State University System
Growth Engines
Florida Weekly
Florida Gulf Coast University, in its seminal teenage year, has exploded onto the national stage, and is also considering an opportunity to expand the campus to nearly double its size…
‘US News’ Top Law Schools Fall Short on Diversity
The National Law Journal
…Florida International University College of Law (ranked No. 105 by U.S. News);…
Israel trip canceled due to Syrian conflict
Tallahassee.com
Plodding along on dunes of Israeli desert on camelback, Florida State University students absorb the nuances of a foreign nation’s landscape beneath an unfamiliar sun. Each summer, FSU’s study abroad program allows students the opportunity both to travel abroad and travel by camel in Israel. Due to conflict in the region, however, the 2013 Israel trip has been canceled, meaning camels will go unridden. Despite program claims that Israel is statistically safer than Tallahassee, Florida State University called off its summer 2013 international program in Israel earlier this month among growing concerns about the country’s conflict with Syria…
Local Leaders Say 2013 Legislative Session Was Good For Leon County
WFSU
…And representatives from Leon County Schools and Florida State University say they’re pleased with increased funding this session. FSU got a recurring $15 million for being designated a preeminent university…
University partnership combines teaching with arts in Manatee and Sarasota
Bradenton Herald
Leaders of three local schools have signed on to a new “artist-to-teacher” program. Educational leaders and administrators from USF Sarasota-Manatee, State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota and Ringling College of Art and Design signed memos of understanding creating the program, which allows students to enroll in participating schools for further education…
A History of Bay County
The News Herald
…The University of West Florida’s PC branch campus began classes in the old shipyard buildings in 1972. Florida State University at Panama City replaced UWF in 1987…
SPECIAL SECTION: FAU President’s Resignation – Coverage and Reax
Controversial president of Florida Atlantic University resigns
BizPac Review
Mary Jane Saunders Beleaguered president of Florida Atlantic University, Mary Jane Saunders, has resigned, according to a statement released by the university Wednesday…
Florida Atlantic U. Chief Cites Crushing Media Scrutiny in Resignation
Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription)
Mary Jane Saunders, who announced her resignation as Florida Atlantic University’s president on Wednesday, said she was not ready for the intense media scrutiny that came with the job and fears other public-university presidents are similarly unprepared…
‘A sad day’
FAU Owl Access
Florida Atlantic Athletic Director Pat Chun called it “A sad day” after FAU announced the resignation of President Mary Jane Saunders on Wednesday.
FAU President Mary Jane Saunders Resigns Suddenly!
Gossip Extra
Mary Jane Saunders, the embattled president of the Boca Raton-based Florida Atlantic University, is resigning her post — two years before her contract ends…
Mary Jane Saunders Resigns As Florida Atlantic University President
Huffington Post
Florida Atlantic University president Mary Jane Saunders tendered her resignation late Tuesday, May 14, 2013, after months of controversies at the public college…
Controversy-Scarred Florida Atlantic President Says She’ll Resign
Inside Higher Ed
Florida Atlantic University has had more than its share of controversies in the last several months, over the naming of its football stadium for a private prison company owned by an alumnus and a professor’s in-class exercise in which he invited students to step on a piece of paper with “Jesus” written on it, among others. (The university took heat from many in the public for the professor’s actions, and from many faculty members for failing to defend his academic freedom to their satisfaction.)…
FAU President Mary Jane Saunders resigns
MiamiHerald.com
After months of controversy, Florida Atlantic University President Mary Jane Saunders has resigned — though she’ll still retain a job on campus and most of her salary. In a resignation letter submitted to the university late Tuesday, Saunders highlighted FAU’s progress in academics and student success, but also noted “there is no doubt the recent controversies have been significant and distracting to all members of the University community.”…
President of ‘Jesus Stomping’ Florida University Quits – Newsmax.com
Newsmax.com
