Robert Bishop Dean University of South Florida College of Engineering
How close is the Tampa Bay area to becoming an innovation hub? The Tampa Bay area can become an innovation hub, of this I am sure. If we look around the country at areas that have become renowned for technology and innovation, the common denominator is a powerful College of Engineering. We are that for the Tampa Bay region. We are filling the talent pipeline. For example, our Department of Computer Science and Engineering has over 2,000 students and is still growing. There is no way to build a high-tech hub without having these well-trained assets easily accessible to companies. What role does engineering play in the innovation ecosystem? I find that many people associate STEM education with science and mathematics, and I have to continually remind them that the E in STEM is engineering. The innovation ecosystem we are building in this region cannot be built around science and mathematics alone. We have to have engineering and we need to continue to push that message through the education system. What key challenges is the college dealing with? One of our biggest challenges is our high rate of student growth. If we had the space, resources and faculty, we could literally double the size of the College of Engineering. The demand for engineering is at an all-time high. We have to continue to grow the resources required to provide the students and the faculty with the facilities, the labs and the various student support mechanisms that they need for their education. This is a good problem. What will change for the college this year? This year on the academic side we are beginning the process of establishing an undergraduate program in environmental engineering. We already have a nationally recognized graduate program in environmental engineering, and we see an associated undergraduate program as a good future direction for the college. 138 | Invest: Tampa Bay 2020 | EDUCATION
students over careers in the trades. The event attracts around 1,000 high-school students and ends in a Signing Day, where students can sign on with a company, which then puts them through training programs. K-12 In his budget, K-12 education was one of Gov. DeSantis’ priorities, partly in response to a countrywide shortage of teachers due to low salary. One of the main proposals was his plan to set minimum teacher salaries at $47,500, an idea that would cost $603 million in 2020. But as part of the plan to balance the books, DeSantis also is recommending $480.5 million in budget cuts, with $284.5 million from eliminating the “Best and Brightest” teacher-bonus program. But equally, the governor wants an additional $300 million for a new bonus program for teachers and principals. Teachers have long complained about the Best and Brightest bonus scheme, arguing the objectives were unattainable – some requirements included SAT scores from when they were students – and that a bonus as such has no impact on financial security. At the end of January, the Florida legislature repealed the Best and Brightest scheme and rejected DeSantis’ new bonus scheme, arguing instead that additional funding should go to teachers’ base salaries. High schools in Tampa are now establishing programs to source new teachers within their own ranks, namely, high-school students themselves. Educators Rising is a national membership organization that connects young people exploring a teaching career path with peers and experts countrywide. Leto High School in Hillsborough County just signed up to the program in the hope it will help to plug the education gap. According to the Center for American Progress, enrollment in teacherpreparation programs dropped 30% from 2010 to 2018. Although a great deal of thought goes into issues such as teacher staffing and salaries, more consideration is needed on issues such as school standards. In midJanuary, the Department of Education unveiled the details of the proposal for Florida’s new school standards, running 450-plus pages. But the deadline for consideration was set as Feb. 12, leaving less than three weeks for proposals and revision. Teacher shortages very much contribute to reduced education quality, an issue Hillsborough County knows well. Foster and Oak Park Elementary have spent the last 18 months under the supervision of Phalen Leadership Academies after the state Department of Education ordered drastic steps to correct poor academic performance – three consecutive D grades. In early 2019, the school district took steps to address
