13.7 Physical Resources

Library and Learning Resources (tutoring) Utilization

Although the College does not report Library or Learning Resources (tutoring) utilization to the State, the Library does track usage rates of subscription databases, library programming, literacy instruction sessions, and computer/study space usage amongst others.

The upgraded Library Portal provides nearly 150 subscription library databases that are available to and support all students, from first-year and Dual-Enrollment (on-site and off-site) students to those working toward their baccalaureate degrees. This convenience heightens the research and learning experience, and, overall, Open Athens, the state-wide library access system, reported in Academic Year 2021-22 that SPC Libraries yielded and sustained 22,703 user accounts, 98,730 user authentications into the databases, and 307,650 resources accessed.

Table 13.7.4 — Library Database Usage

In addition, the campus Library and Learning Resource Centers provide students access to computer and study areas, as well as tutoring tracked through the Who’s Next system. The following table shows the utilization of both in the Academic Year 2021-22.

Table 13.7.5 — Space and Tutoring Utilization

SPC Libraries—and to a greater extent, Learning Resources—also foster and support the curiosity, independence, and success of students through educational, informational, and recreational programming. The department offered 875 programs in Academic Year 2021-22 with a very solid attendance for “optional” events and activities, as shown in the table below.

Table 13.7.6 — Library Program Utilization 2021-22

Working in coordination with course faculty, the Information Literacy Instruction program strives to provide course-integrated sessions to support research-based activities and projects in both in-person and online modalities. These sessions are offered to all faculty, including the College’s on-campus and off-site Dual Enrollment faculty, and may include a general orientation to library resources; instruction on use, evaluation, and documentation regarding information resources; or custom-tailored instruction toward a particular assignment, ranging from a first-year research paper to evidence-based research for care plans in the College of Nursing. For the Academic Year 2021-22, Libraries offered 388 Information Literacy Instruction sessions in-person and online, reaching 7,526 students (see table below).

Table 13.7.7 — Information Literacy Instruction Session Utilization by Semester and Modality 2021-22

Respondents to the College’s 2022-23 Enrolled Student Survey (see table 13.7.10 below) ranked Library Resources in the top five selections (out of 29 services or offices). Libraries earned an average satisfaction score of 4.38 out of 5 points.

Quality of Facilities

Ensuring that the quality of the College facilities adequately supports the College’s mission is approached from two perspectives. The first is to project the academic needs and conduct long-term planning and budgeting for the systematic replacement or upgrading of existing buildings through the Facilities Master Plan, Campus Master Plans, and Capital Improvement Plan. The second is to utilize every resource available to efficiently maintain the physical facilities that are currently operated through its Deferred Maintenance Program and routine and preventive maintenance programs.

Long-Term Planning: Facilities Master Plan

A Five-Year Educational Plant Survey (EPS) is conducted for each College site and specific recommendations are prepared to meet identified needs through new construction and the remodeling of existing facilities in accordance with Florida Statute 1013.31.  In addition, recommendations are included for continued upgrades to life safety systems and for compliance with ADA. Using the information from the Five-Year Educational Plant Survey (EPS), the College conducts master planning for each of its sites in response to the development of new academic program needs, changing demographics in the College’s service areas, and the requirements of local and regional employers for a trained workforce.  The current EPS for 2017-2022 was approved by the Board of Trustees at the May 16, 2017 (pg. 16) meeting, with a new one due June 2023, along with new campus master plans, which are under development.

Campus Master Plans

• Tarpon Campus
• Clearwater Campus
• Epi Center
• Veterinary Technology Center
• Seminole Campus
• Health Education Center
• St. Petersburg /Gibbs Campus
• Downtown Center
• Midtown Center
• Allstate Center
• Fire Training Center
• Bay Pines STEM Center

To provide a timely response to changing needs in the community and continue to provide accessible academic opportunities, the College re-evaluates the Master Plans and the Five-Year Survey on an ongoing basis and prepares the appropriate amendments as necessary for approval by the Board of Trustees and submittal to the Florida Department of Education.  The Facilities Department–in collaboration with the Provosts, College Leadership, and Staff—identifies priority projects in Annual Planning Meetings at each campus.  Following the development of the projects, the administration, Provosts, College Leadership, and the Facilities Department meet to establish the priority listing for the funding requests, which are then approved by SPC’s Board of Trustees.

