The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education meets 9:30 —12:00 noon today in 412 Knott. The following higher ed matters are included in the meeting notice:
- Review and Discussion of Fiscal Year 2013-2014 Budget Issues relating to the Board of Governors.
Senate Floor Session: The Senate will go into session from 4:00 – 6:00 PM today, or upon the call of the President.
Bills on third reading related to higher ed include:
- SB 352 (3R) by Senator Hays — Lake-Sumter Community College; Renaming Lake-Sumter Community College as “Lake-Sumter State College,” etc. Effective Date: 07/01/2013 Read the second time on March 19, 2013
- CS/SB 224 (3R) by the Committee on Appropriations and Senator Detert — Florida Small Business Development Center Network; Requiring the statewide director and the network to operate the program in compliance with federal laws and regulations and a Board of Governors regulation; requiring businesses that receive support services to participate in certain assessments; requiring the network to provide a match equal to certain state funding; requiring the statewide director to coordinate with the host institution to establish a pay-per-performance incentive; prohibiting certain regional small business development centers from receiving funds, etc. Effective Date: 07/01/2013 Read the second time on March 19, 2013
The Senate Special Order Calendar for Wednesday, March 27 includes the following higher ed bills:
- CS/SB 434 (SO) by the Committee on Education and Senator Altman — Brevard Community College; Renaming Brevard Community College as “Eastern Florida State College,” etc. Effective Date: 07/01/2013 Reported favorably as a committee substitute by the Committee on Education; and the Committee on Governmental Oversight and Accountability reports the committee substitute favorably.
- CS/CS/SB 878 (SO) by the Committees on Appropriations, Education and Senator Galvano — Education Accountability; Requiring the State Board of Education to notify the Legislature of any major changes in federal law which may affect the state’s K-20 education performance accountability system; requiring the Board of Governors to make available to the Department of Education all data within the State University Database System which is to be integrated into the K-20 data warehouse; revising provisions relating to schools that are assigned school grades, including colocated schools, and students whose assessment data is used in determining school grades, etc. Effective Date: 07/01/2013
The House Education Appropriations Subcommittee meets from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. today in 17 HOB. The meeting notice can be found here.
The House Education Committee meets 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. today in 102 HOB. The following higher ed bills are included in the meeting notice:
- CS/HB 7057 — Postsecondary Education
- CS/HB 7091 — K-20 Education
Florida Higher Ed Legislative News:
House wants 6% tuition hike ‘to keep pace’
Gainesville Sun
The House is pursuing a 6 percent tuition increase for state universities and colleges next year, despite opposition from Gov. Rick Scott and the Senate’s decision not to back a tuition increase. House Appropriations Chairman Seth McKeel, R-Lakeland, said Monday that House leaders think the tuition hike is appropriate, given the financial needs of the schools and the fact that Florida’s tuition remains low compared to other universities and colleges nationally. The tuition proposal will be part of the budget documents House appropriations subcommittees will release later this week.
Florida Higher Ed Meetings (and related news):
The Florida Board of Governors will meet today and tomorrow at FAMU.
Florida Board of Governors will get an update on improvements being made at FAMU
The Republic
The board that oversees Florida’s university system plans to discuss improvements being made at Florida A&M University. The Board of Governors will meet Wednesday and Thursday on FAMU‘s campus for its regularly scheduled meeting. State University Chancellor Frank Brogan is scheduled to discuss the steps the university is taking in the wake of an inspector general’s report. That report criticized university officials for failing to follow laws and regulations in the years leading to the hazing death of a drum major…
Also:
Gov. Rick Scott will highlight STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) at the State Science and Engineering Fair of Florida. (10 a.m., The Lakeland Center, 701 Lime St., Lakeland.)
State University System
Florida Gulf Coast apparel sales soar on NCAA success
CNN Money
Sales at the school’s on campus book store shot up 1,000% on Saturday, the day after its upset win versus Georgetown, compared to a year ago, according to figures from Follett Higher Education Group. Follett is a private company that manages more than 900 university stores, including the one at FGCU.
