Clearwater Campus Student Wins 2016 Great Debate Championship:

Clearwater is the home campus of the 2016 Great Debate champion of St. Petersburg College. Alexis Deveaux, a major in Paralegal Studies (BAS) and Business Administration (AS), argued her way to the Great Debate championship with a polished, well-researched defense of free-speech limitations at the finals of the inter-campus competition Nov. 15 at the Seminole campus. Ms. Deveaux is in her fourth and final year at SPC. After graduating with her Bachelor’s Degree in May she plans to start law school in the Fall.

Finishing in a close second place was William Trippett representing the Downtown Center, who made a strong case against the speech-suppression movement sweeping across college campuses.

In third place was Christina Chatfield of the Tarpon Springs campus.

The competition was moderated by Earl Fratus, Academic Program Manager of the Honors Program. Serving as judges were Catherine Kennedy, Associate Vice President, University Partnership Center; Dr. Susan Demers, Dean of Public Policy and Legal Studies, and Dr. Joseph Smiley, dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

The Great Debate was sponsored by the Institute and Student Life and Leadership Council. Faculty and staff on five major academic campuses served as recruiters, coaches and coordinators.

At preliminary debates held in October, the students debated such topics as the legalization of medical marijuana, use of video cameras by law enforcement, creating a path to citizenship for undocumented residents, and Hillary Clinton vs. Donald Trump for president.

For photos and a full video of the final competition, please visit the event page.

David Klement
Executive Director
Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions
St. Petersburg College

Veteran Journalist/Author Marvin Kalb addresses Tarpon Springs Students

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A capacity crowd of students and faculty enjoyed an intimate conversation with veteran journalist, Russia scholar and author Marvin Kalb on Feb. 23 at the Museum Auditorium on the Tarpon Springs campus. Kalb, in town to speak at the Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions’ Dinner Series program that evening, said he especially enjoyed this exchange with students, arranged by Dr. Joseph Smiley, Dean of Social and Behavioral Science.

Kalb, who is professor emeritus at the Shorenstein Center at Harvard University and a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution, spoke in detail about the threats to global peace posed by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 2014 takeover of Crimea and military incursions into eastern Ukraine. Kalb made frequent references to material in his new book, Imperial Gamble: Putin, Ukraine and the New Cold War, which provides a comprehensive review of Russian history, culture and politics as far back as the conquest of much of Central Asia by Mongols in the 11th century.

Speaking directly to students, Kalb encouraged them not to simply accept everything they hear as fact but to critically analyze it and think for themselves – especially in following the presidential primary campaigns. Challenge your instructors, he urged. Ask them to defend their academic assertions, and do your own research so you can engage with them in class discussions.

The audience responded with a standing ovation at the conclusion of the program.

For more on Marvin Kalb’s Dinner Series presentation, click HERE.

David Klement
Executive Director
Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions
St. Petersburg College

Institute Offers Civic Engagement Opportunities for Students

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As the fall semester opens, academic supervisors and faculty should be aware of a number of student civic engagement opportunities offered by the Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions over the next three months. In keeping with its mission of creating academic enrichment, the Institute gives priority in all of its programs, whether public or internal, to providing real-world experiences for students. Some instructors incentivize students by making attendance a class assignment, an extra-credit option, or to fulfill a service requirement.

The first such event is a public forum on August 31 focused on food labeling. Titled What’s On Your Plate? Food Labeling, from Seed to Fork, the forum will be from 6-8 p.m. in the Digitorium of the Seminole Campus. Dr. Amanda Gilleland, Academic Department Chair of Natural Science at Seminole, will moderate as panel members explore the veracity of food labeling practices. Advance registration is required at http://solutions.spcollege.edu.

Three of the Institute’s upcoming events are related to the upcoming elections. The first is a debate by candidates for Congressional District 13, which covers most of south and central Pinellas County. The debate, co-sponsored by the Tampa Bay Times and WTSP 10 News, will be from 7-8 p.m. Sept. 19 at the Palladium Theater, 235 Fifth Ave. N. It will feature former Gov. Charlies Crist, Democrat, and the winner of the Republican primary election on Aug. 30, David Jolly, the incumbent, or challenger Mark Bircher.

Demand for tickets is expected to be high, as District 13 is considered one of 15 swing districts considered key to control of the House in the new Congress. Tickets will be available at the Palladium on first-come, first-served basis beginning at noon on August 31st. To receive credit for attendance, please direct students to sign in at the Institute’s registration table on the day of the event so their professors can be notified.

