Jacqueline Rogers, dean of health sciences and public safety at Palm Beach State College, gave a presentation to the Royal Palm Beach Education Advisory Board on Monday about the new college campus under construction at Southern Blvd. and B Road in Loxahatchee Groves.
Rogers told the board that she was appointed as director of the new campus a week ago. “I’m very excited, and actually you’re the first audience that I’ve gotten to say that in front of,” she said.
The first building on the campus is now well out of the ground.
“The third floor is ready to be poured, the steel beams are still there, and we’re hoping that it will be completed next year at this time, perhaps for a late fall or January opening,” Rogers said.
PBSC is the nation’s eighth-largest producer of associate’s degrees in arts and sciences, awarding more than 6,000 degrees and certificates each year. It has the lowest tuition in the state and is a steppingstone to higher education, according to a video presentation Rogers showed at the meeting.
The college also offers baccalaureate degrees and a variety of technical, health, visual and performing arts, criminal justice, firefighting, paramedic and managerial programs.
“If you have ever been taken care of in a dental office, seen a nurse or had the opportunity to interact with a police officer or firefighter, maybe not in the best of situations, those individuals are 90 percent likely to have completed the programs at Palm Beach State College,” she said.
PBSC is far more than just a place students go for two years before heading to a university, she explained. “We are about infusing the county work force and providing training for the jobs that we have here in Palm Beach County,” Rogers said.
The college also offers a program called “Finish for Free,” in which dual-enrolled high school students or those in the early-admit program who have completed 30 credits at the college with a 3.5 GPA and decide to finish college there can have their degree paid for.
“That is a phenomenal boost to what parents are able to do to send their kids to college,” she said. “There are a number of opportunities for students to attend college for free, and we want you to take advantage of that.”
The Loxahatchee Groves campus will focus on technology and health sciences.
“That’s where we’re headed to begin with,” Rogers said. “Our board has approved those programs initially at the first building, [and] we will have multiple buildings at that site, so the first program we will move there is health information technology, which is all about healthcare, but no blood. If you know anyone who really wants to get into healthcare, but they don’t want to interact with patients day-to-day, but realize the importance of health sciences and healthcare, they can work in health information technology, medical coding, medical transcription [or as a] medical information specialist.”
The other program that will be located at the new campus is the nursing bachelor’s degree curriculum.
“We have some exciting things coming,” Rogers said. “We are going to have the newest technology at this campus. I looked at some furniture designs today, and what people will see will be beyond their expectations when they walk through the front doors next year.”
Rogers hopes to get a certificate of occupancy in September of 2016. “The construction is on schedule right now, so the best case would be at the end of September, so between September and December, we would be able to offer some classes,” she said.
Board Member Renatta Espinosa asked whether there would be a theater at the new campus similar to those at the Lake Worth, Eissey and Belle Glade campuses, and Rogers said it will not have a theater, but an amphitheater and a large lecture hall that can offer some student activities.
Espinosa also asked about science, technology, engineering and math (STEAM) programs, and Rogers said that the campus will focus on technology at first.
“Remember, there’s probably going to be more than 10 buildings when we build out this entire campus,” she noted, explaining that many other programs will come online later.
Espinosa said that she would like for younger students to be able to come and see the campus to interact with the college students and instructors, and Rogers said that the college is always open to tours.
“We welcome student groups,” she said. “We have student groups come all the time, and we show them what we have to offer and get them excited about coming to college.”