Capital Improvement Plan

Funding for identified projects is requested each year in the College’s Capital Improvement Plan. The Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) is the process through which the College requests and receives construction allocations from the State of Florida’s Public Education Capital Outlay (PECO) Fund, Facilities Enhancement Challenge Grants (FECG), Capital Outlay & Debt Service (CO&DS), and State Board of Education Bond (SBE Bond) funding. The first three-year period of the CIP plan is the source from which the State Board of Education prepares its Legislative Budget Request (LBR).  This list is submitted to the Legislature annually and, if available, construction funding is allocated to the institution. (See June 2022 CIP)

The CIP is divided into three categories:

• Renovation – the general upgrade of an existing facility with no change in use (e.g. new lighting, carpeting, roof, heating, ventilating and air conditioning, and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act) and site improvements
• Remodeling – the changing of an existing facility by rearrangement of space, use (e.g. offices to classrooms) or any changes that impact exiting
• New Construction – design and construction of new facilities.  This also includes site acquisition

In addition to the master list, the College lists the top five priorities for each fiscal year based on keeping existing/new projects moving forward with maximum flexibility.  The submitted priorities for the past three academic years are as follows:

• 2020-21 CIP Priority Summary
• 2021-22 CIP Priority Summary
• 2022-23 CIP Priority Summary

Over the past 5 years, the college has received funds for Capital Improvement through PECO, Capital Outlay & Debt Service, as well as other sources described in the table below.

Table 13.7.8 — Capital Improvement Funds

Below are some examples of the work that was accomplished during the past five years to support improvements.

Table 13.7.9 — Examples of Completed Work

Deferred Maintenance Program

SPC’s Deferred Maintenance Program (DMP) was established to meet capital improvement needs for each college-owned facility on the inventory.  The College takes the following actions to address deferred maintenance:

• Repairs or replaces broken critical building systems that have exceeded their life expectancy or to avoid liabilities associated with life and safety, environmental, or mandated compliance programs and disruption of vital College operations.
• Upgrades buildings and equipment to lower maintenance costs and liabilities.
• Installs high-efficiency equipment with new technology to lower utility costs and maintain realistic preventive maintenance practices consistent with industry standards.

Every spring, Facilities Services works with Provosts to create a prioritized project list for each site.  This list is combined with any critical infrastructure needs that Facilities Services has identified to produce a consolidated list that populates the Capital Improvement Plan and identifies where the project is in process: planning, construction, completed, or on hold (see June 2022 CIP plan).  These projects receive infrastructure funding in the next fiscal year to the extent funds are available.  Projects that fail to make the cut-off for available infrastructure money generally are re-introduced for funding the following year. The annual budget for these expenditures has averaged between $600,000- $800,000 to be shared by all campuses.   

In 2022-23, SPC received $47.5 million of American Rescue Plan funds that will be used through 2026 to complete deferred maintenance projects identified on the June 2022 CIP plan.  An updated Facilities Condition Assessment is currently underway as part of the 5-Year Educational Plant Survey process to prioritize building infrastructure deficiencies.  It is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2023. Specifically, the Assessment will provide for the planning and implementation of planned improvements to infrastructure items such as roofs, parking lots, exterior painting, etc. The Facility Condition Assessment results will be presented in single years, as well as five plus years at a glance. This plan is designed to be flexible to meet changing needs of the academic programs and students.

Routine/Preventative Maintenance

In total, the College maintains over 116 buildings that comprise approximately 2.6 million square feet of conditioned space. The vast majority of work to operate and maintain these physical facilities and adjacent grounds is performed with in-house personnel, including approximately 20 Maintenance Technicians, 8 Landscapers, and approximately 70 Custodial personnel. Complex mechanical repairs, like chiller repairs, for example, are outsourced only when necessary. The annual budgets for the Maintenance, Custodial, and Landscaping departments are $1,086,160, $388,484, and $181,493, respectively. 

