Santa Fe College (SF) was recently awarded the 2025 Impact and Success Award for the Southern Region from the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) at the ACCT Leadership Congress in October.
In an SF College press release, Rich Rukutaki, ACCT chair and Bellevue Community College trustee, said the award was created to honor colleges that “demonstrate the impact and success of their educational programs.”
“Every trustee, college president or chancellor, faculty member, and professional board staff member who receive (these) awards are vital to their college’s own success,” Rukutaki said in the release, “and it is ACCT’s privilege to be able to recognize their dedication and accomplishments.”
SF College is one of just five colleges throughout the nation to receive the award, the release stated.
Among the achievements that earned SF recognition was the well-known Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, which, the release said, “is awarded to institutions that serve as national models.”
The release noted that SF holds the highest graduation rates in the Florida College System, with graduates of this institution earning 30% more than the regional average.
The award also honored SF’s efforts to start cutting-edge programs, such as semiconductor training to the reimagining of math instruction, which resulted in the highest course completion rates in college history.
Also notable was the SF College Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence, a hub for academic innovation, and the college’s Academy for Science and Technology.
SF’s new five-year strategic plan established a unified institutional vision to guide the college’s collective efforts. The college expanded professional development, created career ladders to promote internal mobility and implemented processes to ensure that employees have clear pathways for advancement.
“Santa Fe College remains a beacon of opportunity and innovation in higher education,” SF President Dr. Paul Broadie II said in the release. “I am excited about what we have accomplished – and even more excited about what lies ahead.”