The second election-related event is a Candidate Debate for local offices – Pinellas County Commission, State Senate and State House. It will be from 6-9 p.m. Oct. 5 at the Digitorium on the Seminole campus. A panel, including two local news media reporters and Prof. Kim Jackson, Department Chair of Social and Behavioral Science at Midtown, will question the candidates on issues pertinent to their district and office. More information on this event and how your students can get involved will be available in September.

The third event focused on politics and elections has two parts: a dinner on Oct. 26 for the general public and a student-only forum interactively linking five campuses on Oct. 27, from 6:30-8:30 p.m.. Both will feature Alexander Heffner, a millennial journalist, writer and civic educator who hosts the weekly talk show The Open Mind on PBS.

The student forum, is especially designed for evening classes. It will originate from the Digitorium at Seminole and will be live-streamed to Clearwater, Tarpon Springs, St. Petersburg Gibbs, and the Downtown and Midtown Centers. Faculty members will facilitate discussions at each campus. Faculty wishing to join the discussion on their campuses should contact Dr. Douglas Rivero, Academic Chair of Social and Behavioral Science at Seminole, at 394-6948.

Another student-only program this fall is the 2016 Great Debate Competition, which offers students a chance to hone research, writing, speaking and critical-thinking skills as well as a chance to win awards worth up to $1,000. The preliminary debate competition will be held the week of Oct. 13 at Clearwater, Tarpon Springs, St. Petersburg Gibbs, Seminole and Downtown/Midtown, and the finals will be Nov. 15 at Seminole. Interested faculty may contact the Institute at 394-6942.

The Institute also is seeking applications for its 2016-2017 Student Fellows Program. Institute Fellows have the opportunity to work with the Institute team on special projects, assist with program implementation, promote Institute activities, meet distinguished speakers and facilitate community conversations. Fellows receive a stipend for participation. Questions about the program may be directed to Jacqulyn Schuett at 727-394-6251.

David Klement
Executive Director
Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions
St. Petersburg College

Candidate Debate at Palladium to be Aired Live on 10 News WTSP

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St. Petersburg College is hosting and co-sponsoring a candidate debate for one of the most closely watched races of the 2016 campaign in Florida. Broadcast live on 10 News WTSP from the Palladium next Monday, Sept. 19 from 7 to 8 p.m., the debate will feature the Republican and Democratic candidates for U.S. House District 13, which covers most of Pinellas County south of Safety Harbor. Long held by Republicans, it became a more competitive district after being redrawn by court order in 2015. It is considered a swing district in the battle over control of Congress in this election.

The debate, is co-sponsored by SPC’s Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions, in partnership with the Tampa Bay Times and 10 News WTSP. Representing the Republicans will be Rep. David Jolly. Representing the Democratic Party is former Gov. Charlie Crist.

The event is open to the public and admission is free, but tickets are required. Tickets are available at the Palladium box office, limit two per person.

For more information on the event, please visit the Institute’s website or call 727-394-6942. For questions regarding tickets, please contact the Palladium Box office at 727-822-3590.

David Klement
Executive Director
Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions
St. Petersburg College

Great Debate Week Coming to SPC: Students & Faculty Encouraged to Participate

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Preparations for the third annual Great Debate competition are under way at five St. Petersburg College campuses. This is a competitive academic event that invites students to engage in debate of topical issues outside the classroom. By promoting critical thinking, effective communication, independent research and teamwork, the Great Debate fulfills three of the college’s Strategic Priorities: The Student Success Initiative, Out-of-Class Learning & Experiential Initiative, and College Experience Initiative.

Students who volunteer for the competition are randomly paired to debate the pro or con viewpoint of an assigned issue, with the top two debaters at each campus advancing to the finals and a chance to win up to $1,000 worth of prizes.

Great Debate Coordinators at each of the campuses have agreed on the times, locations and topic for the preliminary competition, which will be held during Student Activity Periods during the week of Oct. 10th. They have also reached out to faculty in the Humanities to encourage students to be part of the debate competition, either incorporated into coursework or offered as extra-credit opportunities. At least 10 students are needed to complete five debate pairs for each campus.

Faculty members are encouraged to identify qualified students to join this challenging out-of-classroom experience and to incorporate the research and debate techniques into their syllabi. They should contact their campus coordinators to recommend student volunteers or to incorporate a Great Debate segment into coursework.

