Dr. Jonathan Gueverra, President and CEO of the College of the Florida Keys, joined Good Morning Keys on Keys Talk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s going on at the college.
The CFK foundation hosted the annual scholarship event last night.
Dr. Gueverra said, “It’s exciting. It’s the work that I enjoy. It’s the passion. It’s watching opportunity. It’s watching economic development and what it’s watching how we get to influence and help to change people’s lives. And our board of trustees, the District Board of Trustees, who are all volunteers, are an integral part of that. This was our first meeting since the last time we met in July. So there was a full agenda of things that needed to be approved, but we also spent time doing what we call professional development and updates about what’s going on in the field and industry of education. Yesterday, we spent a significant amount of time talking about artificial intelligence and the impact that it is having on the various things that we do, whether it’s the billing cycle, how students are doing their assignments, how faculty are creating assignments, how it’s changing the world of work. So we had a very robust discussion about that, among other things. We always start our meeting with a presentation from a student, so they get to tell us in their own words how they’re doing and how we’re doing so we keep our toe in the water all the time. That was followed by our scholarship social. It’s always a great event. We had over 100 guests. We do that to bring together our donors and donor organizations, and the students who receive the scholarships and the students get a chance to meet the donors, while the donors will have an opportunity to talk with the students, and hear more about their dreams, because most of the times the recipients, they’ve written an essay, it’s been reviewed and viewed, and then the scholarship offer is made. And up until then, the student’s not in college, or maybe they’re returning, but the donors haven’t had a chance to meet them in person. This is a really, really, really great event, and it reinforces the importance of the work that our foundation does. We also use this as an opportunity to have one or two students speak about the value of the scholarships that they receive. We can’t thank our donors enough, the support they provide financially, as well as the commitment and support that they provide by showing up at these events and continuing to mentor. This morning, one of our donors, I sent her two resumes. She was looking for employees, and so they continue that level of engagement, even beyond the scholarship. Again, hats off, and I thank all of our donors for their dedication, commitment and obviously their financial support.”
Ghost Stories from the Garden will happen on October 10 in the Key West Tropical Forest and Botanical Garden.
Dr. Gueverra said, “This is just great. Those young people at the academy do a fabulous job. There’s so many great things that they do, but this event, they started it last year, and they’re going to continue on this year. This is presented by Island Tales. The tour will feature ghost tales and spooky legends and the guests will learn about haunted lighthouses, murder, betrayal, diseases, natural disasters, all ghoulish stuff and ghosts that haunt the Florida Keys. There are three different times for this event. It starts at 6pm, then there’s another one at 7:15 and there’s one at 8:30pm, October 10, and there’ll be a small fee, processing fee that goes with that, but all proceeds will benefit the Academy students. So folks, even if you’re not a Halloween buff, come on out, because there’s a lot of history in the Keys that you will learn about.”
Ready, Set, College is also coming up.
Dr. Gueverra said, “We started this event many years ago with the Key West Chamber, and realized that we should expand this and it’s been expanded now for several years to both Key Largo and Marathon. October 21 at 5:30 at the CFK Upper Key Center, and on the 22nd the following day at the CFK Middle Key Center in Marathon. There are two primary reasons for doing this. One, we want to give our students who are considering college an opportunity to really think about where they’re headed, what it is they’re doing. I’d love to say that I’d love for them to all come to the College of the Florida Keys, but that’s not the purpose of this. The purpose is to help them navigate the process of applying to colleges and finding ways to pay for it. So we primarily are looking at high school students, will talk with them, their parents, their guidance counselors, those who are in Take Stock can come as well. Bring their mentors. In fact, they’re often a big part of this. The first part of the workshop looks at writing, and it helps students, even in this era of AI, it helps students to put together good essays that admissions counselors, as also scholarship folks, so even the people who look at our scholarships will read these essays from these students. So the second part of that is about, how do you pay for college? There are speaking of the federal government, loans, financial aid, the FAFSA form, institutional scholarships and their payment plans where you can begin to pay for education. So we want to make sure that students and their families have the full range of all the opportunities available to help them, so that they don’t end up with challenges to pay for college down the road.”
The college invites all prospective students to explore academic and career training opportunities with the CFK Virtual Academic Showcase event at 5:30 p.m. October 15.
