanced capstone experiences customized to the needs of registered respiratory therapists and requires no clinical or campus time. The capstone experience can be completed locally no matter where the student lives.
Secondary English Education with Reading and ESOL Approval Bachelor of Science
SPC continues to strengthen the Faculty of Education's offering with the launch of the Bachelor of Science in Secondary English Language Teaching with Reading and ESOL endorsement.
“This degree will help fill the need for teachers in one of Florida's most acute shortage areas,” said Heather Duncan, associate dean of the College of Education. “Our region will see a significant need for teacher training at the local level as other universities end their programs.”
The endorsement of Reading and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) increases graduates' marketability and leaves them well-prepared for careers as middle school or high school teachers, Duncan added. Another area in which there is a severe teacher shortage in the state includes ESE (Exceptional Student Education), where the university also offers bachelor's degrees.
Areas with severe teacher shortages are those in which a significant percentage of teachers who are not certified in the appropriate field are employed to teach such courses, significant vacancies exist, and higher education institutions are It is defined as an accredited field that does not produce enough graduates to meet the needs. K-12 student population.
This program joins two other programs created this spring to meet growing workforce demands: the Bachelor of Science in Kindergarten/Elementary Education (ages 3 to 3) and the Advanced Technology Certificate in Training and Development. will join.
The qualifications address workforce demands for kindergarten teachers and training and development professionals, respectively.
Cloud Computing AS Degree
SPC will be the first institution within the University of Florida System to offer an Associate of Science degree in Cloud Computing. The program's curriculum, established with input from other state universities, serves as a starting point for all 28 state universities planning to offer similar degrees at their own institutions.
This degree prepares graduates to manage information technology services such as servers, storage, databases, and software provided on the Internet or “the cloud.”
“We are honored that the state Department of Education has chosen us to create this program as a foundation for all other state universities,” said Nolen Kemp, dean of the School of Computer and Information Technology. “Universities can build on the foundation we have laid and customize programs as needed.”
To develop the AS framework, the university relied on a $400,000 Cyber Florida grant that included funding for IT pathway expansion. This new degree will launch in fall 2022 to meet the growing need for highly skilled cloud practitioners, including software and security engineers, systems and network administrators, full stack and Java developers, and cloud and software architects. Based on the Cloud Computing Certification.
“The cloud computing trend is one of the fastest growing areas in IT, including web development, networking, and software applications,” Kemp said. “Cloud computing is emerging as a key element in software development. Today, software developers and system administrators collaborate to design, build, and deploy applications.”
All core courses in the program are offered online, and students work in a virtual environment so they can practice their skills in real time. Graduates will become proficient in leading cloud services such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Azure, and Google. Students can earn general education credits at SPC campuses if they wish.
business certificate
The School of Business’s two new certificates add to a growing list of business qualifications aimed at giving graduates an edge in the global economy. The Corporate Entrepreneurship Advanced Technical Certificate at bachelor's level teaches students how to innovate, adapt, and change within existing organizations, turning them into “intrapreneurs” who can drive growth and development from within.
The Green Innovations and Social Entrepreneurship Certificate leans heavily toward social enterprises and is a summer project funded by a $25,000 VentureWell grant awarded to universities to expand and strengthen the STEM innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. It was started during the sustainability program.
“One of our goals is to support lifestyle entrepreneurs,” said Emmanuel Hernandez Agosto, dean of the School of Business Administration. “While most entrepreneurship programs focus on high-wage sectors or growth areas such as technology, few programs focus on and take pride in supporting these entrepreneurs.”
These programs join recent additions to the College of Business, including the Business Analyst Specialist Advanced Technical Certificate, which was launched last fall. This certification is based on an associate's degree and is especially suitable for technology students who want to transition into a business career or business students who want to improve their technology and data skills.