The campus coordinators and dates/times/topics on each campus are:
St. Petersburg Gibbs: Legalizing Use of Marijuana for Debilitating Medical Conditions
October 10, 12:30-2:00 p.m., SS Lobby
Coordinator: Maribeth Beekman

Downtown/Midtown: Body-Worn Video Cameras Mandatory for Law Enforcement Officers
October 11, 12:30-1:30 p.m., American Stage Theater, 2nd Floor Lobby
Coordinator: Frank Jurkovic

Clearwater: Body-Worn Video Cameras Mandatory for Law Enforcement Officers
October 12, 12:30-2:00 p.m., ES 104
Coordinator: Dr. Michael Culligan

Seminole: Devise a Path to Citizenship for Undocumented Residents with No Criminal Record
October 12, 12:30-2:00 p.m., Digitorium (UP 160)
Coordinator: Dr. Bledar Prifti

Tarpon Springs: Who Is Best Qualified to Be President: Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump?
October 12, 12:30-1:30 p.m., FA 132
Coordinators: Anthony Nappi

The top two debaters from each of the competitions will go on to the finals on November 15th from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. in the Seminole Campus Digitorium. Their topic: Suppression of Free Speech Has Gone Too Far, Especially on College Campuses. A total of $2,450 in prizes will be awarded. First-place winner will receive a $500 gift card and an IPad mini; second place debater will receive $500, third place $250, and so forth. To learn more or to view previous Great Debate competitions, please visit the event page.

David Klement
Executive Director
Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions
St. Petersburg College

Free Speech Is Focus of Great Debate Finals Competition

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Ten SPC students will be brushing up on the First Amendment over the next three weeks to become experts on the free speech clause of that amendment. That’s because they finished at or near the top In the preliminary competition of the Great Debate last week at SPC, qualifying them for the finals next month where free speech is the topic.

Some 34 students participated in the preliminary competition held at St. Petersburg Gibbs, Downtown/Midtown, Tarpon Springs, Clearwater and Seminole campuses. The debates drew a total attendance of more than 200, including fellow students and relatives of the debaters.

On Nov. 15 at the Seminole campus, first- and second-place finishers from each campus will face off in five eight-minute rounds debating the topic, Suppression of Free Speech Has Gone Too Far, Especially on College Campuses. It will be from 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. in the Digitorium at Seminole, 9200 113th St. N.

Serving as judges will be Dr. Joe Leopold, Dean of Communication; Dr. Susan Demers, Dean of the College of Policy, Ethics and Legal Studies, and Dr. Joseph Smiley, Dean of Social and Behavioral Sciences.

The Great Debate is sponsored by the Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions and presented in partnership with the Student Life and Leadership council and implemented by recruitment and coaching teams on each of the five campuses. Now in its third year since being revived after a two-year hiatus, the Great Debate fulfills three of the college’s Strategic Initiatives: Student Success, College Experience, and Out-of-Classroom Learning.

And it provides significant monetary incentives for students to risk stage fright and take on extra research/writing obligations, not to mention after-hours rehearsals. First place winner takes home a $500 gift card to Barnes & Noble along with an iPad mini. Second place receives a $500 gift card, third $250, and so on, with each competitor receiving something.

Congrats to the 2016 Great Debate Preliminary Competition Week Finalists:

St. Pete/Gibbs Campus
Topic: Use of Marijuana for Debilitating Medical Conditions. Vote for or Vote Against?
Campus Coordinator: Maribeth Beekman
• First Place: Max Johnson
• Second Place: Jade Jackson

Downtown/Midtown Centers
Topic: Body-Worn Video Cameras Should Be Mandatory for Police Officers. Agree or Disagree?
Campus Coordinator: Frank Jurkovic
• First Place: Michael Jones
• Second Place: William Triplett

Clearwater Campus
Topic: Body-Worn Video Cameras Should Be Mandatory for Police Officers. Agree or Disagree?
Campus Coordinator: Dr. Michael Culligan
• First Place: Ashana Patterson
• Second Place: Alexis Deveaux

Seminole Campus
Topic: Congress should devise a path to citizenship for undocumented residents with no criminal record. Agree or Disagree?
Campus Coordinator: Dr. Bledar Prifti
• First Place: Aiden Sherman
• Second Place: Kristina Keller

Tarpon Springs
Topic: Who Is Best Qualified to Be Our Next President, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump?
Campus Coordinator: Anthony Nappi
• First Place: Christina Chatfield
• Second Place: Justin Ferrell

For photos and videos from the 2016 Great Debate Preliminary Competition week and for more information on the Final Competition, please visit the event page.