SPC uses a combination of methodologies in planning for both routine and preventive maintenance. An online work order system, SchoolDude PM Direct, is utilized to submit and track maintenance requests and can be submitted by anyone within the College from their desktop. Both site-specific and centrally-based technicians manage the various requests. All routine functions that are performed by maintenance personnel on equipment and infrastructure items are scheduled through SchoolDude. This tool also schedules the periodic tasks that need to be completed in order to maximize the life cycle of the chillers, fans, pumps, electrical devices, etc. that comprise the facility’s infrastructure. This preemptive work is initiated via an auto-generated facilities work order that is scheduled by the system and allows for easy tracking of project completion.

Physical Inventory Records

The Asset Management Department of St. Petersburg College maintains accurate and up-to-date records of its physical inventory via a comprehensive physical resource inventory system. In accordance with the Board of Trustees Property Records Rule 6Hx23-5.13, all College property, equipment, and other tangible property of a non-consumable nature with a value of $5,000 or more, and having a normal life expectancy of one (1) year or more, are inventoried annually.  Each item of property that can be identified by marking is tagged in the manner required by the Auditor General and Florida Statue 274. There have been no findings related to fixed assets in the Auditor’s Report on Internal Controls or in any Federal Awards Audit.

Examples of annual physical inventory procedures and property disposal are noted below.

Inventory Reconciliation and Annual Physical Inventory Procedures:

• An identification number shall be assigned and the property shall be tagged upon receipt.
• The College utilizes the periodic inventory method. A physical inventory is conducted annually by people who had no access to the inventory during the year.
• The Budget Supervisors shall ensure that all property has been correctly recorded on the inventory sheets provided by Property Management; the condition of the property shall be verified and noted.  On the SPC Business Services Web site, Asset Management provides guidelines to assist the Budget Supervisors with their responsibilities for accountable equipment.
• Asset Management provides Property Management with a file that provides a detailed list of all tangible College property and accountable equipment which is downloaded into the physical inventory of staffs’ scanners.  The physical inventory staff will scan all tangible College property and accountable equipment, verifying the property tag number, description, make, model, serial number, location, condition, and custodian. In addition, an email with a survey link is sent to all staff requesting they locate and send a picture of the asset tag for all property that may be in their possession.  If any of the information does not match the scan file that was provided by Asset Management, the physical inventory staff will make changes and flag the item for Asset Management to review.  When the staff has completed the physical inventory process, a missing items list is sent to the Budget Supervisor.  The Budget Supervisors are responsible for locating any missing items.  Property Management is notified and the physical inventory staff will scan the item(s).  The inventory is compared to the property records, and all discrepancies shall be traced and reconciled.

Property Disposal Procedures:

• The Facilities Planning and Institutional Services department shall in accordance with Florida Statutes Section 274.06 dispose of for value, donate, destroy, or abandon any equipment that is obsolete, or that is uneconomical or inefficient, or which serves no useful function.
• The property being proposed for disposal will be reviewed by the Property Survey Committee (appointed by the President).  Authority for the disposal of property shall be recorded in the minutes of the Board of Trustees and recording the disposal of property shall be within the guidelines of Florida Statutes Section 274.02.  In addition, a bi-annual report of the property declared surplus and disposed of is to be annually reported to the Board of Trustees (see Board of Trustees Agenda 4-2021 Memo, Agenda 4-2022 Memo).
• Before disposal of any College property, approvals are obtained from the department’s custodian. Once all approvals are obtained, the Surplus Warehouse Department will complete a form for all transactions and obtain the signatures of the new owners, when applicable.  The forms and information are then forwarded to Asset Management so that the property records can be updated.  Asset Management documents the date of disposal, the means of disposal, the condition of the equipment, the name of staff witnessing the disposal, and the Board of Trustees Survey approval

Satisfaction with Facilities and Technology

St. Petersburg College uses the Enrolled Student Survey, administered each fall, to gather data on student satisfaction with all services, including those related to facilities. Students are asked “For each service/office you have had contact with during the past year, rate your level of satisfaction with that service.”  * Note that in 2019-20, a committee was formed to review and revise this survey and thus the survey was not administered that year.  The revisions changed questions, noted by n/a in the chart below, along with moving from a 7-point scale to a 5-point scale.

