Seminole State adds leaders to boost workforce and student success
Seminole State hired two leaders with deep workforce and academic experience as it presses toward higher graduation, placement and equity goals. The college says residents should watch those results, not just the titles.
Seminole State College of Florida expanded its leadership team with two hires meant to sharpen how the college moves students from classrooms to jobs in Seminole County and across Central Florida. The appointments come as the college is carrying out Impact 2030, its five-year plan focused on stronger learning, individualized support and better outcomes for students.
Cruz Casiano, Ed.D., will serve as deputy associate vice president of faculty and workforce success. Casiano brings more than 20 years of higher-education, workforce-development and student-success experience, including leadership of the Career and Applied Technology Division at Lone Star College. Lone Star College materials identify her as the former director of the Career and Applied Technology Division at Lone Star College-North Harris and describe work that expanded workforce programs, industry partnerships and student access to scholarships, mentorships, internships and other work-based learning opportunities.
Steven Smith, Ph.D., joined Seminole State as academic dean of business, legal studies and entrepreneurship. Seminole State’s directory lists him as academic dean, Center for Business, Legal Studies & Entrepreneurship. His background includes faculty and leadership roles at Florida Atlantic University, Southern Connecticut State University, the University of New Orleans and the University of Olivet, along with visiting appointments at Columbia University, Rutgers University and the Federal University of Bahia in Brazil. He also worked in engineering and management at PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble, giving the business division a dean with both academic and private-sector experience.
The hires matter because Seminole State has tied Impact 2030 to specific outcomes: improving graduation rates, closing achievement gaps for minority and underserved students, and maintaining high career-placement rates. The college says it serves more than 24,000 students across four campuses, and its workforce programs include short-term career and technical training, stackable certificates and apprenticeships aimed at high-wage careers. Seminole State celebrated its 60th birthday on July 1, 2025.
The stakes are especially local in southwestern Seminole County, where the Altamonte Springs Campus serves an area that the college says includes more than one-third of all Seminole County households and nearly a quarter million residents. Seminole State also says it was a top 10 finalist for the 2025 Aspen Institute Prize for Community College Excellence, placing it among the top tier of community colleges nationally, and it recently received a $2 million gift from Wharton-Smith to support education for the region’s skilled workforce.
For Seminole County, the real test of the new leadership team will be whether more students finish, more employers hire graduates, and more residents move into careers tied to the area’s fastest-growing industries.
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