Florida Atlantic University President Mary Jane Saunders has resigned in the wake of students being asked to stomp on Jesus’ name. The school announced that she resigned late Tuesday and that FAU Board of Trustees Chairman Anthony Barbar had accepted the resignation. Saunders will remain at FAU to take a faculty position, where she will be assigned a special research project to assess the feasibility of developing a physician’s assistant program at the university…
Embattled FAU president quits after series of controversies
Palm Beach Post
Florida Atlantic University President Mary Jane Saunders is resigning, citing the “fiercely negative media coverage” the school has received this year after a series of high-profile controversies…
FAU President Mary Jane Saunders resigns after controversies
South Florida Business Journal
Saying that recent controversies “have been significant and distracting,” Mary Jane Saunders has resigned as president of Florida Atlantic University after only three years in office…
Saunders accomplishments at FAU listed
South Florida Business Journal
Mary Jane Saunders had a relatively short three-year stint as leader of Florida Atlantic University, but the announcement of her resignation listed a lot of accomplishments…
FAU president resigns
St. Augustine Record
The embattled president of Florida Atlantic University has resigned. On its website the school released a statement saying Florida Atlantic University Board of Trustees Chair Anthony K. G. Barbar accepted the resignation of Mary Jane Saunders late Tuesday…
FAU searches for new leader, new image after Saunders resigns
Sun-Sentinel
Florida Atlantic University is looking for a new leader — and a new public image — after a series of controversies prompted President Mary Jane Saunders to step down on Tuesday night. For the next few months, Dennis Crudele, senior vice president for financial affairs, will serve as acting president, although Saunders will continue to hold the title of president, said Anthony Barbar, chairman of the Board of Trustees. Crudele has been an FAU administrator in some capacity since 1987.
FAU student plans to sue Saunders after being injured by car
Sun-Sentinel
FAU student plans to sue Saunders after being injured by car…
Turmoil at Florida Atlantic
Sun-Sentinel
FAU has received attention for several recent controversies, including: January: James Tracy, an associate communications professor, questions in his private blog whether the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre in Connecticut happened as reported, or whether it happened at all. He made similar comments about the Boston Marathon bombing. FAU issues him a reprimand, saying he hadn’t properly distanced FAU from his comments…
Dogged by controversy, FAU President Saunders steps down
Tampabay.com (blog)
Florida Atlantic University President Mary Jane Saunders was dogged by a series of controversies in the past year, including defending a professor who asked students to stomp on a paper after writing the name “Jesus” and a failed attempt to name the football stadium after jail contractor Geo Group…
Embattled FAU president resigns
The Florida Current
Florida Atlantic University President Mary Jane Saunders is stepping down. The Boca Raton school Wednesday announced Saunders’s resignation…
FAU President Mary Jane Saunders resigns
University Press
When she resigned, her salary was $200,000 flat, according to the Florida State University System payroll information. Chair Barbar, who volunteers on the BOT and receives no salary, “regretfully” accepted her resignation letter…
FAU President Saunders resigns
UPI
BOCA RATON, Fla., May 15 (UPI) – The president of Florida Atlantic University has resigned amid controversy to rename the school’s football stadium for a private prison company. Mary Jane Saunders sent a letter Tuesday saying she would step down and return to the FAU faculty, The Miami Herald reported…
FAU President Resigns After ‘Significant Controversies’
WLRN
FAU President Mary Jane Saunders resigned effective immediately from her top post at the university. She’ll stay on as a member of the faculty. Mary Jane Saunders has resigned…
FAU President Mary Jane Saunders has resigned – WPTV.com
WPTV
Florida Atlantic University President Mary Jane Saunders, who has had to deal with several controversies over the past year, has resigned…
Students react to FAU President’s departure
WPTV
There are mixed reactions among students to the news that President Mary Jane Saunders has resigned from her position as President of FAU…
Can FAU attract a top-tier replacement?
WPTV
The president of FAU‘s resignation amidst several public relations nightmares leaves big questions hovering over campus. Who’s next? And what impact will the incidents that led to her resignation have on the search?
