PHSC President Talks Five-Year Plan at Chamber Breakfast

The Hernando County Chamber of Commerce held its monthly members meeting on the final Wednesday of February. As the gathered crowd enjoyed the breakfast, which was sponsored by Pasco-Hernando State College, PHSC President Dr. Jesse Pisors updated members on the progress of the school’s various initiatives.

Dr. Pisors, who was fresh off his official investiture on Feb. 25, began by noting the academic institution’s updated mission statement before breaking down their newly approved strategic plan.

After becoming the college’s president in February of 2024, he immediately started the process of bringing this framework to life. This began with the formation of a 74-person “steering committee” comprised of students and staff that is representative of the entire organization.

With approximately 9,500 students, 1,000 full and part-time faculty, and over 85 active programs spread across five campuses, there is a great deal of coordination and planning needed to make sure that the wheels are turning properly and that students are put in the best positions to succeed.

Such plans should be “representative of everybody in the organization,” and PHSC tries “to include everybody in that process,” the academic leader noted. Dr. Pisors added that each one of the thousands of students “take classes in person, online, at multiple campuses […] It is complicated to go to college now.”

In addition to the committee, Dr. Pisors launched a “listening tour” that was comprised of 55 one-hour meetings with various staff and students, an anonymous online survey, and the gathering of thousands of comments that would help guide their hands in building the framework.

The meetings would see the college’s president asking questions such as, “What is PHSC doing really well? What do you think we need to improve on? What good ideas do you have for the future? Do you think there is a new academic program we should consider adding?”

The plan changed “in significant ways” thanks to feedback. The process officially began in May and was finally concluded with its unanimous endorsement in November. It went into effect on January 1 and will run for the next five years until the end of 2029.

This process brought about slight updates to the school’s mission, vision statement, and core values, notably adding the concept of “welcoming” to the latter point. The top ten priorities set forth by the plan are:
• Outstanding Teaching and Learning
• Responsive Academic Programs
• Enrollment Growth
• Retention Rates
• Completion Rates
• Associate of Arts Transfer Rate
• Workforce Placement
• High Faculty and Staff Satisfaction
• Institutional Strength
• Growing Financial Support

Dr. Pisors and company feel it is important to be “flexible” with their academic programs and know which ones “make sense five years into the future.” The school’s target for enrollment is to grow by roughly three percent each year versus the relatively flat growth they currently experience.

Regarding retention rates, the school ranks near the middle amongst the 28 state colleges in Florida, and PHSC’s leadership is working to rise into the top ten in the category.

Ultimately, “teaching and learning” are at the heart of what PHSC does, but the college president wants PHSC to resist the temptation to focus on secondary goals that do not have these tenets front and center. “There is nothing more important than what happens in the classroom,” he stated.

Dr. Pisors ended with an exciting announcement that displays this dedication. The college is applying to the Florida Department of Education to be an authorizer for charter schools. Once approved, they plan to open a charter high school at their Brooksville campus by August 2026.