Miami-Dade County, Florida International University to host 7th annual Tree …
The Republic
Anyone interested in building sustainable urban forests and greenbelts in South Florida — or anyone looking for a job in the industry — can attend a free Tree Summit in Miami. Miami-Dade County Commissioner Dennis C. Moss will join Florida International University in hosting the 7th Annual Tree Summit on Wednesday…
Attorney for UCF fraternities demands school end suspension over hazing allegations
Orlando Sentinel
An attorney for a group of UCF fraternities is demanding the university immediately lift the suspension it has placed on all Greek social organizations amid a spike in hazing and alcohol-abuse allegations…
UF faculty workshop hopes to bring sustainability concepts to the classroom
WUFT
University of Florida faculty members will come together in May to promote the sustainability curriculum at the university.
Global affairs conference coming to St. Petersburg
Tampabay.com
…The two-day conference, which is free and open to the public, will run from 9 a.m. to about 5 p.m. Thursday and Friday at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. The school’s honors program is co-sponsoring the event at Harbor Hall, the former home of the Dalí Museum, at 1000 Third St. S. Speakers will include a retired CIA agent, a state department senior adviser on Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and former ambassadors to Peru and Argentina…
Special Section: Jesus Stomping Exercise at Florida Atlantic University
Jesus stomping incident draws Gov. Scott’s ire
AP
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Florida Gov. Rick Scott waded into a religious-infused campus controversy Tuesday, asking the state university system chancellor to look into a classroom lesson at Florida Atlantic University in which students were instructed to stomp on sheets of paper that had “Jesus” written on them.
‘Jesus’-Stomping Exercise at Florida Atlantic U. Draws Rebuke From Governor
Chronicle of Higher Education
Gov. Rick Scott of Florida has stepped into the fray over an offensive classroom exercise at Florida Atlantic University in which students were asked to stomp on a sheet of paper with “Jesus” written on it. According to reports by the Sun Sentinel and the Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau, the Republican governor has written to the state university system’s chancellor asking for a report on the incident, how it was handled, and how the university will ensure that such an incident does not recur.
Controversy Grows Over ‘Stomp on Jesus’ Incident
Inside Higher Ed
Controversy continues to grow over an intercultural communications course at Florida Atlantic University in which students were told to write “Jesus” on a piece of paper, to fold it up and to stomp on it. A student has claimed he was suspended when he refused. The university has apologized for the exercise and said that it won’t be repeated, but has said it was voluntary and that no student was punished in any way related to the class. Now Governor Rick Scott, a Republican, is calling for the state higher education system to investigate the incident and to identify or create policies to prevent such exercises from being used again, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. Scott called the exercise “intolerant to Christians and those of all faiths who deserve to be respected as Americans entitled to religious freedom.”
‘Jesus’-stomping incident at FAU draws rebuke from Rick Scott
MiamiHerald.com
Florida Atlantic University has apologized for a controversial classroom lesson that led critics to accuse the school of religious intolerance. But that didn’t stop Gov. Rick Scott for stepping into the fray on Tuesday. Scott penned a letter to State University System Chancellor Frank Brogan demanding an investigation. “I am requesting a report of the incident, how it was handled and a statement of the university’s policies to ensure this type of ‘lesson’ will not occur again,” Scott wrote…
Scott wants answers on FAU ‘Jesus’-stomping controversy
Palm Beach Post
Gov. Rick Scott has asked the head of the state’s university system to look into the controversy surrounding a Florida Atlantic University class assignment in which students were asked to write “Jesus” on a piece of paper and step on it.
Scott asks for probe of FAU Jesus incident
Sun-Sentinel
Gov. Rick Scott is asking the State University System to investigate an “offensive” class assignment at Florida Atlantic University, where students were asked to stomp on a sheet of paper with Jesus written on it. Scott called the assignment, given by instructor Deandre Poole at FAU‘s Davie campus, “intolerant to Christians and those of all faiths who deserve to be respected as Americans entitled to religious freedom.” He wants chancellor Frank Brogan to draft a report of what happened and what policies are in place to ensure “this type of ‘lesson’ will not occur again.” After initially defending it, FAU apologized on Friday evening and then again Monday and Tuesday, calling the assignment in the intercultural communications class “insensitive and unacceptable.”
Does ‘stomp Jesus’ show FAU needs an image makeover?