State College System
School board stands firm
Florida Today
As is their protocol, they did not respond. Astronaut High School teacher Debbie Sandstrom pushed officials to fund the schools instead of the dual-enrollment program, which gives high school students a free college education at Brevard Community College.
Lox Groves files to block residents resisting PBSC campus
Palm Beach Post
In response to an April lawsuit filed by a group of residents trying to stop Palm Beach State College from building a campus in this rural community, the town in court papers filed Tuesday said the petition to block the campus is without merit and should be rejected by the court…
Independent Colleges and Universities
Ave Maria students in India on mission trip
The News-Press
Ave Maria University President Jim Towey and a dozen Ave Maria students are in Calcutta, India, for a weeklong mission helping the religious order that was the focus for much of Mother Teresa’s work.
Center for Nonprofit Excellence moving to Hodges University
Naples Daily News
The Community Foundation of Collier County and Hodges University announced Wednesday that the Center for Nonprofit Excellence (CNE), established at the Community Foundation in 1997, is moving to Hodges University this summer. The Community Foundation has awarded a three-year grant to Hodges, totaling $150,000, to help establish the training program at the university…
Education Combo Meal: Undergraduate and Law Degree in 6 Years
JDJournal.com
Recently, Stetson University College of Law has tried to do its part to help in its partnership with the University of South Florida, by offering combined undergraduate and graduate law programs that can be completed in six years…
‘Raising Canes’ documentary to continue at UM
Sun-Sentinel
The University of Miami and 3 Penny Films announced an extension of their soon expiring two-year contract that’ll continue their relationship.
Yip Yap: Noted and Quoted FLHE Voices from Around the State
Editorial: Saunders resignation right move for FAU and for her
Palm Beach Post
Florida Atlantic University President Mary Jane Saunders’ surprising resignation Wednesday shows that her “traditional academic background” didn’t prepare her for the political issues that go with the job.
Will resignation of FAU President Saunders end recent controversy?
Palm Beach Post
FAU President Mary Jane Saunders has had a bad couple of months. And that means Florida Atlantic University has had a bad couple of months. The university blundered into a controversy when it struck a deal with GEO Group, a private prison company, for naming rights to its football stadium. Critics immediately dubbed the edifice “Owlcatraz,” a combination of the team’s mascot and the infamous prison…
Editorial: What’s next for FAU, given its president’s resignation
Sun-Sentinel
No one likes to see a smart and capable person nudged out of a job, but FAU President Mary Jane Saunders made the right call Wednesday in announcing her decision to resign and step back into a faculty role. By all accounts, Saunders is a brilliant scientist and a delightful person who gave her heart — and her all — to the university she led for three years…
Mayo: FAU president’s resignation no surprise
Sun-Sentinel
Given the semester from hell she just endured, it’s not surprising that Florida Atlantic University president Mary Jane Saunders quit this week. In the end, Saunders couldn’t please anyone and alienated just about everyone: trustees, students, faculty, donors and alumni. Saunders, a plant cell biologist, simply got tired of being under a microscope…
Can’t You Put Down Your Phone When You’re With Someone Else?
Huffington Post
Many of us do it — we pay more attention to our phones than even our own family, friends or pets. Some students even seem to be addicted to their cell phones because right after class they immediately pull out their phone to check their texts or make a call…UCF Forum columnist Heather Waymouth, a recent University of Central Florida graduate who majored in advertising/public relations and English writing…
Column: To cut college cost, finish on time
Tampabay.com (blog)
With students busy finalizing their fall college plans, parents would do well to talk to their seniors this spring about ways to hold down the cost of a college degree. The higher education price tag continues to soar. It is more important than ever to find ways to contain costs…Catherine Chastain-Elliott is an associate dean of the baccalaureate experience at the University of Tampa.