Dr. Gueverra said, “You get a chance to hear from our faculty, our deans, our program directors and students. Don’t be shocked that if you get onto the showcase, you may be talking to a student who is on the job in some other part of the country. We had a young man who is now in the Coast Guard a few showcases back, and he came on, he dialed in from Hawaii to talk about his experience now and his experience then as a student in our culinary program. We also provide them with all the information they need to help them decide what programs of choice they want to pursue, as well as support them in how to complete an application form, how to apply for financial aid, similar to the kinds of things that we do at Ready, Set, College. But these students are closer to where they need to be there. They’ve made the decision they’re going and better still, all participants receive a code that allows them to waive the $30 application fee. So right off the bat, they’re getting a discount at something. And applications are due December 1, and our spring semester starts January 6. So if you want information about that, please visit our website, and look at information for future students, and you’ll be able to sign up. We do require registration for the virtual showcase.”
The 11 Annual Community Day will happen November 1.
Dr. Gueverra said, “Let me begin by thanking our sponsors because without you, again, it’s going to be difficult to put on an event like this, because it requires not just coordination, but also some financial support. On November 1, it’s a little earlier than normal this year because of everything else that’s happening in the Keys. So on November 1, we will celebrate our 11th Annual Community Day, starting at 10am we’ll go all the way to 2. It’s in the courtyard on the Key West Campus. This event, we started to really celebrate our community and the college. What we do is we put on a full slate and a whole array of activities. It includes our programs and the various academic showcases. People come out, they get to play with engines, they get to play with fish. They get to see fish. They get the whole full experience of all the things that we do, exhibits from our student clubs, local organizations, government agencies. We even have live performances. There are activities for children, there’s music. We have vendors, free food and drinks, free T shirts, and when I say vendors, and we’ve had this conversation over the years, whether or not we charge vendors for being there, and what we try to do is we leave enough space so that two, three, maybe up to four or five, budding entrepreneurs can show up at this event and get to peddle whatever it is they have to offer, so that they can get a general sense of whether or not the public is going to purchase this item. So we’ve helped launch any number of businesses in that regard and this being our 60th anniversary in our library, we will showcase our exhibit of our 60 years. So we’re inviting everyone to come out, if you’re an alum, if you’re a partner, just a friend of the college, or you just want to know more about the college, some of the photos people may see themselves in it, so we have some great, treasured memorabilia that tell the story of six decades of the impact CFK has had, starting Monroe Junior College, six decades of the community impact. Most importantly, we also salute a veteran, a member of our armed forces who served our community, and we will salute that person on that day and recognize them and all veterans.”
You can still sign up to take classes in the mini-mester this fall.
Dr. Gueverra said, “It’s no less high quality and affordable, but it simply means that it’s a condensed eight week session begins October 12, and it runs through December 9, so you still get out in time to do your Christmas shopping. But what it does is give those individuals who were not quite ready, whether it’s through procrastination, changes in work schedules or a variety of other things that get in the way, it gives individuals an opportunity to say, okay, look, I’m going to do this, but I’m going to do it the right way, so I’m going to start on the 12th, where I can devote the time. So they’ll start on October 12, run through December 9, and especially our baccalaureate programs in nursing supervision and management, marine resource management and exceptional student education. Those students because of where they are in their careers, I would say a majority of them are working. So these courses work very, very well for them. If you are a prospective student who is still looking to start and has applied, or is applying to start the fall B term, your best bet at this point is to connect with our manager of recruitment, Marissa Owens, and she will connect you with all the resources you need to get started.”
Will the government shutdown affect the college?
Dr. Gueverra said, “Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how one views that, I spent enough years in the DC area, working and living to know what those shutdowns are like. So I’m always especially careful to prepare ourselves. We do have federal grants and people who are working as a result of those federal grants, but we have prepared ourselves to deal with that so that the shutdown should not have a tremendous impact on us. The students should know that their disbursements for federal aid will still continue. But as far as getting actual services, it’s going to be difficult, because the employees are going to be furloughed during that period, and it’s against regulations for them to be working. We have some things in the pipeline, grants that we are applying for, those are obviously going to have a negative impact, because there won’t be anybody reviewing those applications.”
For more information, click here: https://cfk.edu/