Florida State University Panama City offers life-changing educational and social opportunities that prepare students, faculty and community members to achieve their goals, develop a richer culture of diversity and foster a spirit of lifelong learning. Partnering with area military installations, industry leaders and other Florida State University departments and colleges, we tailor the educational experience to make higher education more accessible to the residents of Northwest Florida.
Vision Statement: Florida State University Panama City will enhance its role as a regional center of excellence providing opportunities for advanced academic, cultural and public service experiences, within a caring community that is designed to promote success in a global society.
FSU PC Promise: Our Core Values
We promise to be your partner
as you pursue your academic goals at one of America’s great public research universities. Through small classes, individual attention and working with mentors, you will have the greatest potential for academic, career and professional development.
We promise you will be prepared
as you move into the workforce or onto graduate school. The high academic standards and our commitment to offering the opportunity to participate in experiential learning, undergraduate research and community service will help you succeed.
We promise you can set your path
through engaging in group and individualized projects, providing separate pathways and participating in hands-on learning experiences directly tied to your academic career. You can count on us working with you to meet your individual goals.
We promise FSU will always be home
because this partnership is more than a commitment for just a few years. You will leave with greater critical thinking skills, a love for learning and understanding the importance of being an engaged member of your community. Together, we will make sure that FSU continues to meet the needs of students just like you.
Institutional Priorities and Strategic Objectives
Academic Quality, Experiential Learning and Student Success
- Assess academic programs to ensure high quality offerings that are relevant, dynamic and innovative within their respective fields.
- Recruit and retain diverse, expert faculty, providing resources and professional development for them to maintain teaching excellence, research and service.
- Strengthen efforts to encourage student diversity in undergraduate, graduate, certificate, and professional programs, online and on-campus.
- Promote and expand experiential learning opportunities, including the development of new internship sites, research opportunities, and specialized applied experiences. Emphasize the unique opportunities students have to engage in individualized, experiential learning and mentorship programs with field experts.
- Develop and implement initiatives that advance educational equity and retention to ensure all students have the resources they need to achieve and succeed.
- Promote a culture of student excellence through the development of a strong student support infrastructure, academic advising and student success services.
- Elevate the reputation of academic programs at FSU PC and in the College of Applied Studies in advancing FSU’s rankings among national public universities.
Strategic Innovations, Partnerships and Community Engagement
- Establish innovative, educational and outreach programs and partnerships that augment revenue and maximize institutional effectiveness.
- Build intra-university and community partnerships that expand the reach of FSU PC and enhance access to academic programs and employment opportunities for students.
- Promote economic recovery and growth for businesses and communities across Northwest Florida.
- Collaborate with other FSU colleges and departments on initiatives that will positively impact communities across Northwest Florida.
- Affirm FSU PC as a leader in education and professional preparation through outreach, research, and service.
Marketing and Communicating the FSU PC Brand
- Amplify awareness of FSU PC academic programming across Northwest Florida and the southeast region, including neighboring states.
- Communicate FSU PC’s institutional reputation as a critical component of one of the nation’s top-tier universities.
- Build the FSU PC “promise” brand focused on the unique strengths of our campus (small classes, experiential learning opportunities, individualized student attention and mentorship); partnering with students to ensure their success.
- Publicly demonstrate FSU PC’s commitment to being a part of the economic development fiber of our communities.
Campus Life and Student Engagement
- Build a new residential facility that will reinforce, invigorate, and build momentum for FSU PC initiatives to increase recruitment, retention and graduation rates.
- Enhance collaborations with Gulf Coast State College through the Seminole Commodore Alliance to increase student leadership, service, and community engagement opportunities.
- Promote greater collaboration with academics in enhancing student learning to facilitate student retention and academic progress by removing barriers for student success, and provide a developmental, educational and co-curricular learning environment to prepare students to work and live in a global world.
- Enhance student communication plans to increase the effective marketing of services and programs, and the value-added of co-curricular opportunities.
Career Preparation and Workforce Development
- Establish new programs to meet the changing economic and workforce landscape of Northwest Florida, both online and on-campus.
- Increase career preparation services, resources and experiential learning opportunities for students and community members.
Developing the plan
In September 2018, Dean Randy Hanna commissioned the Strategic Planning Committee to create a five-year plan to address the future of Florida State University Panama City. The arrival of Hurricane Michael in October 2018, caused work on the plan to be delayed as stakeholders worked on the initial recovery of the campus and the area. As work resumed in the spring of 2019, it became clear that the recovery of the area we serve and the economic vitality of the region is dependent upon FSU PC playing an even greater role in meeting the higher education needs of students from the area.
STAKEHOLDER DIRECTION & FEEDBACK (LISTENING TO THOSE WE SERVE)
Information was gathered from stakeholders through focus groups and online survey comments, and feedback from faculty, staff, students, community members and FSU PC alumni were used to develop the five-year strategic plan. We are grateful for the input provided by those who participated in the visioning exercises.