President Paul Broadie II
Since opening its doors to students in 1966, Santa Fe College has benefitted from strong, stable leadership in the President's Office. That tradition continues under the administration of President Paul Broadie II, Ph.D., who took office February 1, 2020, becoming the fifth person to serve the college as president. Dedicated to keeping Santa Fe College a premiere institution in the delivery of academic programs and development of new workforce education opportunities, President Broadie is unwaveringly supportive of providing the avenues needed for students to succeed.
President's Biography
Dr. Paul Broadie II began serving as Santa Fe College’s fifth president on February 1, 2020. In his inaugural address he pledged the following pillars would guide his leadership and path forward: student success, individual and institutional growth, innovation, partnerships, and evolution.
His priorities soon included expanding workforce development, shattering equity gaps, enhancing opportunities for professional development, and continuing to grow strong academic programs. During his first few months he engaged key leaders on and off campus in discussions of potential partnerships, took steps to bridge the digital divide by providing students in rural areas greater access to technology, and challenged college leaders to change the mentality, where it exists, that college is not for everyone. Santa Fe offers a variety of options for all individuals to experience the value of a Santa Fe educational experience. Among the vast array of offerings are continuing education, workforce development, associate degrees, bachelor’s degrees, certificates, and reskilling and upskilling opportunities. Shortly after Dr. Broadie began serving as President the college started offering students scholarships to receive short-term credentialing and train for high-demand, middle-wage jobs as welders, auto mechanics, phlebotomists, emergency medical technicians, certified nursing assistants and office specialists. Dr. Broadie is passionate about being a part of the fabric of the community and ensuring that everyone has access to, and awareness, of the quality education offered by the college. During his first year in office construction began on the new three-story Blount Hall, the centerpiece of the expansion of the downtown Blount Center into a full-fledged college campus, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking this momentous occasion was held in April 2022.
Dr. Broadie presided over the largest single donation in Santa Fe’s history when Ms. MacKenzie Scott donated $40 million to the college. Dr. Broadie directed that it be utilized to advance the college’s strategic priorities and mission of adding value to the lives of students and enriching the community. In particular, avenues were explored to close equity gaps, promote a college-going population, increase workforce education, and further address barriers that impede college attendance.
To enhance student opportunities, he has launched innovative initiatives, including the ACB Excel Program, SF Achieve Program, a charter school, and a Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence. The ACB Excel Program, whose letters stand for Achieve, Conquer and Believe, is a two-generation approach to breaking cycles of poverty by fostering sustainable employment for the parent and academic success and career exposure for their child. Our new SF Achieve Program advances a college-going culture. All public school students in Alachua and Bradford counties will be eligible for scholarships at Santa Fe, which begins preparing them as early as eighth grade with a pre-college prep curriculum and provides guidance from Santa Fe specialists who are embedded in local high schools. A STEM-focused charter school under development at Santa Fe incorporates the highly successful global P-TECH model and will enable students to complete their high school diploma, A.S. degree, and a minimum of two industry credentials at no cost to them or their families. Continuous learning and innovation at our institution will be further strengthened with the addition of our Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence, which will be a hub for innovative teaching practices and positioned to disseminate campus-wide strategies to enhance the student classroom experience.
For nearly three decades, Dr. Broadie has expanded academic programs, student services, innovative technology, community partnerships and campus facilities, always with a focus on the student. He is tireless in his commitment, as illustrated by his previously leading two community colleges at the same time – Housatonic Community College in Bridgeport, Connecticut and Gateway Community College in New Haven, Connecticut. Dr. Broadie is now advancing his compelling record here in Florida at Santa Fe, confronting challenges and seeing where opportunities lie, while keeping students at the center of everything.
At the national level, under Dr. Broadie’s leadership, a visiting team from the League for Innovation in the Community College, of which Santa Fe is a charter member, voted to reaffirm Santa Fe as a League for Innovation Board College. The team praised the college’s programs and services and its innovative approaches and forward-thinking commitment to the delivery of education.
Internationally, Dr. Broadie continued the college’s tradition of ensuring that all students are afforded a global education. He welcomed the college’s sixth Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence, who taught two courses and provided guest lectures at the college and in the community during the 2021-22 academic year. In addition, as part of a U.S. Department of State program that engages in citizen-to-citizen diplomacy, for which Santa Fe is the lead community college partner, the college hosted a visiting delegation of higher education administrators from Egypt in February 2022. Under Dr. Broadie’s leadership, Santa Fe received the 2021 Simon Award for Comprehensive Internationalization from NAFSA: Association of International Educators, which recognizes overall excellence in internationalization efforts.
In the community, he addresses academic and workforce needs in the community by serving on the boards of CareerSource North Central Florida and the Greater Gainesville Chamber. In 2019, a regional workforce organization in Connecticut honored him with its President’s Award for “leadership and dedication to improving lives and the quality of education in Connecticut.” As he pursues workforce development programs that offer specialized training and good career opportunities, he is also unwavering in his commitment to the liberal arts and educating the whole student.
Dr. Broadie was named among Connecticut’s 100 most influential by the NAACP and among the region’s 50 most influential by New Haven Biz magazine. He holds a Ph.D. from Colorado State University, an M.B.A. from Long Island University and a B.S. in Business Administration from Mercy College.