CF’s Ryskamp resigns
Ocala
The College of Central Florida is looking for a new softball coach. Kerri Ryskamp, who just finished leading the Patriots to one of their most successful seasons this month, resigned Wednesday…
FAMU football coach Earl Holmes eager to restore pride in Rattlers
Orlando Sentinel
Holmes, a Tallahassee native who played at FAMU before spending 10 seasons in the NFL, took over as the Rattlers’ new head football coach in January…
Men’s basketball: Taking a look at new coach Joe Dooley’s contract
Naples Daily News
New Florida Gulf Coast University men’s basketball coach Joe Dooley has not yet signed his contract, but the Daily News received a copy of the amended one through a public records request.
Music therapy brings multiple benefits
Florida Today
Jamie Youngkin, a music professor at Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, is working closely with The Scott Center for Autism to better understand how music helps autistic children improve their social and communication skills.
Report: FKCC’s Gueverra No. 27 on salary chart
KeysNet
The president of Florida Keys Community College receives the second-lowest salary among the state’s 28 community college presidents but he and a college board member say don’t read too much into it. Monday, the Florida Office of the Chief Inspector General released a report detailing the presidential salaries, a report requested by Gov. Rick Scott. FKCC President Jonathan Gueverra comes in at $198,492, including benefits…
Class Notes For Sale. Student-Run Marketplace Expects $500000 In Revenue
WFSU
Selling class notes online is paying off for thousands of college students, and for the Florida State University students who run the study guide marketplace Moolaguides.com. The two-year-old company has buyers and sellers on more than twenty campuses, and the owners expect to bring in half a million dollars this year…That’s according to Moolaguides co-founder and CEO Thomas Brady, who’s still a semester shy of graduating from FSU…
Florida State names new Undergraduate Studies assistant dean
Florida Flambeau
Freshman and sophomore Florida State University students will soon be greeted by a new face when seeking advising for their academic careers. The university has just appointed Dr. Nicole Raimondi as the new assistant dean of Undergraduate Studies.
Inmates urge Scott to veto Timely Justice Act
Bradenton Herald
Mark Schlackman, senior program director for Florida State University’s Center for Advancement of Human Rights, said the bill was ill-conceived but has also been mischaracterized by some advocacy groups…
Mayor Buckhorn Dedicating Mural in Ybor City on Tuesday
Patch.com
Michael Parker, a local artist overseeing the project, taught a class at Hillsborough Community College specifically for the mural, and researched the neighborhood by interviewing residents…
High-Demand Degrees That Matter
WBFS
“There’s a reason why they are in demand, it’s hard to get a degree in that area, those are hard classes, a lot of math a lot of science, those aren’t always people’s favorites,” said Miami-Dade College enrollment director Dr. Rene Garcia…
Climate change brings disease threat for polar bears
New Scientist
…Diana Weber, who works at both the New College of Florida, Sarasota, and the American Museum of Natural History in New York, led a team that sequenced DNA from 98 polar bears in Canada. They looked specifically for genes coding the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) – a molecule found on the surface of cells that acts as a crucial component of the immune systems of most vertebrates…
Following hackings, students and admins tighten security
USA TODAY
…Cyber hacking, or the practice of breaking into computer networks to gain information, is becoming increasingly common, according to Greg Eller, the chief information officer at Northwest Florida State College…
Florida college presidents’ base salary vs. total compensation
Tampa Bay Business Journal
A recent report from the Florida Office of the Chief Inspector General found that the president of St. Petersburg College had the largest total compensation package, $449,031, out of the five colleges in the Tampa Bay area…
They can help grow your business
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Cameron Ford, director of the University of Central Florida’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, is a believer in the economic gardening philosophy that is the basis for GrowFL…
Gorgeous, but Highly Poisonous Snake Species Discovered in Honduras
Sci-News.com
A team of biologists headed by Dr James Austin from the University of Florida in Gainesville has described a new species of green palm-pitviper from a threatened cloud forest reserve in northern Honduras…
Lovebugs: The bugs we love to hate
Florida Weekly
First things first: Florida lovebugs are not genetically engineered — the result of a University of Florida experiment gone freakishly, Frankensteinally wrong. “Maybe we can finally dispel that myth,” said lovebug expert James Cuda…
UF’s Machen 9th, USF’s Genshaft 22nd on List of Highest Paid University …
WUSF News
The Chronicle of Higher Education has compiled its list of the highest paid public university presidents for fiscal 2011-12, and the University of Florida‘s Bernie Machen is again the top earner in Florida. The head Gator placed 9th among the 214 public university presidents ranked, with a total compensation package of $834,562. About 62 percent of that came from his base salary, the rest from a combination of bonuses, allowances and other compensation…
Man convicted in UM computer lab child porn case
MiamiHerald.com
When a man walked into a small private room of a computer lab at the University of Miami in February 2006, lab monitor Alejandro Laza grew suspicious. Using special software, Laza on his own computer saw in shocking real-time what former teacher Robert DeNapoli was doing: searching the Internet for “topless preteens” and “underage topless.”
