ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Just shy of 500 students are Flagler College are majoring in STEM or STEAM-focused careers. Those are majors in science, technology, engineering, mathematics or technology.
It is about one-fifth of the overall student population, and the interest is not slowing down.
The college made some adjustments this fall semester to handle the demand and they are just the beginning.
Whether it’s chemistry, physics, or biology, there is no shortage of experiments and research inside a newly added science lab at Flagler College.
Ava Beckett is a biology major. She is pursuing a career as a physician’s assistant.
“Once you are a physician’s assistant, you can go to any specialty that you want to,” Beckett said. “I am interested in pediatrics and oncology. Even a combination of that would be great.”
Kae Tumminelli is also majoring in biology. She is considering a profession as a crime tech analyst or a forensic lab technician.
“Getting my master’s in microbiology will be beneficial for me because I will be working with DNA and doing research,” Tumminelli said.
Because the attraction to STEM or STEAM fields is not slowing down, Flagler College added mobile modular labs a few blocks away from campus this semester.
The school is making sure there is enough lab space for the hundreds of students to get the proper teaching and hands-on experience before entering the workforce.
All while consistently adding relevant courses to those fields.
Ed McGinley is a natural sciences associate professor.
“Students who want to go to medical school, who want to go to veterinary school, who want to go to physician assistance school, dental school, they require physics I and II,” McGinley said. “A lot of times [they are also required to take] organic chemistry I and II, and general chemistry I and II.”
Having the easy-to-set-up, well-equipped modular labs, along with smaller classroom settings, is making a difference.
“I have felt more comfortable in the classroom,” Beckett said. “I think it was important because I just felt comfortable learning. I was not scared to ask questions and it just helped me engage a lot more with everything that I was doing.”
“A lot of my classes contained the same amount of people,” Tumminelli said about the more intimate classroom environments. “Working with the same amount of people and being comfortable with those groups of people is definitely beneficial. STEM opens up a lot of doors and opportunities for people and for Flagler College to offer this biology degree and to have it continuously advancing [is significant].”
Flagler College President John Delaney said there has to be intent in advancing science, technology, engineering, arts and math studies at the school.
“You follow student interest and employer demand,” Delaney said. “Massive student demand and also, there are jobs in the environmental area, either biology or the coastal. It is a good time to hit it. We are really unique of how involved we get our students in things like undergraduate research. Not only are they learning in the classroom, but they are learning out in the field.”
In the long run, a new science building is expected to be built on campus dedicated to all majors related to the field, although a timeline has not been set in stone.