June 2012 Southern Association of Colleges and Schools – Commission on Colleges (SACS-COC) Accreditation Actions and Disclosures – Posted online June 26
State University System
Student Protests and Death Threats: The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Gets Personal at FAU
New Times Broward-Palm Beach
The dormitory hallways at Florida Atlantic University were uncomfortably quiet. By 3 p.m. Friday, many residents had left to begin their weekends. The air conditioner thrummed loudly in their absence. A stale odor, mixed with the chemical sting of cleaning products, struck 21-year-old Gabi Aleksinko as she and her friends made their way from door to door…
FGCU to appeal tuition cap, dangerously low on reserves
Naples Daily News
Administrators at Florida Gulf Coast University plan to appeal a state-level decision limiting the school’s 2012-13 tuition hike to 12 percent. The university’s board of trustees voted 11-0 Monday to ask the Board of Governors to reconsider last week’s vote denying FGCU’s request for a 14 percent tuition raise…
FGCU appeals to state for more money
WZVN-TV
Late Tuesday afternoon, Florida Gulf Coast University filed an appeal with state regulators to allow it to raise tuition by 14 percent. The state originally capped the raise at 12-percent…
Florida International University gets $1M gift for women in …
Bizjournals.com
Florida International University’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication received a $1 million gift to establish the Lillian Lodge Kopenhaver Center for the Advancement of Women in Communication…
Florida’s ban on university travel to Cuba stands
MiamiHerald.com
It was challenged by Florida International University’s Faculty Senate and several individual plaintiffs…
Florida losing confidence in economy
MiamiHerald.com
The University of Florida’s monthly reading of consumer confidence throughout the state took a dive in June, with all of the indicators down from May…
U.S. and Florida consumers’ confidence declines
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Floridians were no different, with confidence in the Sunshine State falling even more proportionately, according to a University of Florida survey…
UF named top party school for the decade
Orlando Sentinel
Gators know how to party. According to bestcollegesonline.org, the University of Florida ranks as the top party school for the past decade. The site’s rankings were based on sports success, alcohol consumption, placement on annual party-school lists, and the size of the school’s fraternity and sorority system. The list cited the Gators’ national championships and devoted football fans…
State College System
More Minority Students Get Associate’s Degrees in Florida
StateImpact Florida
Sixteen Florida colleges are among the top 100 producers of associate degrees in the country, according to a Community College Week report.
Broward College approves no tuition increase
Sun-Sentinel
A week after students at Florida Atlantic University were slapped with a hefty tuition increase, Broward College went in a different direction: No increase at all…
Pay boost, tuition hike at CF
Ocala
All College of Central Florida employees with a good work record will be getting a “modest” pay increase effective Monday, and students will face a tuition hike beginning in the fall semester, the CF Board of Trustees decided on Tuesday…
Edison College expected to finalize $340000 contract with new president
Naples Daily News
Trustees at Edison State College are slated to approve a salary of about $340,000 including benefits and a July 31 start date for incoming president Jeffery Allbritten during today’s board meeting…
Edison State College trustees approve new president’s contract
The News-Press
Trustees at Edison State College today approved a contract with incoming President Jeff Allbritten that pays him $275000 annually…
Edison State College tweaks its academic menu
The News-Press
Edison State College is modernizing several certificate and associate programs to better reflect changing times and technology.
Hillsborough commissioners to discuss Regent’s 7-year repayment …
Tampabay.com
It also doesn’t include provisions if another entity assumes control of the center — such as the county or the building’s owner, Hillsborough Community College.
NWF State College AmeriCorps seeks members
Destin Log
The AmeriCorps program at Northwest Florida State College seeks new members for its educational and environmental mission. Members receive a modest taxable living allowance and educational award in exchange for a set number of service hours to the local AmeriCorps mission…
Why Doubling Student Loan Interest Rates Would Hurt Latinos
StateImpact Florida
Student leaders and administrators from Palm Beach State College and Miami-Dade College North are joining Florida PIRG to call for a bipartisan bill.
Pledge Aids Polk State College’s Nursing Program; Full-Time …
The Ledger
Polk State College‘s nursing program is adding a new full-time faculty member with money from a $400,000 pledge from the Winter Haven Hospital Foundation…
Independent Colleges and Universities
The Cost of Saving Ave Maria from Obamacare’s Anti-Conscience Mandate
Heritage.org
Last month Ave Maria University, a Catholic institution in Naples, FL, dropped its student health insurance plan because of the moral costs that the Department of Health and Human Service’s anti-conscience mandate imposed on the school. The mandate requires all insurance plans to cover “preventative” services, including abortion-inducing drugs, contraceptives, and sterilization.