Sun-Sentinel
This is probably not the best week of Mary Jane Saunders’ life. Saunders is the president of Florida Atlantic University. To be kind, FAU needs an image makeover. In the worst way. And soon. Earlier this year, you had the public relations fiasco involving professor James Tracy, a tenured professor of communication who claimed that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings may not have happened, or didn’t happen as reported…
Jesus stomping incident at FAU draws Rick Scott rebuke
Tampa Bay Times
UPDATE: A spokeswoman says the State University System has been paying close attention to the events at Florida Atlantic University but isn’t ready to address the governor’s letter. ”The State University System prides itself not only on its commitment to academic freedom, but at the same time, its awesome responsibility to the people it serves,” wrote spokeswoman Kim Wilmath. “We are gratified to know that FAU has apologized for any offense the exercise has caused and has pledged never to use this exercise again. Clearly, there were things the university could have done differently by its own acknowledgement.” ORIGINAL POST: Florida Atlantic University has apologized for a controversial classroom lesson that led critics to accuse the school of religious intolerance. But that didn’t stop Gov. Rick Scott for stepping into the fray today…
School apologizes for ‘Jesus’ stomping
UPI.com
DAVIE, Fla., March 26 (UPI) – Florida Atlantic University issued an apology for a class exercise that involved Intercultural Communications students stomping on “Jesus.” The school issued an apology for the March 4 assignment in Deandre Poole’s Davie classroom, which involved students being asked to write “Jesus” on a piece of paper then stomp on the paper, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported Tuesday.
Institutional Response:
A Message From Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University
A recent classroom exercise in an Intercultural Communication course at Florida Atlantic University has attracted public attention and has aroused concern on the part of some individuals and groups. The exercise was based on an example presented in a study guide to the textbook Intercultural Communication: A Contextual Approach, 5 th Edition, written by a college professor who is unaffiliated with FAU.
Reax from the web…
FAU College Student Who Didn’t Want To Stomp On ‘Jesus’ Runs Afoul of Speech Code
Forbes
Would you stomp on a piece of paper with the name Jesus written on it as part of a classroom assignment? Ryan Rotela, a devout Mormon student at Florida Atlantic University, had to make this bizarre decision in his Intercultural Communications class. The incident ignited a firestorm of national outrage when Rotela told local news sources, last week, that he was being punished for refusing to complete the assignment…Greg Lukianoff is the president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).
In defense of Florida university’s ‘Jesus stomping’ exercise
Fox News
Florida Atlantic University is in crisis after a student was instructed to write the word “Jesus” on a piece of paper and stomp on it. One Mormon student refused to participate in the classroom activity, citing his Christian faith, and now he is rallying opposition nationwide. On Monday’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” Bill O’Reilly told Mary Katherine Ham and me he sees this case as part of an ongoing hostility to Christianity and conservatives on college campuses. I disagree…Juan Williams is a Fox News political analyst.
Florida Atlantic University: Another Left-Wing Seminary
Real Clear Politics
Question: What is the difference between Christian seminaries and American universities?
Answer: Christian seminaries announce that their purpose is to produce committed Christians. American universities do not admit that their primary purpose is to produce committed leftists. They claim that their purpose is to open students’ minds. This month Florida Atlantic University provided yet another example of how universities have become left-wing seminaries. Dennis Prager is an American syndicated radio talk show host, syndicated conservative columnist, political commentator, author, and public speaker.
Independent Colleges and Universities
Maple Ridge: A Turning Point for Ave Maria?
The Ave Herald
But beyond any income, both Mr. Roney and Ave Maria University President Jim Towey see the major benefit from the sale as a resurgent interest in residential development at Ave Maria.
Gargoyle, Flagler win 17 awards in Society of Professional Journalists …
Flagler College Gargoyle
Flagler College Communication students won 17 awards, including six first places, in the Society of Professional Journalists 2012 Mark of Excellence Awards for Region 3, which includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
Faculty Members Vote No Confidence in President of Rollins College
Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription) (blog)
Faculty members in Rollins College’s College of Arts & Sciences voted last week to express no confidence in the college’s president, Lewis M. Duncan, over concerns about his leadership and communication skills, The Orlando Sentinel has reported.
Florida’s basketball success boosts business
Sun-Sentinel
With three college basketball teams from Florida in the NCAA Tournament‘s Sweet 16, a new wave of basketball fans are flooding local restaurants and sports bar – particularly University of Miami fans…
University of Tampa to dedicate new stadium
Tampa Bay Business Journal
The University of Tampa will dedicate the Naimoli Family Athletic and Intramural Complex on March 29.
Yip Yap: Noted and Quoted FLHE Voices from Around the State
Rick Outzen: A father’s worst fear averted at University of Central Florida
Sun-Sentinel
The phone call was one I never thought I would get from my youngest daughter. “Dad, I’m okay. The campus security have the gunman. He’s dead,” my daughter, a co-ed at the University of Central Florida, told me last Monday morning.
