Inaugural Poet Blanco to speak at Palladium Theater March 23

ST. PETERSBURG (March 3, 2015) – Richard Blanco, the fifth inaugural poet of the United States, will speak at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, March 23 at the Palladium Theater at St. Petersburg College, 253 Fifth Ave. N.

The event is free for SPC students, staff and faculty with college ID and also is open to the public with $10 admission. Attendees have the option of participating in a public book signing and private after-reading meeting with the author.

Blanco is one of today’s most beloved and influential poets and storytellers. He read his poem, One Today, at President Barack Obama’s 2013 inauguration and was the first immigrant, first Latino, and first openly gay person to be selected as a U.S. inaugural poet.

The event is part of the 2015 Plume Poetry Series, sponsored by St. Petersburg College.

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Congressman David Jolly will moderate SPC’s New Ideas Conference on March 27

Congressman David Jolly

St. Petersburg College’s New Ideas Conference, with honorary host and moderator Congressman David Jolly, will bring together national, state and local leaders to discuss and offer innovative solutions to some of the most pressing policy issues facing the United States and Pinellas County. The daylong event will include panel discussions on the topics of education, budget reform, energy and the environment, and transportation.

“This is an opportunity for our community to engage in a productive conversation with some of the brightest minds on these topics,” said Congressman Jolly, R- St. Petersburg. “This type of open dialogue is critical to building consensus that can lead to real solutions for our most difficult challenges.”

The event will be held from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Friday, March 27, in the Digitorium, UP 160, at SPC’s Seminole Campus, 9200 113th St. N. The conference is presented by SPC’s Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions (ISPS), and sponsored by the Tampa Bay Times, Bright House Networks and Boston Capital Leasing. The event is open to the public and admission is free, but seating is limited. Registration is required.

State Sen. John Legg, chairman of the K-12 state Senate Education committee; Dr. Michael Grego, Superintendent of Pinellas County Schools; and Tonette Salazar, State Relations Director of the Education Commission of the States, are among the panelists who will discuss the topic “Revolution in Learning: What the Future Holds for Public Education.”

Panelists discussing budget reform will include Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum and former Director of the Congressional Budget Office; Dr. Joshua Gordon, Policy Director of the Concord Coalition; and former Congressman Jim Davis, former member of the House Budget Committee.

Former South Carolina Congressman Bob Inglis, who launched the Energy and Enterprise Initiative, will headline an energy and environment panel that also includes Susan Glickman, Florida Director of Southern Alliance for Clean Energy; Buck Martinez, Senior Director of the Office of Clean Energy at Florida Power and Light; and state Rep. Dwight Dudley.

Panelists discussing “Transitioning Transportation: Moving Our Economy Forward” will include Jim Boxold, Florida Secretary of Transportation; State Senator Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg; and Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch.

“At the Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions, we strongly believe that the combination of civic engagement and civil discourse can produce strategic public policy solutions, and the goal of this conference is exactly that,” said David Klement, Executive Director of ISPS.

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Leaders gather at Legislative Manufacturing Summit to discuss issues impacting Florida

More than 80 representatives from the local manufacturing industry and related organizations attended the summit on Feb. 25.

More than 80 representatives from local manufacturing industry and organizations attended the Legislative Manufacturing Summit on the Clearwater Campus Feb. 25. The event, sponsored by Synovus Bank, was hosted by Sen. Jack Latvala (R-Clearwater) and Rep. Kathleen Peters (R-St. Petersburg).

Attendees heard from a distinguished panel who shared information about upcoming Florida legislative bills that would affect manufacturers throughout the state. The bills address such issues as sales tax exemptions, taxation of facility leases, incentives for manufacturers wishing to enter or expand their facilities into Florida, scholarships for teachers to work in manufacturing during the summer, export assistance for Florida manufacturers and educational grants, certifications and articulation agreements.

After the panel presentations, participants divided into teams and were guided by SPC’s Collaborative Labs personnel in prioritizing recommendations they would like to make to the Florida Legislature.

Latvala and Peters thanked attendees for providing their recommendations about how to address manufacturing issues. The goal is to enable Florida to grow as a leader in the manufacturing industry.

Legislative Manufacturing Summit with Senator Latvala and Representative Peters at St. Petersburg College #SPCintern pic.twitter.com/cK70rYe3wv

— Jason Krupp (@DrJasonKrupp) February 25, 2015

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SPC faculty recognized by MERLOT for Power Point tutorial

St. Petersburg College Instructional Designer and Adjunct Communications Faculty Karen Walker, was recently recognized by Multimedia Educational Resources for Learning and Online Teaching (MERLOT) for her PowerPoint Today tutorial.

Previously an instructional support specialist for SPC’s Learning Resources team on the Tarpon Springs Campus, Walker created the LibGuide tutorial to provide students with easy-to-use tools that will help them succeed in their classes and later in their career. View PowerPoint Today tutorial.

“Karen is an innovator,” said Joseph Leopold, Director of Learning Resources for SPC. “Her work with students, faculty, and staff demonstrates her ability to gather information, think creatively, and use her resources to produce tools for students that can be used easily and repeatedly without fail.”

MERLOT focuses on encouraging faculty to integrate technology into higher education. Their peer review process of instructional technology is modeled after the peer review process for research and scholarship. The MERLOT Teacher Education Editorial Board identified Walker’s work as worthy of peer review due to the:

• Quality of content
• Potential effectiveness as a teaching-learning tool
• Ease of use

Learn more about how SPC’s innovative faculty are focused on helping students succeed in and out of the classroom.

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Pizza with the SPC president

On Tuesday, Feb. 24, St. Petersburg College President Bill Law met with about 50 students and staff from the college’s various campuses for Pizza With the President.

The casual, candid platform gave students an opportunity to connect with the president.

“Your feedback helps us strengthen our programs,” said Dr. Law. “Here are the rules: you ask it; I’ll answer it. There are no rude questions.”

Students asked questions about topics such as:

• The need for International Advisors on the Seminole Campus
• How to find additional help with MyCourses
• How SGA can have a place to share information with other students
• What can we do to make SPC campuses non-smoking
• Tips for how to allocate SGA funds for collegewide needs vs. just campus needs
• Consideration for stipends for SGA leaders
• Availability of additional space for a café on the Seminole Campus

Pizza with the President is held twice a year at SPC, once in the spring and again in the fall. The event is open to all students. To attend, students should contact their campus Life and Leadership Coordinator’s office.

For more photographs from the event, view the SPC Facebook gallery.

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Jazz Fest gains Bright House as sponsor

Bright House Networks joins Creative Loafing as a media sponsor of the St. Petersburg Jazz Fest, which kicks off Feb. 25. Other sponsors include Chamber Music America, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, St. Petersburg College & EMIT.

Download the full program and schedule.

Share your photos on the Jazz Fest Facebook page and check out the profiles of the scheduled artists on their website.

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Collaborative Labs celebrates 10 years on Feb. 24

The Collaborative Labs at St. Petersburg College will celebrate its 10-year anniversary from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 24 at the EpiCenter.

The open house will provide attendees with an opportunity to network with local business leaders, tour the facilities and enjoy a sneak preview of the new technology that will be installed next month.

Through its unique program design, the Collaborative Labs has helped nonprofits, government and private sector businesses ranging from midsize to large corporations, translate their vision into successful outcomes.

To attend the 10-year anniversary party, attendees must RSVP online.

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