EVOLVE Business and Professional Magazine February 2020 | Page 20

A R E A E D U C AT O R S A D O P T
NEW APPROACHES
T O WO R K F O R C E T R A I N I N G
T
by Harry Russo
wo new initiatives by Daytona State College (DSC) and
Stetson University are prime examples of how area
educators are collaborating with business and industry to
help prepare the working professionals of the new decade and
beyond.
DSC’s newest alliance with Halifax Health is aimed primarily
at moving nursing and allied health program students through
the workforce training pipeline and into jobs at the medical
center. Stetson’s Professional and Corporate Education (PACE)
program, on the other hand, is realigning its strategic goals
and expanding course offerings to serve currently working
managerial and executive professionals.
Halifax Health and Daytona State officials in December
announced the establishment of a Halifax Health Scholarship
Fund, providing a unique opportunity for students pursuing
nursing and other healthcare-related degrees. Halifax Health will
provide $500,000 to the Foundation in increments of $100,000
annually over five years to fund the scholarships. The awards
will cover all tuition and fees each semester a student is enrolled,
with a guarantee of employment with Halifax Health or one of its
affiliates for scholarship recipients upon graduation.
Students may begin applying for the scholarships in the
spring 2020 term.
The alliance is the first of what DSC has dubbed “Education
to Employment,” which the college’s Foundation Executive
Director Tim Norton hopes will serve as a model for other
partnerships between the DSC and local employers.
“That’s the bigger idea,” he noted, “to take this program with
Halifax Health and apply it to other industries that can benefit
from doing something similar.”
In recognition of the new collaboration, Daytona State has
designated Halifax Health as the “Official Healthcare Provider of
Daytona State College Athletics” for five years and also assigned
naming rights to what is now the Halifax Health Softball
Stadium. The women’s softball stadium is one of four varsity
sports facilities located on DSC’s Daytona Beach Campus. Others
include a gymnasium, where men’s and women’s basketball and
women’s volleyball contests take place, a men’s baseball facility,
and DSC’s 800-seat stadium completed in 2017 to house men’s
and women’s soccer.
“Halifax Health represents opportunity to so many in our
area,” said its President and CEO Jeff Feasel. “Every year we
provide scholarships for our team members to enhance their
education. This program with Daytona State College, Education
to Employment, is a great way for us to build a sustainable
pipeline of life-saving care givers and increase the economic
vitality of our area.”
DSC President Tom LoBasso echoed Feasel’s remarks. “By
working together to provide both educational and employment
opportunities, we’re able to address the needs of our local
communities by filling critical healthcare positions with home-
grown talent,” he said. “Daytona State College and Halifax
Jeff Feasel and Tom LoBasso pose with DSC’s
women’s softball team
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