Spotlight On: Jesse Pisors, President, Pasco-Hernando State College
March 2025 — In an interview with Invest:, Jesse Pisors, president of Pasco-Hernando State College, highlighted a 10% increase in dual enrollment and the launch of a construction apprenticeship site to meet workforce needs. “There is a huge workforce shortage in skilled trades like plumbing, HVAC, and electrical work. If Tampa Bay is going to continue growing at its potential, it needs more trained professionals in these areas,” he said.
What have been the key achievements and challenges in your first year as president?
I would like to start with a broader perspective. I moved here from Texas a little over a year ago, bringing fresh eyes to the Tampa Bay area. Even though I came from a city that was doing well economically, I was still impressed by the sense of growth and vibrancy here. Pasco-Hernando State College serves primarily Pasco and Hernando counties, with about 90% of our students coming from those two counties, both of which are growing rapidly. Pasco County is one of the fastest-growing counties nationwide in terms of newcomers, and we are feeling that growth.
One of the biggest successes we have seen is our ability to increase dual enrollment, allowing high-school students to start college while still in high school. We are growing very quickly in that area, with about a 10% increase year over year. Nearly 25% of our student body now consists of learners who are simultaneously high school students and college students, which is an incredible shift. A decade ago, this was not the case. Back then, there were a handful of high-achieving eleventh or twelfth graders taking college courses, but now it is widespread. The reason this is so important is that students who start college while still in high school are much more likely to complete their degrees and move forward in their chosen careers.
Another major milestone this past year was opening a new location — not a full new campus, but a specialized construction apprenticeship site. Tampa Bay is growing rapidly, and growth means physical construction. There is a huge workforce shortage in skilled trades like framing, plumbing, HVAC, and electrical work. If Tampa Bay is going to continue growing at its potential, it needs more trained professionals in these areas. We opened a Workforce Development Center in Central Pasco County over the summer with grant money from the state and partnerships with local builders, and we plan to expand this effort significantly in the coming years.
We also launched the Nursing and Allied Health Advancement Institute to address the region’s healthcare workforce shortage. Hospitals are paying significant amounts to bring in traveling nurses when they would much rather have local nurses who graduate from a college in the area and pursue a career with their organization. We have a strong nursing program with some of the highest licensure exam pass rates in the state, but there still are not enough professionals in the field. This institute is focused on creating partnerships with local hospitals whereby we work collaboratively to identify problems and solutions and take action to address the shortage of skilled healthcare workers.
How does PHSC’s new strategic plan reflect the institution’s identity and goals?
A good strategic plan needs to be ambitious but also true to who we are. Sometimes organizations get excited about a plan and try to reach beyond their identity, but I believe a strategic plan should do the opposite: it should dig into who we are and build on that. The most important thing at PHSC is what happens in the classroom. Great teaching and real learning are at the center of everything we do. We want students to take difficult courses — college algebra, physics, anatomy and physiology — and be successful, getting the foundation they need for future careers.
Vision 2030 includes specific goals. We aim to grow enrollment by at least 3% per year for the next five years, which may sound small but adds up significantly. Right now, we have about 9,500 students across all programs and locations, and as Pasco and Hernando counties grow, we need to grow as well to maintain our market share. Retention is another key focus. Right now, PHSC ranks in the middle of Florida’s 28 state colleges for retention, meaning how many students return after their first year. We want to be in the top 10, which is an aggressive goal given the quality of state colleges in Florida. Completion rates are another major challenge in higher education. Too many students start college but never finish, often due to finances or life situations. We want to move from a midlevel ranking in completion rates to a top 10 spot in Florida’s state college system, ensuring that more students graduate, whether they earn a bachelor’s degree, an associate’s degree, or an industry certification.
What trends are shaping higher education in Florida, and how is PHSC adapting?
Nationally, 2025 will mark a turning point. It will be the last year that there are more high-school graduates than the previous year. The number of high-school graduates in the United States will start to decline next year, which will affect college enrollment. Florida is different because of our population growth, but we are still seeing shifts in student priorities. More than ever, students and families are cost-conscious, focused on return on investment, and averse to debt. When I went to college, student loans were seen as part of the process. Now, parents who are still paying off their own student loans are telling their kids to avoid debt. That changes the way students make decisions.
Florida’s state colleges are in a strong position because we provide high-quality education at a lower cost. PHSC, for example, has not raised tuition in 12 years. That is rare nationally, and it is possible because the state helps fund us in a way that prevents the need for tuition increases. Students today want to know that their education will lead to a good job, and it is on us as colleges to help them chart a clear path to that goal. We need to provide trustworthy, transparent information about career pathways and earnings potential.
How is PHSC incorporating AI and digital tools into education and operations?
There are four aspects of AI in higher education that are top of mind for me. First, there is the challenge of academic integrity. We still need students to develop real skills. If a student is preparing for an engineering career, for example, they need to actually understand the calculations they are doing, and AI doing their homework for them will deprive them of that understanding. I think we can all agree that writing is an important skill, but a student will not learn to write well if ChatGPT completes a writing assignment that would have allowed them to acquire and hone critical skills. We must ensure that learning remains authentic.
On the other hand, we as educators must adopt an innovative, open mindset, looking for ways to make our teaching and students’ learning more effective and impactful through the use of AI tools. Perhaps AI can save professors time on certain tasks, thereby giving them more time for one-on-one interaction with their students. Perhaps artificial intelligence can give faculty members precise insights into the areas where their students are struggling the most, thereby allowing professors to intervene with actions that have a big impact on their student course success rates.
Third, we need to prepare students for a workforce that is increasingly AI-integrated. If a student graduates without at least a basic understanding of AI’s applications and ethical implications, we have not done our job. We are currently exploring ways to integrate “AI 101” into our academic programs, giving students foundational artificial intelligence awareness and knowledge across disciplines.
Finally, AI can help us improve how we operate as a college. We collect an enormous amount of student data every year — grades, performance on individual assignments, attendance patterns — and AI can analyze that data in ways that simply exceed our capacity as humans. It can identify where students are struggling, whether certain course schedules lead to lower success rates, determine how course modalities may impact different types of students and ultimately help us make better decisions. I like to say AI should stand for “Actionable Intelligence”; it should provide insights that help us make improvements to student learning and outcomes.
What strategies does PHSC use to attract and retain top faculty?
This is one of the toughest challenges in higher education, especially in fields like nursing, where professionals can earn significantly more in hospitals than they can as faculty. Since we cannot always compete on salary, we must win in other ways. We offer nine-month contracts with summers off, three weeks off around the Christmas holiday, a very strong health insurance package, and a work environment that appeals to those who love teaching. Some professionals do not want to work hospital night shifts but enjoy mentoring students, for example, and we create opportunities for them to do that.
Culture is also key. People do not just leave jobs for better pay; they leave because of work environment issues. If we create a strong, positive workplace culture, people will want to stay. We already have many employees who have been with us for 10, 20, even 30 years, which shows we are doing something right. But we cannot take that for granted. My No. 1 budget priority last year was increasing salaries, and that remains my top priority moving forward.
How does PHSC balance student needs with workforce demands?
As a state college, we are always facing in two directions. On one side, we are focused on the 850,000 residents of Pasco and Hernando counties, asking how we can help them meet their educational and career goals. On the other, we are working with industry leaders, asking what their workforce needs are and what skills they need our graduates to have. The answers to those two questions do not always align, but we must address both to ensure we are preparing students for meaningful careers while also helping local industries find the workforce they need.
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