Dr. Sharples expresses vision for the future

By: Joe Mancinik

Posted: 4/9/08

Daytona Beach College President Dr. Kent Sharples sees an exciting opportunity to create a new middle class in the Dominican Republic by assisting in the creation of community colleges.

"This system of education does not exist anywhere else in the world. Community colleges started in the United States," Dr. Sharples says. "If you look at both of those countries, there's an upper class and a lower class. There is no middle class."

For the last six years DBC and the Dominican Republic have been cooperating on replicating the community college model on the island nation. DBC is also assisting in the expansion of an existing school in New Providence, Bahamas, the Bahamas Technical-Vocational Institute.

A number of setbacks, including hurricanes, have delayed the opening of the Consejo Empresarial de Santo Domingo located in eastern Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic. According to Dr. Charles Carroll, senior vice president for planning, development and institutional effectiveness, CESD should be ready to open its doors in August 2008, with the BTVI's new student learning lab coming online by April.

"Transposing this wonderful system of education and watching them realize the value of the human spirit is a marvelous contribution to the rest of the world," Dr. Sharples says.

Back here on campus, he is excited about the prospect of building a new student union building in place of the existing student center. Dr. Sharples gives a time frame of five years for the project, if all goes well.

At the February board of trustees meeting it was announced that the Florida State Legislature moved to cut state funding for the college by almost two percent. Dr. Sharples isn't concerned by such cuts.

"I've been in this business a long time. I've been through any number of these economic cycles," he says. "The key to all that is proper planning, I think we'll be well prepared without making any cuts that will affect students in any way, shape, or form."

With all of the new parking lots being constructed, he says that he is very concerned about what he terms "saving green space."

Dr. Sharples plans on moving the parking lot on the eastern side of the Academic Support Center and extending the "green space" around in an s-shape through the center of the campus. Plans are also in the works for a new soccer field where the old tennis courts are located, which he hopes will promote more intramural sports.

If it is feasible, he is considering moving the baseball and softball fields to construct additional classrooms. Of course, this is all dependent on if the college can find new locations for the fields, he adds.

On the academic front, Dr. Sharples discussed the new Bachelor of Science in Education program.

"Everything is an evolution, the goal of this institution is to reflect the needs of the community we serve. As it evolves, we have to evolve to reflect the needs of that community, as well," he says, referring to the critical shortage of public school teachers in Volusia County.

Dr. Sharples uses the example of a typical 33-year old single mother who works full-time and can't just pack up and move to Orlando or Tallahassee as the impetus for having this new program. After the spate of college shootings over the past year, Dr. Sharples cautions that we must be careful about overreacting.

"The fact of the matter is we're a very vulnerable society because of our openness in our democracy," he explains. "It is a real fine line. We've done everything we can by working with local law enforcement."

He says that he is especially exasperated by these shootings.

"It is a mentality that I don't understand."