David Klement
Executive Director
Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions
St. Petersburg College
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Four Campuses to Live-Stream Millennial Talk Show Host Lecture

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In what is believed to be a first for St. Petersburg College, students at four campuses will take part in a live-streamed civic engagement project with a PBS talk show host, Alexander Heffner.

Originating from the Digitorium at the Seminole campus at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 27, a forum titled Clinton, Trump and Millennials, with Alexander Heffner, will be live-streamed to students at Tarpon Springs, the Downtown Center and Clearwater. There, instructors will facilitate discussion of the speaker’s key points and submit questions via text and email while Seminole students engage with him in person.

The speaker, Alexander Heffner, is host of the PBS Sunday talk show The Open Mind. A millennial crusader for robust political debate and free speech, Heffner exudes a passion for public affairs gained at the feet of his late grandfather, Alexander Heffner, who founded the PBS show 60 years ago.

The live-streamed event is an attempt to make outside speakers accessible to students who may not have the time or means to travel to Seminole from their home campuses. It enables students in evening classes to take advantage of valuable outside resources without leaving their classroom. A number of instructors of evening classes have committed to make the forum an assigned class activity. For directions on how to stream the event live and submit questions, click HERE.

SPC students will have another opportunity to engage with Heffner, on Wednesday, Oct. 27 he will be the lead speaker at a forum in the Institute’s Dinner Series for students and the public. This will be from 6 to 8:15 p.m. in the Seminole Conference Center. Tickets, which include a buffet dinner, are $20 for students and educators and $25 for the general public. Advance registration is required at https://solutions.spcollege.edu/.

Heffner, who has covered American politics, civic life and the millennial vote since the 2008 presidential campaign, will explore the character of politics, the space of old/new media, and the ongoing 2016 presidential campaign. He will be joined at the diner event by Adam Smith, Political Editor of the Tampa Bay Times, and Dr. Laurie King, Professor of Ethics at St. Petersburg College.

Millennials – those born between 1982 and 2004 – comprise the largest generation of Americans at 75.4 million, topping the 74.9 million Baby Boomers whose birth span is 1946-1964 and who are now senior citizens. These young people will comprise more than one in three of adult Americans by 2020 and make up as much as 75% of the U.S. workforce by 2025. More relevantly for politics, they will be 40 percent of the electorate by the next election.

In addition to the millennial factor, the panel will look at a political landscape battered by one of the most negative presidential primary campaign in decades. What will be the effect of Donald Trump’s candidacy on the political process – and the parties – going forward?

David Klement
Executive Director
Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions
St. Petersburg College

Forum to Explore Art’s Silent Voice in a Tweeting World

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Two of St. Petersburg College’s civic engagement centers are teaming up to present a final out-of-classroom student learning opportunity connected to the 2016 election. This one enters Art’s silent and often subtle messages expressed by politically-minded artists in contrast to today’s noisy political landscape of chirps, buzzes and beeps from tweeting electronic devices.

The Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions and the Center for Civic Learning and Community Engagement on Nov. 1 will jointly stage The Art of Politics: A Silent Message in a Tweeting World. It will be from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Museum of Fine Arts, 255 Beach Drive NE. Admission is free, but advance registration is requested at http://solutions.spcollege.edu.

The event should be of special interest to students studying art, government, political science, public policy or communication. As with all Institute events, sign-in tables will be available to document attendance.

Art is a powerful medium of political expression – and has been since the beginnings of recorded history. But in a political arena saturated with terse, ephemeral electronic messages, does art – especially public art in an urban environment – still have legitimacy in fostering civic consciousness and building social capital?

Dr. Tara Newsom, Associate Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences and director of the Civic Learning Center, will moderate a panel discussion of that question as artist Derek Donnelly creates an original work of art on stage. Featured speaker will be Peter Kageyama, St. Petersburg author and community development consultant. He is the author of For the Love of Cities: The Love Affair Between People and Their Places, which was named a Top 10 Book in urban planning, design and development by Planetizen in 2012.

Donnelly is a St. Petersburg artist who has created large-scale murals around St. Petersburg and Tampa with an alliance of artists and community leaders through Public Art Project Inc.
That art is a form of political expression cannot be denied. The earliest cave drawings are expressions about human supremacy over animals – or of one tribe’s dominance of another. Political art takes many forms – from dictators’ propaganda banners lining the streets to insurgents’ graffiti surreptitiously sprayed on outdoor walls to Picasso’s masterpiece Guernica, a most powerful anti-war painting. Certainly much of Salvador Dali’s work in St. Petersburg’s Dali Museum is infused with political meaning.