Our take: Volatile Valencia
Orlando Sentinel
Valencia College is one of Florida’s great success stories. Under its president, Sandy Shugart, it was named the nation’s best community college by the Aspen Institute in 2011, topping a field of 1,200 contenders. We’d hope these kinds of results would earn Shugart some slack from the political appointees on the college’s Board of Trustees. Don’t mess with success, right?
Andy Enfield: ‘I still have to work’
ESPN
Faced with a story that had spiraled out of control, Florida Gulf Coast University coach Andy Enfield addressed reports of his vast wealth. ”I still have to work,” Enfield told ESPN’s Tom Rinaldi on Monday afternoon. Scores of publications and news outlets reported that Enfield was a co-founder of health care business information firm TractManager, and that the company was worth $100 million. It was then inferred by many that Enfield, making $157,000 at FGCU, was independently wealthy. Enfield has not revealed how much money he has made off the company or how much he still has invested…
New Presidents and Provosts…
Inside Higher Ed
Holly Bennett, dean of workforce and economic development at Belmont College, in Ohio, has been chosen as provost of Palm Beach State College’s Belle Glade campus.
Defying national trend, Floridians’ confidence up
Gainesville Sun
The Florida confidence index rose three points in March from a revised 73 in February, according to the UF Survey Research Center in the Bureau of Economic and Business Research. U.S. confidence dropped six points, according to a University of Michigan study…The upbeat mood may not last, however, as job furloughs from sequestration go into effect in the coming months, according to Chris McCarty, center director.
Albie Sachs speaks at UF law school
Gainesville Sun
Sachs, a 78-year-old former judge on the Constitutional Court of South Africa, has spent a lifetime fighting for democracy, and authored the South African court’s landmark decision in 2005 requiring the legal recognition of gay marriage. In 1988, he lost lost his arm and sight in one eye in a car bomb explosion…On Tuesday, the same day the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case challenging California’s ban on gay marriage, Sachs told a public crowd of 60 to 70 people at the University of Florida’s Levin College of Law that division damages the diversity of culture and the intimacy of marriage. Because some people see the world differently does not mean society should “divide the world into the enlightened and the blighted,” he said. “That creates a culture wall.”
Obama Appoints UCF Grad as First Female Secret Service Director
KnightNews.com
President Barack Obama has appointed Orlando native and University of Central Florida graduate Julia Pierson as the first female director of the Secret Service, according to a statement released by The White House. Pierson, a veteran agent of the United States Secret Service and a senior official of the agency, will take over the top job from Mark Sullivan, who announced his retirement last month. She received a B.A. in Criminal Justice from UCF in 1981, a spokesperson for UCF told KnightNews.com.
Releases and Web Stories
Lynn University officially breaks ground on International Business Center
Lynn University
Ground was officially broken on Lynn University’s International Business Center (IBC), the new home of Lynn’s College of Business and Management today (March 22). As one of the events celebrating the first 50 years of Lynn’s history, this business center is a nod to Lynn’s future and a signature historic milestone that will be felt long into Lynn’s next 50 years…
StetsonU Celebrates Piano Professor’s 30th Anniversary
Stetson University Today
Michael Rickman, Steinway Artist and professor of piano, will celebrate his 30th anniversary at Stetson University at his celebratory recital Sunday, April 7, 3 p.m., in Lee Chapel…
UF author ties science fairs to push for better STEM education
WUFT
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — A new book by a University of Florida education professor about science fairs and other extracurricular school science programs hits the shelves just as education in science, technology, engineering and math – the STEM disciplines – continues making headlines. Sevan Terzian’s newly published book, Science Education and Citizenship, gives insight into the growing effort to improve science education by uncovering the history of science fairs, clubs and talent searches, such as Florida’s 58th annual State Science and Engineering Fair, set for March 26-28 in Lakeland.
College of Veterinary Medicine offers open house April 13
University of Florida
A longtime community tradition, the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine Open House will intrigue and entertain audiences of all ages during a full day of educational demonstrations, tours and much more from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 13.
Traveling exhibit at HSC Library looks at Native Hawaiian traditions
University of Florida
The Health Science Center Library at the University of Florida is hosting “A Voyage to Health,” a traveling exhibit from the National Library of Medicine about the revival of Native Hawaiian traditions.