Most of the areas listed below have been in the top 5 areas of student satisfaction for the past 5 years.

Table 13.7.10 — Enrolled Student Survey Results

Risk Management as it Relates to Physical Resources

State Statute requires the College’s Board of Trustees to take appropriate precautions to safeguard the physical assets of the College:

Excerpt from Florida Statute 1001.64—Community college boards of trustees; powers and duties

(27)  Each board of trustees shall be responsible for managing and protecting real and personal property acquired or held in trust for use by and for the benefit of such Florida College System institution.  To that end, any board of trustees is authorized to be self-insured, to enter into risk management programs, or to purchase insurance for whatever coverage it may choose, or to have any combination thereof, in anticipation of any loss, damage, or destruction.  A board of trustees may contract for self-insurance services.

The Florida Legislature has provided authority for community colleges to participate in programs of self-insurance.  Specifically:

• Florida Statute 440.38 provides authority for self-insuring workers’ compensation.
• Florida Statute 111.072 provides authority for self-insuring liability issues.
• Florida Statute 1001.64(27) provides authority for self-insuring property.
• Florida Statute 112.08 provides authority to self-insure health and life programs.

Through the Florida College System Risk Management Consortium (FCSRMC), the Florida Legislature allows Florida community colleges to develop and implement a statewide cooperative system of risk management under one comprehensive plan.  As a participating member of the FCSRMC, the College must comply with the agreement, policies and procedures, and other directives issued by the Risk Management Council.  The Consortium is self-sustaining through member assessments (premiums) and is reinsured through commercial companies for claims in excess of specified amounts. Funds collected from participating colleges by the Consortium are used to provide the necessary funds, services, and purchase of excess insurance to cover a catastrophe or series of catastrophes.

Under the Consortium, the College is protected against property and casualty financial losses through policies (FCSRMC Property and Casualty Summary) including, but not limited to crime, educators’ legal liability, fiduciary liability, network security, property, and workers’ compensation. Additional policies (FCSRMC Optional Policies) administered through the Consortium are applicable to intercollegiate athletics, facilities use, and other areas of risk.  There are proper levels of property insurance and coverage for loss of use as evidenced by the fact that settlement claims have not exceeded this coverage in any of the past three years as evidenced in the audited financial statements (FY 2022, FY 2021, FY 2020).

SPC’s Risk Management Program

St. Petersburg College has assigned its three-part Risk Management Program according to functional expertise.  Responsibility for worker’s compensation, accident investigation and recording, and liability issues, including liaison with the Florida Community College Risk Management Consortium, resides with the Director of Security, Safety, and Risk Management and Operations.  Health insurance falls under the auspices of the Human Resources Department, and purchasing and reviewing insurance contracts is done under the Purchasing Department.  Human Resources administers the consortium-insured health program.  The responsibility for the SPC Insurance Budget (which does not include health insurance) remains in the Purchasing Department.  This organization of Risk Management has allowed for a more proactive approach to accident and incident investigations.  For example, Risk Management has implemented a campus and building inspection program that includes safety issues such as lighting, crime hazards, and potential trip and fall hazards, as well as fire safety issues, ingress and egress, and fire extinguisher inspections. Specifics of the College’s safety and security program are discussed in Standard 13.8.

Technology Infrastructure

The College’s use of technology enhances student learning and is appropriate for meeting the objectives of its programs for all modalities of instruction. The following items demonstrate SPC’s commitment to technology and technology infrastructure related to our mission of providing academic excellence to our students:

