State University System
Fla. board hears report on FAMU hazing
wflx
The board that governs Florida’s universities is discussing a blistering report that contends Florida A&M University officials failed to follow state laws and regulations on hazing in the years leading up to the death of a FAMU drum major. The Florida Board of Governors is meeting in Gainesville Wednesday to discuss the report issued by its inspector general.
FAMU Fumbles Again
Capitol News Service
Florida A & M University called a news conference this morning to announce the hiring of a new band director for its famed Marching 100. At the last minute, negotiations fell apart and the announcement cancelled. The band has been suspended since the November 2011 hazing death of a drum major. The lack of band leadership may make the return of the band more difficult…
FAMU abruptly cancels plans to name new band director
MiamiHerald.com (registration)
Florida A&M University abruptly canceled plans to name a new Marching 100 band director Tuesday morning, leaving an auditorium full of curious students, faculty and media wondering why the school couldn’t agree on a contract with the remaining finalist.
FAMU unable to decide on new band director
Tallahassee Democrat (blog)
It was a most unusual news conference. Florida A&M said on Monday afternoon it would introduce the new band director for the revered Marching 100 at 9:15 a.m. Tuesday. Shortly after 9:15, FAMU spokeswoman Sharon Saunders said the announcement was delayed. A few minutes later she said the press conference had been canceled and the announcement had been postponend indefinitely…
FIU takes over Florida Keys undersea science lab
Miami Herald
Florida International University is taking over a Florida Keys underwater research laboratory that had been set to close because of federal budget cuts, officials said Tuesday. FIU has received a grant to maintain Aquarius Reef Base for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 2013. The Miami-area school also will develop a business model to fund future operations at the lab…
FSU DC plan searching for additional service provider
Pensions and Investments
Florida State University System Optional Retirement Program, Tallahassee, is searching for an additional service provider, according to an invitation to negotiate posted on the state of Florida’s website. The $3.2 billion 403(b) plan is searching for a sixth provider because of a Florida law that provides for the expansion of the number of providers, according to the RFP…
Retirement Living: College towns lure Boomers
USA TODAY
…Which brings us to another benefit of college towns. You get to see major college sports for a fraction of what you pay for pro sports in major cities. Imagine paying $10 to see two college powerhouse baseball teams duke it out. Thus, other affordable college towns such as Ann Arbor, Mich. (University of Michigan); South Bend, Ind. (Notre Dame); Gainesville, Fla. (University of Florida); and State College, Pa. (Penn State) offer exactly what Boomers are looking for these days: cheap homes, a reasonable cost of living, livability and lots of culture and sports. In fact, says the AARP’s Thompson, there are developers building retirement communities affiliated with universities in college towns — many times giving the residents full access to university facilities…
UCF students on edge as police seek third armed robbery suspect
WOGX
Students at the University of Central Florida are on edge this morning as authorities continue to search for a third suspect in the armed robbery of a UCF delivery man over the weekend. Campus police say a Wing Zone delivery man was at the Tower IV dorms early Sunday morning to make a delivery when he came out to see three men rummaging through his car. Moments later, investigators say a semiautomatic gun was pointed at him. The suspects took the delivery man’s wallet and drove off. The victim, who is also a UCF student, was able to provide investigators with a good description of the suspects’ vehicle…
UNF begins to explore possibility of adding football program
St. Augustine Record
The University of North Florida will begin a fact-gathering process about the possibility of adding football to the school, UNF president John Delaney said on Tuesday…
University of South Florida’s online programs ranked among best in …
Tampabay.com
Looking for a prime college to attend from the comfort of your computer? The University of South Florida is one of the best, according to new education rankings. The first ranking comes from the Guide to Online Schools, an index that lists schools with the overall best and most affordable online programs, using data from the federal government’s National Center for Education Statistics. USF made its first appearance this year, coming in at 25. It’s the only Florida public university on the list, which includes Saint Leo University Online at No. 18.
USF, Draper expand collaboration
Tampa Bay Business Journal
The University of South Florida and Draper Laboratory signed an affiliation agreement expanding their existing collaboration on research and development. The agreement enables Draper’s Florida staff to be adjunct faculty members, facilitating more collaboration and providing access to USF equipment and laboratories, according to a written statement…
USF Bypasses Brick & Mortar, Offers Online Masters Degrees
WUSF
The University of South Florida continues expanding its web presence as it prepares to roll out a pair of online masters degree programs. The College of Business’ online Master of Science in management information systems (MIS) degree program launches in the spring 2013 semester, while the College of Engineering’s online MS in Electrical Engineering for professionals degree program gets underway in the summer 2013 semester.
