Join Women on the Way

"Through collaboration and support, Women on the Way empowers and inspires students to be resilient in achieving success".

We inspire through POWER, PASSION, PURPOSE. Women on the Way (WOW) serves as a resource and support program designed to meet the educational needs of enrolled students who are seeking to complete a college degree or certification. Our mission is to provide services that enhance and empower adult learners to achieve academic, professional, and personal success.

Empowering, strengthening and building community

wow graduatesThe following services are available to Women on the Way members:

  • Academic Advisement
  • Clothing Boutique
  • College & Community Resource Information
  • Community Service
  • Conferences
  • Early Registration
  • Scholarships
  • Sundry Items
  • Textbook & Equipment Lending Library
  • Workshops

Women on the Way (WOW) membership is free. To become a WOW member, you must:

  • Be currently enrolled at St. Petersburg College
  • Attend Women on the Way New Member Orientation (NMO)

NOTE: There are no income requirements to join Women on the Way.

WOW locations

Services are available to WOW members on the following campuses:

Shirley Crumbley, Coordinator
2465 Drew St., SS 105, Clearwater
727-791-2555

Tara Allen, Student Support Advisor
Clearwater Campus - The Dr. Vilma Zalupski Women on the Way Center
2465 Drew St., SS 107, Clearwater
727-791-2634

Pepper Harth, Student Support Advisor 
Seminole Campus
9200 113th Street North, UP 115, Seminole
727-341-4561

Bianca Cage, Student Support Advisor
St. Petersburg/Gibbs Campus
6605 5th Ave. North, SU 231, St. Petersburg
727-398-8468

WOW Leadership Conferences provide our students with the opportunity to build soft-skills that can be applied within the classroom at SPC and after graduation. This is a chance for students to be empowered, inspired, build confidence, network, learn, and grow while participating in a variety of breakout sessions and presentations. Themes from previous years have included “Marketing Your Brand” and “Leading from the Middle”, where attendees gained valuable insight on how to lead from where they are in life, and how to effect change within their communities.

Women’s Leadership Conference 2019 Video

2018 WOW Women’s Conference Video

conference attendees wearing pink shirts
overhead photos of conference attendees in a conference room smiling
2 conference attendees holding blue folders and smiling
conference attendees listening to presenter
Vilma Zalupski
Dr. Vilma Zalupski
Maria Edmonds
Maria Nieves Edmonds

St. Petersburg College launched its Women on the Way (WOW) program in 1981 as a resource and support center for women, who were entering college in larger numbers than ever before in the history of the United States. The goal was to provide women - many of them the first in their families to attend college - with the skills and resources to be successful in an academic setting. In its first year, 15 women joined WOW. Today, more than 600 women college-wide participate in WOW programs.

The effort was spearheaded by Dr. Vilma Zalupski, the college's first female Provost (Clearwater Campus); Bobbie Hinson, Career Center Director; and Maria Nieves Edmonds, a psychology instructor who later became an Associate Provost and was WOW's first coordinator. In honor of their dedication, generosity, and tireless support of WOW, the Clearwater WOW center was named in honor of Dr. Zalupski, and the Tarpon Springs WOW center was named in honor of Maria Nieves Edmonds.  They will be deeply missed, but their legacies will live on forever.

In June 2015, the SPC Board of Trustees approved a campus-wide expansion to:

  • Midtown Cecil B. Keene, Sr. Student Achievement Center (Fall 2015)
  • Seminole Campus (Spring 2016)
  • Petersburg/Gibbs Campus (Fall 2016)
  • Tarpon Springs Campus (Spring 2017)

Ways You Can Help

  • Adopt-a-Family Holiday Program
  • Clothing Boutique Donations
  • Facilitate a Workshop
  • Gift Baskets
  • Gift Cards
  • Scholarships
  • Sundry Items
wow donors

Make checks payable to Women on the Way
Mail to:
St. Petersburg College
Women on the Way
Clearwater Campus
P.O. Box 13489
St. Petersburg, FL 33733

donors gathered in next to a bus
donors conference banner
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