Cuban dissident says racism remains a grave problem
MiamiHerald.com
“As long as the race problem is not resolved, we don’t believe that the problems of the nation can be resolved,” Cuesta Morua, who is black, said during an appearance at the University of Miami’sInstitute for Cuban and Cuban American Studies…
MLB, Selig lauded in Racial and Gender Report Card
MLB.com
The 2013 Racial and Gender Report Card, issued annually by The Institute of Diversity and Ethics in Sports (TIDES) at the University of South Florida, gave Major League Baseball a grade equal to its highest ever on the issue of racial hiring practices: A. Richard Lapchick, the director of the institute and the primary author of the study, saluted Commissioner Bud Selig for his efforts in this area. ”As he nears retirement, one of the legacies of [Selig] is that he recognized the need for diversity in baseball long ago,” Lapchick wrote in the report, which was released Tuesday. “MLB continues to make real progress in the areas of inclusion and diversity.”
New dean of USF’s College of Education
Tampabay.com (blog)
The University of South Florida has a new dean of the College of Education, which is the academic home to more than 3,000 students. Vasti Torres, who comes from education leadership roles at Indiana University Bloomington, will helm the college…
Living with autism: Grandin shares story, gives tips at conference
Pensacola News Journal
[Temple] Grandin, 65, was the keynote speaker for the second day of the three-day Flying High With Autism conference, which features dozens of speakers and breakout sessions at the University of West Florida Conference Center…
Environmental attorney kicks off last day of autism conference
Pensacola News Journal
Environmental attorney Robert F. Kennedy Jr. kicked off the last day of the Flying High With Autism conference at the University of West Florida today. n his presentation, “Autism and America’s Future,” Kennedy spoke about how levels of the preservative thimerosal in vaccines are dangerous to children and connected to autism…
Releases and Web Stories
FAU President Announces Resignation
Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University Board of Trustees Chair Anthony K. G. Barbar accepted FAU President Mary Jane Saunders’ letter of resignation late yesterday, responding with a letter expressing regret and praising her for her many accomplishments. “On behalf of the Florida Atlantic University Board of Trustees, I regretfully accept your resignation,” he said in his letter. “The Board respects your desire to return to the faculty, a decision we know you made in the best interest of the University.”…
Lynn’s youngest commencement speaker provides guidance for more than 500 graduates
Lynn University
Lynn University’s 48th commencement ceremonies on Friday, May 10 and Saturday, May 11 came at the end of a marquee year for the institution that saw the hosting of the final 2012 presidential debate, celebration of the school’s 50th anniversary and two major groundbreakings, one for its new International Business Center and the other for the new Bobby Campbell Stadium…
St. Thomas University, Konica Minolta replaces entire print operations
CR80News
St. Thomas University, located in Miami Gardens, Fla., has overhauled its entire print operations with a new complete desktop to print shop solution…
Researcher receives $1.4 million grant to study nutrition in low birth weight …
University of Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A University of Florida nursing researcher has received a $1.4 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to determine how to best and most safely nourish very low birth weight infants, who weigh less than 3.3 pounds. The funding will allow researchers to study a standard clinical treatment used to assess these infants’ nutritional status to determine if it is beneficial or risky to the baby…
