Florida
is not all about sunshine, beaches and Mickey Mouse country. The state is
emerging as an incubation
hub for fostering several high-tech initiatives.
Among these, biotechnology has emerged as a prominent industry cluster in the
state. Recent reports published in 2013 from the University of
Florida and the Florida
Office of Program Policy Analysis & Government Accountability, Florida
has experienced a 60 percent growth of biotechnology industry over the past
five years, and the state outpaces the nation in terms of biotechnology
research and development. Within the biotechnology research and development
sector, the OPPAGA identifies Hillsborough, Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties
that experienced greatest business growth.
Given the biotech growth spurt, the National Science
Foundation through its Advanced Technological
Education initiative recently
awarded a grant to Palm Beach State College (PBSC) to respond to the needs of
south Florida’s emerging bioscience industry. “The goal of the Biotechnology Laboratory and Skills Training (BLAST) project
is to increase student success, retention and graduation among biotechnology
majors in order to meet the growing demand in our region and nation for skilled
technicians in this field” said Dr. Alexandra Gorgevska, chair and professor in
the Department of Biotechnology and the
Department of Natural Sciences at PBSC. Gorgevska says the targeted objectives
of the project are to provide:
student cohort activities to increase student engagement; internal recruiting
efforts; provide tutoring, mentoring and career guidance, and creating learning
communities and community involvement.
Since the awarding of the grant in 2011, the BLAST project
has successfully worked towards accomplishing
outlined objectives. Activities
have centered on creating learning communities, offering student
internships, providing venues for student presentations during conferences,
hosting internal recruiting efforts, and offering professional development
opportunities aimed at educating students about potential career opportunities
of a career in biotechnology. “The Biotech program at PBSC provides students with amazing
opportunities like the BioFlorida conference and I can’t fathom a better
educational environment” said Austin Tregenza, a student at PBSC. The project also hosts an on campus bi-annual, student
poster symposia, a biotech awareness week, and opportunities to attend regional
conferences that give students the opportunity to present their work at
meetings and conferences.
Additionally, PBSC also developed a new general biology
course that emphasizes the molecular biology
basis of biotechnology. The course
serves in attracting both biotech and non-biotech majors. In Spring 2012,
there were 11 non biotech major students enrolled in the introductory biotech
course, out of which two students took an additional biotech course. In Fall
2012, there were 15 non-biotech students enrolled in the course out of which
one took an additional biotech course. In Spring 2013, there we were a total of
13 non-biotech students. Currently, after two semesters, the program has seen
11.5% of non-biotech majors retained in the program.
The impact of the project has been multi-faceted. Impacts are not
only being felt within the field of biotechnology, but these contributions can
be extended to a variety of other academic fields. The curriculum modifications
that are being developed for general biology course has the potential to create
a more well-rounded biology, chemistry, physics or engineering major by presenting
them with additional applications of the basic sciences. Additionally, the
creation of an advising manual has provided professional development of college
advisors that can also be made available to other college programs via online
access. “We have been very fortunate to have this NSF ATE grant funding. It has
allowed us to initiate a variety of interactive efforts to increase enrollment,
retention and success of students in our biotechnology program” said Dr.
Gorgevska.
Looking
to the future, Gorgevska is currently writing a new NSF ATE proposal to continue
the projects
targeted efforts. “In order to determine if the activities we have
implemented will have an impact on our program, we will need to continue these
efforts for an additional 2-3 years collect data concerning program completers
and tracking of alumni” Gorgevska said. For more information on the BLAST grant
and biotech courses offered at PBSC contact Dr. Alexandra Gorgevska at gorgevsa@palmbeachstate.edu, or
visit www.palmbeachstate.edu/programs/biotechnology.
For information on biotech courses offered at other community and state
colleges across Florida contact Dr. Marilyn Barger at barger@fl-ate.org, or visit www.madeinflorida.org.
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