Officials mull proposal to relocate YMCA
Pensacola News Journal
The proposed location was originally reserved for a now-abandoned Maritime Museum that the University of West Florida had committed to build and run…
State College System
Daytona State ranks high in online bachelor degree program
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Daytona State College ranks among the top in the nation for best online bachelor’s degree programs. U.S. News & World Report ranked Daytona State College No. 2 among hundreds of colleges and universities nationally. The college entered its Bachelor’s of Applied Science in Supervision and Management (BAS) and its Bachelor’s of Science in Engineering Technology (BSET) programs for the rankings consideration. Pace University in New York placed first. According to U.S. News, the evaluations were based on student engagement, faculty credentials and training, and student services and technology. For engineering and business programs, academic peer reputation was included in the ranking calculations. The magazine, known for its measurement and annual rankings of colleges and universities, evaluated 237 online bachelor’s degree programs for the 2013 report…
New Activities Center opens at NWF State
The Northwest Florida Daily News
Northwest Florida State College will celebrate the grand opening of its new Activities Center on Wednesday at the main Niceville campus…
Independent Colleges and Universities
Eckerd College’s new James Center puts science on display
TBO.com
How significant is a top-notch science center on a college campus? It can convince a budding biologist to cross the country to attend Eckerd College, which this month opens its $25 million James Center for Molecular and Life Sciences…
‘Spring Breakers’ Gets Release Date and Trailer Debut
Patch.com
Last year in March, Ringling College of Art and Design were filled celebrities like Selena Gomez, James Franco and Vanessa Hudgens filming Spring Breakers. In a few months, you’ll be able to go and see all the local areas on the big screen…
Yip Yap: Noted and Quoted FLHE Voices from Around the State
Editorial: Scott’s exciting promise for the University of Florida
Sun-Sentinel
For all his business prowess, Gov. Rick Scott gives us whiplash in setting education strategy. His first year in office, the governor slashed the budget for public schools by $3 billion. His second year, he reversed course and added back $1 billion. This year, he says education funding will be flat, or maybe a little higher, depending on which day you catch him. But — whoa Nelly! — look at the pendulum shift the governor just took on higher education…
Guest column: Russ Watjen … The building of a residential learning community at Edison State
Naples Daily News
In the fall of 2012, Edison State College opened LightHouse Commons, a residential building on the Fort Myers campus. It was a historic first for the college, offering students the opportunity to gain a broader college experience by living where they learn. The idea was to provide an environment that encourages students to pursue academic excellence, graduate and use their skills in the workforce to fulfill their career goals…Russ Watjen is Interim vice president for student affairs and enrollment management, Edison State College.
Florida Atlantic prof: GOP ‘worships guns’ has ‘no concern for death of children’
Campus Reform (blog)
A professor at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) took aim at the GOP on Friday accusing Republicans of worshipping guns and turning a blind eye to the death of innocent children. In the sharply worded post, American History Prof. Ronald Feinman also contended the Republican Party is living in an imaginary Revolutionary War era. “A party that worships guns as if we are on the frontier fighting native Americans and are living in the era of the American Revolution and Civil War is a party in deep denial,” he wrote. Republicans have “no concern about the death of children and adults in all public places imaginable.”
Indians graduate Billy Napier joining FSU staff as tight ends coach
The Daily Citizen
Billy Napier is joining the Florida State staff after one season at Colorado State, according to his father, former Murray County head coach and current Dalton assistant coach Bill Napier…
USF St. Petersburg pares list of chancellor candidates
Tbo.com
Candidates to be the next chancellor at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg will interview at the Tampa International Airport Marriott this month. Monday, a search committee pared the list down to six people, who will interview Jan. 28 and 29. Three finalists will make their cases on campus in mid-February, campus spokesman Tom Scherberger said. The six candidates are: Linda Bradley, assistant vice president of academic affairs and the director of the University of Central Florida’s Daytona Beach campus; Ron Brown, senior vice president of academic affairs and provost at Wayne State University in Detroit; Bill Hogarth, USF St. Petersburg’s interim chancellor; Michael Lane, the former president of Emporia State University in Kansas; Ralph Rogers, vice chancellor for academic affairs at Purdue University at Calumet in Indiana; and Sophia Wisniewska, chancellor at Penn State Brandywine.