Florida Tech Still #1 Collegiate Surfing Team in Florida
Brevard Times
The Florida Institute of Technology’s Surf Team remained ahead of the three other Florida collegiate teams competing in the National Scholastic Surfing …
DeLand historic board chairman resigns in protest
Daytona Beach News-Journal
The chairman of the city’s Historic Preservation Board has resigned in protest of the City Commission’s decision to allow Stetson University to tear down historic Stover Theatre…
For Profit and Career Colleges
Romney’s Full Sail, Washington Post’s Kaplan Among Colleges Flunking Federal Test
Huffington Post
…Full Sail University, praised on the campaign trail by Mitt Romney for its use of innovative strategies to “hold down the cost of their education,” when it turns out that Full Sail is the third most expensive college in America. It also turns out that top executives at Full Sail and its part owner, private equity firm TA Associates, are among the top donors to Romney’s campaign and Super PAC, and that an investment firm started by Romney and his son has a business relationship with TA…
Yip Yap: Noted and Quoted FLHE Voices from Around the State
Editorial: Best wishes for state universities
St. Augustine Record
The following editorial appeared in The Gainesville Sun on Sunday: Gov. Rick Scott has a wonderful wish list for Florida’s State University System. We would even call it visionary…
Howard: University Boards of Trustees Make Academic Decisions with No …
StateImpact Florida
Every state university in Florida has a board trustees that makes all the big financial and academic policy decisions. But most of the trustees don’t have any background in education…
Letter: The bare facts on Title IX
Tbo.com
I applaud The Tampa Tribune for its recent series of articles about the 40th anniversary of Title IX and the impact that it had on women’s sports in the United States and in Tampa…Tom Feaster – Tampa
Opinion: Should UF, FSU be able to raise tuition more than 15 percent a year?
Palm Beach Post (blog)
On Monday Florida State University President Eric Barron told Gov. Rick Scott that FSU is becoming a “farm team” for out-of-state schools that hire away its …
It looks like sweetener, but FAU’s packet is for your health
Sun-Sentinel
Next to the familiar pink, blue and yellow sweeteners at Florida Atlantic University‘s coffee shops sits a new green assortment with a surprising message: taste free. What’s sweet about Vplenish, a product invented on campus, is not the taste, but the health benefits, according to its founder, Steven Sponder, 49, of Boca Raton, and some student samplers…
Local business schools are outlet for young entrepreneurs
Naples Daily News
When she put together a business plan and prepared to launch her first company, Sandra Kaunaui didn’t have the option to tap into the Internet for resources or study entrepreneurship at school…At Florida Gulf Coast University’s Center for Entrepreneurship, the former financial business leader helps young entrepreneurs get their business ventures on their feet — an option much more within reach because of the new resources available to them.
FIT Awarded $250K Contract For Road Tire Research
Brevard Times
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) has granted a $250,000 research contract to Paul Cosentino, professor of civil engineering at Florida Institute of Technology. The two-year contract calls for Cosentino’s research team to determine how ground tire rubber (GTR), which is manufactured from recycled tires, can be blended with roadbed soils from around Florida to determine how to improve its engineering properties.
Student Infrared Imaging Competition Sponsored by DRS …
Brevard Times
The Florida Institute of Technology team of electrical engineering graduate students, Jenusha Shanmugam and Mohanapriya Swaminathan, have been recognized for their participation in a Student Infrared Imaging Competition sponsored by the DRS Technologies RSTA Group.
Hookah Smokers Putting Health in Jeopardy, FIU Researcher Says
NBC 6 Miami
Hookah smokers are putting their health in jeopardy, according to researchers at Florida International University. ”On average, a hookah smoker will inhale 100 times more smoke than a cigarette smoker in a single cigarette,” said Dr. Wasim Maziak, who has spent years researching the dangers of hookah smoking.
How alligator holes benefit the Florida Everglades
EarthSky
Adam Rosenblatt is a Ph.D. candidate at Florida International University who is studying the American alligator and their role in Florida Everglades ecosystems. He is one of this year’s three winners of the Ecological Society of America’s Graduate Student Policy Award. He described to the Ecological Society of America how American alligators can have a large impact on ecosystems in the Everglades because of their role as large predators…
Floridians’ consumer confidence sinks amid fears of stalled national …
Sun-Sentinel (blog)
The state’s plummeting consumer confidence didn’t surprise Jorge Salazar-Carrillo, an economics professor who directs the Center of Economic Research at Florida International University. ”I’m surprised it is as high as it is,” said Salazar-Carrillo, adding “I think the economy took a wrong turn at the beginning of the year. Consumers are not getting jobs or they are working fewer hours.”