But in the 2016 political arena, dominated by tweets, texts and Instagram posts, does public art have the same impact it once did to generate public emotion and influence political opinion? The panel will join in discussing the impact of art not just as a form of political expression but also as a statement about the urban landscape in which we live.

By David Klement
Executive Director
Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions
St. Petersburg College

Top Debater Decided Nov. 15 at Seminole

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The top debater at St. Petersburg College will be decided next Tuesday, Nov. 15, at the final competition of the 2016 Great Debate. It will be held from 12:30 to 2 p.m. at the Seminole Campus Digitorium (UP-160), 9200 113^th St. N.

Ten finalists from the preliminary competition held at five SPC campuses the week of Oct. 10 will compete for over $2,400 worth of prizes, with the winner taking home a $500 gift card and an iPad mini. Given three-minute presentations and one-minute rebuttals each, they will debate the pros and cons of this statement: Suppression of Free Speech Has Gone Too Far, Especially on College Campuses. The positions they take will be assigned randomly just before the debate, so each student must be prepared to argue both sides of the statement.

About the Great Debate

The Great Debate is a competitive academic event that invites students at SPC’s five primary learning centers to engage in debate of topical issues outside the classroom. The debate allows the student debaters to develop their communication skills on stage, before an audience of peers and faculty, practicing the elements that make for effective public speaking.

The Great Debate, sponsored by SPC’s Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions and the Student Life and Leadership Council, promotes critical thinking, effective communication, independent research and teamwork. In the process, it also promotes civic engagement and builds esprit de corps.

For students who attend, it presents an opportunity to be inspired by debate, to gain knowledge about the policy issues assigned, and to evaluate both sides of an issue. And for the student body as a whole, competitive events among campuses enhance the college experience by fostering friendly rivalry and building student connections within the greater SPC community.

The Judges

Serving as judges of the finals will be Dr. Joe Leopold, Dean of Communications; Dr. Susan Demers, Dean of the College of Public Policy and Legal Studies, and Dr. Joseph Smiley, Dean of Social and Behavioral Science.

Faculty, staff and students are invited to attend the debate competition and cheer their campus’ champion debater to victory.

The Finalists

First- and second-place winners representing the five campuses are:

Clearwater: Ashana Patterson and Alexis Deveaux.

Downtown/Midtown: Michael Jones and William Trippett.

St. Petersburg Gibbs: Max Johnson and Jade Jackson.

Tarpon Springs: Christina Chatfield and Justin Ferrell.

Seminole: Aiden Sherman and Kristina Keller.

For photos and videos from the 2016 Great Debate Preliminary Competition Week, you may visit the event page.

By David Klement
Executive Director
Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions
St. Petersburg College

Civics Literacy Conference Returning to SPC this Fall

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It has been almost two years since Closing the Gap: The Florida College System Civics Literacy Initiative was officially launched at a workshop conducted by the St. Petersburg College Institute for Strategic Policy Solutions. Many of the FCS representatives who attended, went home inspired to advance civics literacy across their college’s curricula as well as into the community they serve. Many excellent ideas on how to do that emerged from the conference.

So, how have we done since October 2013? Have we had success at closing the gap? And how can we continue to expand civics literacy across the Florida College System? We will attempt to answer those questions at a follow-up Civics Literacy Initiative conference this fall at St. Petersburg College. The meeting has been approved by the Council of Presidents, and a COP advisory committee is working with the Institute as we plan for this event. Partners will include the Education Commission of the States, the Bob Graham Center for Public Service, the Lou Frey Institute for Politics and Government, Campus Compact and the Florida Department of Education.

The best dates for this conference appear to be Oct. 29-30^th, a Thursday and Friday. Those dates are just over halfway into the fall semester, and they avoid conflicting with two related conferences scheduled in November: Campus Compact and Association of Florida Colleges. Ending the conference on a Friday afternoon allows any who wish to enjoy Pinellas County’s great beaches to extend their stay into the weekend.

While the agenda for the conference is still being developed, I hope you will save the dates on your fall calendar now in order to join your FCS colleagues at this important conference. I encourage you to consider attending as a team with your counterpart in Student Affairs/Academic Affairs if possible. We expect to provide a session in team-building to maximize civics literacy reach into both of these key strategic components of FCS operations. As in 2013, registration will be free, and some meals will be included.

If you have thoughts on topics you would like to be taken up at the conference, please feel free to reply to this post to share your ideas or you can email policysolutionsinstitute@spcollege.edu. Also, click HERE to view resources from the 2013 conference .