USF St. Petersburg professor honored by national group
Tampabay.com
By documenting the usage and creation of stone tools by Ethiopian hide workers, a researcher at University of South Florida St. Petersburg found evidence that challenges some entrenched assumptions about history, invention and the roles of women. For her work, anthro-archaeologist Kathryn Weedman Arthur was awarded the Gordon R. Willey prize from the American Anthropological Association, which published her article in its journal, American Anthropologist. The prize is given to the best archaeology paper published in the journal during the past three years as determined by its officers…
Grover’s Fingers and Wings is in the groove
Pensacola News Journal
“We needed diversity,” he said. “We’ve got 20,000 blue collar folks at Ellyson, thousands working at West Florida Hospital, and we’re at the back gate of (the University of West Florida). We needed to offer something different than all the fast food places if we were going to stand out.”
Releases and Web Stories
Rasmussen College Lowers And Locks Tuition To Make College More Affordable for Students
PR Newswire
BLOOMINGTON, Minn., Jan. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ – Rasmussen College, a leader in post-secondary higher education, announced today a tuition reduction that will save students thousands of dollars and help decrease student debt upon graduation. In an effort to continuously provide students with the best college investment possible, Rasmussen College is lowering tuition costs an average of 12 percent nationally for full-time students. Depending on each student’s location and program, this reduction can be up to 24 percent. The regionally accredited College has not increased tuition since 2010…Rasmussen College is a regionally accredited private college specializing in high-demand educational programs in a supportive, student-centered environment. Rasmussen College offers Certificate and Diploma programs through Associate’s and Bachelor’s degrees online and across its 22 Midwest and Florida campuses…
US News ranks two UF online programs No. 1 in Florida
University of Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida’s online graduate business program is rated No. 1 in the state and fourth in the nation, according to rankings scheduled to be released by U.S. News & World Report on Tuesday. The elite ranking among 213 schools nationwide that reported offering online master’s degree business programs reinforces ratings by the The Economist in which UF’s online MBA was one of only two programs in the world to receive the magazine’s highest grade of “excellent.”
Program examines early civil rights struggles in Florida
University of Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Paul Ortiz, director of the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida, will present “Race Relations in Florida from Reconstruction to the Bloody Election of 1920″ at 1 p.m. Feb. 5 in Smathers Library Room 1A.
UF scientists identify natural compounds that enhance humans’ perception of …
University of Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida taste scientist Linda Bartoshuk and her colleagues want to play a trick on you — but it’s for your own good. The UF team has identified a group of naturally occurring compounds that enhance the way people perceive sweetness, and believe that those compounds can be used to make foods taste sweeter using far less sugar and no artificial sweetener.
Student Senate holds committee workshop Wednesday evening
University of Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida Student Government Senate is hosting its first committee workshop at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Rion Ballroom of the Reitz Student Union. This workshop is intended for people to learn about the committees in the UF Student Senate and what they can do for the students. Students will have the opportunity to learn about how to join the Senate, how to pass legislation, as well as how to get funding for student organizations…
USF a National Leader for Online Learning
University of South Florida
TAMPA, Fla. (Jan. 15, 2013) — The University of South Florida stands as a national leader in online education, according to newly released rankings by the Guide to Online Schools and U.S. News & World Report. Based on data compiled by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education, the Guide to Online Schools ranks USF 25th on its 2013 “best overall” list of the Top 30 nonprofit and for-profit schools offering high-quality, affordable online programs. It is USF’s first appearance on the annual index, now in its fourth year, and USF is the only Florida public university named among the nation’s best…
ESPN Analyst Lectures Wednesday
University of South Florida
TAMPA, Fla. (Jan. 15, 2013) – Motivational speaker, sports analyst and former NFL head coach Herm Edwards brings his passion and storytelling to the University of South Florida campus Wednesday. His talk, part of the University Lecture Series, will focus on the importance of striving for success by taking advantage of personal, inherent talents and available resources…
Exploring South Africa
University of South Florida
TAMPA, Fla. (Jan. 15, 2012) – An insider view of today’s South Africa will be delivered via dance, poetry, narrative and song by Mandisa Roeleene Haarhoff in “Crush Hopper: Exploring the journey of identity in post-Apartheid South Africa,” Jan. 17, 5 p.m. at the University of South Florida School of Music Concert Hall. Remarks and dialogue with the writer and performer about her autobiographical work will follow at 6:30 p.m., led by Patrick S. De Walt, a researcher and instructor in the USF College of Education. A “Global Fulbright Meet and Greet” from 7:15 to 8 p.m. concludes the evening…
Documentary on Happiness, Nigerian Peace Advocate Headline Valencia’s Four-Day Peace Event
Valencia News
ORLANDO – How do you find happiness – and is your inner peace contagious? Can Hollywood help promote peace? And what role does each of us have in creating a more peaceful world? Those are a few of the questions at the heart of Valencia College’s four-day Conversation on Peace, which will be held Jan. 28-31…