Supreme Court decision could mean new sentence hearings for …
Naples Daily News
“It’s a landmark decision that was expected based on the previous decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court,” said Paolo Annino, a Florida State University law professor who specializes in children’s legal issues. “We know that kids are different, and therefore they need to be treated differently in the sentencing process.”
Debby downgraded to depression after hitting Florida
CNN
Florida State University researcher Jeff Chanton said the area’s low-lying terrain contributes to the misery. ”The coastal gradient — the rise of the land — is very, very low here,” Chanton said. “If you were to go swimming here and walk out from shore, you could walk out half a mile.” That means a relatively small storm surge can push water “tens or hundreds of feet onshore,” he said.
Scott gives MacNamara ‘the triple crown’
The Florida Current
Gov. Rick Scott said farewell to chief of staff Steve MacNamara Monday night, presenting him the “triple crown” of Capitol clout at a reception attended by more than 150 of Tallahassee’s past and present power brokers. MacNamara, who resigned last month amid a controversy over state contracting decisions, said he will move to Vermont next week with his wife, Liberty, who has a job there. He said he will return to his teaching post at Florida State University next summer…
Longboat Key resident named to New College board
Bradenton Herald
George Skestos, a resident of Longboat Key and a retired businessman, has been appointed to the New College of Florida board of trustees by the Florida Board of Governors for the State University System. Skestos founded Homewood Corp., a residential building company based in Columbus, Ohio, and also is a former trustee for Ohio State University. His term runs through January 2013. Skestos is replacing the late J. Robert Peterson.
Nova Law wins round with professor fired over gun fears
The National Law Journal
A former tenured professor at Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad Law Center is fighting to get his job back after university administrators fired him amid concerns that he might bring a gun to campus. Anthony Chase has been battling with the Davie, Fla., school in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida since June 7, 2011, when he filed suit alleging breach of contract and violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
College loan rate deal may ease pain for Florida students expecting …
Palm Beach Post
“Seventy-percent of our students have some form of financial aid,” said Maria Vallejo, provost at Palm Beach State College…
Young Advocate for Immigrants Killed in Weather Related Car Crash
The Ledger
Immigrants in Florida lost an energetic and charismatic young advocate with the death of Maria Isabel Barajas-Martinez in a traffic accident Sunday. Barajas-Martinez, 21, a student at Polk State College, was a leader in the push to establish rights for undocumented immigrants. In 2010, when she was less than a year out of high school, she created an organization called Young American Dreamers, which raised funds to award college scholarships to immigrant students…
NBA gets high marks in report
ESPN
The University of Central Florida‘s Institute of Diversity and Ethics in Sport gave the NBA an A-plus for racial hiring and A-minus for gender hiring in its annual Racial and Gender Report Card. The league received an overall grade of A…”I think everybody else changed over the years because of pressure, but I think the NBA started with David Stern to apply its own internal pressure to make the league office and teams look more like America,” [Richard] Lapchick said. “Because he’s been so respected for so long from pretty much everybody involved in NBA and in other leagues, it has heightened his status even further. They know what his priorities are and try to implement them.”
Sarasota-Manatee growth is slowing, sales data show
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
“You’ve got these bursts of activity, then things start to decelerate again,” said [Sean] Snaith, a University of Central Florida economist…
University of Florida Swimmer Elizabeth Beisel Wins 2nd Trip to Summer Olympics
NBC 6 Miami
University of Florida swimmer Elizabeth Beisel earned her second straight trip to the Olympics with a win in the U.S. Olympic swimming trials Monday night…
Presidents Green Light College Football Playoff
Wall Street Journal
College football will finally have a playoff. Come 2014, the BCS is dead. A committee of university presidents on Tuesday approved the BCS commissioners’ plan for a four-team playoff to start in the 2014 season… Photo Caption: Charles Steger, center, president of Virginia Tech, smiles with Gary Ransdell, left, president of Western Kentucky University, Duane Nellis, president of the University of Idaho, and Bernie Machen, president of the University of Florida.
Floridians’ consumer confidence sinks amid fears of stalled national …
Orlando Sentinel
“In June Floridians reversed their optimism about their future finances,” said Chris McCarty, director of UF‘s Survey Research Center in the Bureau of Economic and Business Research. “The decline was across age and income groups, and did not reflect a specific policy change.”
Gator madness strikes at swim trials
ESPN (blog)
Rookie Olympic men’s coach Gregg Troy of the University of Florida started his tenure off with a bang Monday night, as four swimmers with Gators connections punched their tickets to London…
How interns, employers can benefit from internships
MiamiHerald.com
“You’re getting the thinking of a generation you don’t currently employ,” says Mary Young, director of the University of Miami’s Sanford L. Ziff Graduate Career …
One of Us: UNF original faculty member retires after 40 years
Florida Times-Union (blog)
Last Friday afternoon, Dale Clifford went through the books lining the shelves of her office at the University of North Florida…After 40 years at UNF, Clifford, 66, will retire this week, becoming an associate professor emerita. With her retirement, only one member of the original faculty, Lou Woods, who teaches economics and geography, is still at UNF.
Challenges ahead for new Florida surgeon general Armstrong
MiamiHerald.com (blog)
Dr. [John] Armstrong, hired away from the University of South Florida, is the second surgeon general since Gov. Rick Scott took office 18 months ago…
Florida considers stopping Voter Participation Center’s registration …
Tampabay.com
For Seth McKee, a political science professor at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, the flap over the Voter Participation Center registration drive fits a pattern. “It’s a short-term strategy the Republicans have,” McKee said. “They can’t grow their base, which, demographically, is an overwhelmingly white party. So they’re doing what they can to whittle down the voters most likely to support the other party through the legal process.”
Debby’s damaged beaches may hurt tourism industry
Tampabay.com
“This storm is really something,” said Ping Wang, a University of South Florida geology professor whose Coastal Research Laboratory has been documenting Debby’s impact on the sandy shores. The storm “induced severe and widespread beach and dune erosion along the Pinellas County beaches.”
Releases and Web Stories
TEDxISU Is Free to Public at Florida Tech July 6
Sacramento Bee
MELBOURNE, Fla., June 26, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – ”We are thrilled that TEDx has come here to offer the greatest gathering of international speakers for a single event that we have ever held on campus,” said Guy Boy, Florida Tech university professor and site chair of the International Space University-Space Studies Program (ISU-SSP12) Florida Tech-KSC local organizing committee.
AmeriPOD to provide prefabricated bathroom pods at Florida International University
MarketWatch (press release)
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J., June 26, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — AmeriPOD, a New Jersey based manufacturer of factory built bathroom pods, will be partnering with Moss & Associates out of Ft. Lauderdale Florida on the expansion of Florida International’s student housing by providing bathroom pods for this project. Florida International University (F.I.U.) was looking to provide additional options for students to live on campus, and selected Moss & Associates to help expand its campus residential community.
St. Thomas University Hires and Expands Leadership Team
MarketWatch (press release)
MIAMI, June 26, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Miami’s St. Thomas University announced the appointment of two new executive-level professionals to its Office of University Advancement. Jeffrey Robison has joined St. Thomas as Director of Development, bringing thirty years’ development experience, including five university capital campaigns for which he raised $1.7 billion. Over the last fifteen years, Jeff has served as the Vice President for Advancement at the University of South Florida and Case Western Reserve University as well as the President of the Florida State University Foundation.
Fitch Rates University of Central Florida’s 2012A Parking Facility Revs ‘AA-’
MarketWatch (press release)
NEW YORK, Jun 21, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Fitch Ratings assigns an ‘AA-’ rating to $7.4 million parking facility revenue bonds series 2012A, to be issued by the State of Florida Board of Governors. The bonds will be issued on behalf of the University of Central Florida (UCF). The series 2012A bonds are expected to be sold competitively as early as the first week of July 2012.
UF: Consumer confidence in Florida drops four points in June
University of Florida
Consumer confidence among Floridians sank four points this month, after jumping four points to 78 in May, according to a University of Florida survey…
University of Florida astronomer reports rare case of gravitational lensing
University of Florida
“When I first saw it, I kept staring at it, thinking it would go away,” said University of Florida astronomer Anthony Gonzalez, lead author of the study announcing the discovery…
University Of Miami Marine School Tries Raising Mahi Mahi
PerishableNews (press release)
Most people like to eat them and there’s more commercial effort to harvest them than ever before. The aquaculture program at University of Miami’s Rosenstiel …