Infrastructure

• Single Sign-On Technology for all staff, faculty, and students including the ability to sign in once per computer session with access to most SPC systems without the need to sign in again.
• Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is required for all staff, faculty, and students as a secondary security layer, connecting password creation to identity authentication via a user’s personal email or cell phone.
• Integrated Directory services (Active Directory) that includes all faculty, staff, and students.
• A cloud-based Student Information System (Oracle/PeopleSoft).
• Highly available Internet service infrastructure utilizing commodity internet with diverse providers. Robust Campus-wide area networks (WAN) and local area networks (LAN) facilitate high-speed data transfers.
• State-of-the-art Wireless Network infrastructure featuring full support for Bring Your Own Device (BYOD).  It has 1800+ access points’ college-wide, cloud management, application/device visibility and control, high availability and scalability, network intelligence and comprehensive reporting, MS Active Directory integration.
• Unified Communications systems infrastructure and equipment provide robust email, telephone, desktop conferencing, instant messaging, and presence including advanced file sharing. Some examples are Teams, Exchange, Office 365, Zoom, and SharePoint systems.
• SPC offers Microsoft Windows and Office software to current students at no additional cost. The Board of Trustees and the Student Government Associations of St. Petersburg College made a commitment to make these materials more accessible to our student population and to support their continuing education.
• Redundant Infrastructure (Servers, etc.) exists for all major student-centric production systems. (i.e., Learning Management System: physical and virtual; PeopleSoft: physical and virtual; Network Systems: load balancer, switches, firewalls)

Security

• Secure and robust data center infrastructure and facility, including fully uninterrupted power technology including generator support in case of long-term power outages.
• Cyber Security infrastructure is provided to maintain the availability, integrity, and confidentiality of critical systems utilizing current and advanced technology.
• IT Security Operations – SPC provides strong defenses against potential breaches through the deployment of advanced security technologies. Some examples are (a) Host-based intrusion detection and Endpoint Security (MS Forefront), (b) Advanced Firewalls (Checkpoint Systems) which include the ability to monitor and control the use of DropBox, YouTube, and hundreds of other applications used by faculty, staff, and students.
• IT Security Auditing & Monitoring – SPC monitors critical infrastructure for unusual activity with advanced monitoring systems. Some examples are (a) Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) (Q1-Labs/Dragon), (b) Spam/Email Firewalls (Barracuda).

Teaching and Learning

• SPC makes extensive use of current and emerging technology in all classrooms, learning support centers, and distance learning courses. For example, classrooms utilize robust Audio Visual systems that include high-definition projectors, smart boards, control systems, and flat panel monitors.
• Faculty are supported through dedicated Instructional Technology resources and Instructional Design and Technical Support staff.
• Learning Support Centers are fully staffed with qualified tutors with access to technology resources to ensure that all students are supported. Online tutoring is provided for after-hours and weekends, as well as 24/7 for courses not supported by the SPC Learning Resources Center staff.
• Students are trained through required courses in computer technology, a required orientation to the learning management system (MyCourses/D2L Brightspace), and information literacy.
• Faculty and adjuncts are trained in online learning platform usage, teaching online, and remote teaching.
• Our online Learning Management System environment, MyCourses (BrightSpace), is a cloud-based learning platform, innovatively architected to support an active/active deployment model across AWS availability zones. Being cloud-based provides students with maximum reliability, availability, and security.

Additional Technology Support Services

• Technical Support Help Desk is a service provided to all students and staff, providing one-on-one support and multiple online solutions from its website.
• Business Intelligence Systems using PowerBI provide state-of-the-art data reporting to management.
• Our Titan Hub portal serves as a single point of entry for students for easy access to essential SPC systems including MySPC (SIS), MyCourses (LMS), email access, SharePoint Access, Technical Assistance, Academic calendar, an online support community, etc.) The Titan Hub is also available as a mobile application.

Ongoing Refresh of Resources

• SPC has established a college-wide comprehensive technology refresh program to ensure all technology is replaced on a regular basis.
• During COVID-19, the College embarked on two specific initiatives supported by HERFF Funding: 1) Remote Worker initiative to ensure all faculty and staff had the proper equipment to work remotely ($1.7M) and 2) Classroom Upgrades to ensure all classrooms had up-to-date equipment, including the ability to stream class lectures from campuses ($4.3M).

The Board of Trustees, College President, and President’s Cabinet direct and approve policies, procedures, and establish budgets for acquiring technology to enhance student learning.