March 14, 2017 – Florida State College at Jacksonville

          Having spent as slow a Monday as I could driving through the wonderfully historic town of St Augustine in the rain I arrived at Jacksonville in time to find a room before the all night downpours really began.  Only college in St Augustine was the small private Flagler College (Named after the same railroad baron who built the rail line to Key West).  Flagler College is gorgeously located right in downtown St. Augustine, among some of the oldest continually occupied real estate in America.  St. Augustine was first settled by the Spanish even before Jamestown and has changed hands many times over the years.  If you are looking for depth in American history, this is the place to find it.  The visit contrasted nicely with the college I was to visit on the following day  

Florida State College at Jacksonville

            The weather reports were correct and by the morning the rains were clearing out in order to make way for a cold front.   With highs in the low 50’s it was a cold morning that brought me to downtown Jacksonville where the 50-year-old college is located.  Spread out over a couple of blocks the outdoor areas around the college were vacant as students and staff were all inside.             Jacksonville like many of the colleges I’ve visited is located in, shall we say, an economically developing part of the city.  Coming from Flagler the day before the contrast of economic scale in public and private education could not have been clearer.  FSC at Jacksonville had security personnel at all entrance points to the buildings checking student ID.  As a visitor this served a dual function.  On the one hand it made me feel like I was gatecrashing a bit as I smiled past security first thing in the morning to get to the coffee stand.  But as I sat there sipping my coffee in the cafeteria space, I could tell that rather than rely on key cards (as other colleges do) this college employed actual people and these people were the face and warmth of the college.  On a cold day it was nice to be greeted with a warm smile and a familiar face. 

            One Side Note to the Cafeteria Space:  In addition to a college grill and a Quiznos concession, the college had vending machines in the communal space to serve the students.  If CCSF is ever approached to upgrade or change the vending machines to more modern ones that have video screens and play soda advertisements on a loop, we should respond with armed resistance!  I watched as students came in to eat and try to study (which is what good students do when they have a few moments free).  The constant intermittent interruptions by the soda machines made students either get up and move or have to employ Adderall levels of concentration to block out the intrusive advertising.             Eventually I made it to the upper floors where the science labs were.  Finding no Faculty present (and strangely few students or classes for a Tuesday morning?) I had a delightful conversation with the laboratory manager, a retired chemist, who explained to me that many of the students were adult education or working students.  Leaving me to wonder if this college might look very different at night.  We discussed the common problem of putting money into education.  It’s easier to manage buildings and facilities than it is to give resources to teachers and yet we were both of the opinion that it’s the investment in teachers that really matter.  He was also a graduate of the college, another argument for the grow your own philosophy where communities are concerned…

A Word About Parking Spaces: