It’s Welcome Week at Tallahassee Community College, when we get to greet a new class of thousands of new and returning students to our College and get excited about beginning another new academic year.

I want to thank each of our students, faculty and staff for choosing TCC. This will be my sixteenth year employed at the College, and my fifth year as President, and yet the enthusiasm from our campus family for what we do here still continues to amaze me. The talent of our faculty, the dedication of our staff and the determination of our students reminds me every day of what makes our College so great.

I’m also proud of our community. Tallahassee is an ideal place to learn and earn, and I have worked hard to develop our local economy so our graduates can find employment. In my capacity as Chair of the Economic Development Council of Tallahassee/Leon County, I had the opportunity to recap some of the progress we have made at the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce Conference, as well as lay out my hopes for the next few years. We have so much going on in Tallahassee and as long as we focus on what makes us great and don’t lose the momentum we’ve been generating, I see big things in our future.

Here at TCC, we’ve got even more on the horizon. We are currently building two new facilities, the Gadsden Center, which will expand our efforts in Gadsden County, and the Wakulla Environmental Institute, which will help establish Wakulla County as a world-class ecotourism destination. And we are also in the process of reimagining the Capitol Center to become a place of synergy between the private and public sectors.

Soon we will get to announce a big project that will solidify our commitment to be an entrepreneurship college. As of yesterday’s District Board of Trustees meeting, we are one step closer to adding a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree which we hope to begin accepting students for this spring. And I have also welcomed to our ranks several new team members this year including our new Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Dr. Feleccia Moore-Davis and our new Chief Business Officer and Vice President for Ad​ministrative Services Barbara Wills.

But perhaps most important of all, in 2016 TCC will be celebrating our biggest milestone of all, our 50^th anniversary. It will be a time to reflect upon and commemorate our past, and start the process of building what we want to become. I am thrilled to be leading this College on the eve of something so special.

As we move into a new semester and a new year, I want to reiterate my commitment to this College. I am dedicated to maintaining and expanding upon this institution’s reputation as the college of choice for students, the employer of choice for faculty and staff and partner of choice for the community. I work hard every day to make this happen, and I welcome your input. Have ideas or questions? Please feel free to join the conversation and interact with me on my Facebook page.

With that said, best of luck to everyone this semester and all the semesters ahead. Let’s have a great year!