During the early part of March, St. Petersburg College successfully administered the HEIghten Civic Competency and Engagement assessment, along with the Intercultural Competency and Diversity assessment, from Educational Testing Services (ETS). This is the same national organization that administers the SAT college-entrance exams. They have developed the ETS HEIghten Initiative as a way to track and assess civic engagement and intercultural learning among college students.

Partnering with the Center for Civic Learning and Community Engagement (CCLCE), several American Government instructors, including Dr. Bledar Prifti and Dr. Robert Loureiro from the Seminole and Gibbs campuses, utilized class time in order to assess and further improve civic engagement and intercultural learning at SPC. This is critical because such factors are shown to improve critical thinking, class engagement, retention and graduation. Given that one of the goals of the CCLCE is to apply for the prestigious Carnegie Community Engagement Classification, participation in this groundbreaking study will certainly push SPC to continue to inspire!