State University System
Colleges want ‘stopouts’ to finish
The News-Press
Florida colleges and universities have continued developing a plan to boost completion rates, but it has nothing to do with current students. Institutions are hoping to reach out to adults with college credit under their belts, but not enough to qualify for a degree. In academia, that group is called “stopouts,” those who start college before being sidetracked with work, family, military service or financial obligations…On Wednesday, the National Commission on Higher Education Attainment, comprised of 18 college presidents, will release a report issuing recommendations to improve college completion rates across all levels of American higher education.
New athletic dorms provide FSU with necessary utilities to compete
Florida Flambeau
The residents of the Athletic Residence Hall won’t be 100 percent student athletes as one might believe. NCAA rules only allow a maximum of 49 percent at such venues, leaving the rest of the space for non-student athletes…
West Palm Beach wants input in digital arts decision
Palm Beach Post
City officials are pressing for more say in persuading a statewide university oversight board to keep Florida State University’s digital arts program in West Palm Beach, now that its fate is in the hands of a yet unnamed committee.
Anonymous Twitter accounts post UF women’s cleavage
The Independent Florida Alligator
There’s a new “boobment” sweeping across universities. Honing in on football and sexual fantasy, a new twitter account, @UF_Boobs, is leaving football players and fans panting. The trend started as #kuboobs at the University of Kansas. Other schools soon jumped on the bandwagon, including UF, to show some cleavage. “Representing the best boobs in the SEC,” according to the account, the new page has tweeted about 3,600 times and has gained about 2,900 followers who want to catch a glimpse. Another account associated with the Gators, @Gatorboobs, has also sprung up on the Web, posting pictures of women to its 1,000 followers since Jan. 15.
State College System
Evolution or Mission Creep?
Inside Higher Ed
…A few community colleges in Florida became eligible to issue four-year degrees in 2001, but a 2008 law opened the floodgates for all the state’s two-year institutions. The legislation was controversial, spawning widespread worries about the state’s community colleges morphing into four-year institutions that would compete with neighboring universities. Yet while 22 community colleges in Florida have begun offering four-year degrees, those fears have not materialized. And even former critics acknowledge that community colleges have added bachelor’s degrees judiciously and where they are needed…
Double Shooting In Cocoa
Brevard Times
Two women have been shot in an apartment complex on Clearlake Road across from the Brevard Community College campus in Cocoa, Florida around noon today, according to dispatchers. One of the women was airlifted by medical helicopter from the scene with multiple gun shot wounds.
Edison State’s Collier campus growing
NBC2 News
There’s a lot of construction happening at Edison State College‘s Collier campus. One of the oldest buildings is getting a makeover. It’s part of a big effort to expand the school’s presence in Southwest Florida…
Deputies: Man hiding in woods raped woman near Valencia College
Central Florida News 13
A woman in her 20s was walking alone along Valencia College Lane around 10:30 p.m. Sunday when someone grabbed her, forced her into a wooded area and sexually assaulted her…
Deputies search east Orange neighborhood where woman was raped
Orlando Sentinel
Deputies are canvassing an east Orange County neighborhood where a woman was raped late Sunday near Valencia College Lane…
Woman dragged into bushes, raped near Valencia College
WFTV
Late Monday afternoon police released a composite sketch of a man they said dragged a woman into bushes near Valencia College Lane and raped her late Sunday night…
Independent Colleges and Universities
Students, nonprofits partner in PhilAdthropy marathon
Sun-Sentinel
The University of Miami School of Communication holds its Fourth Annual PhilADthropy event Feb. 8-9, a 25-hour marathon.
University of Tampa Students Making a Difference
WTSP 10 News
The garden at Academy Prep of Tampa received a helping hand from students at the University of Tampa, there to honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King…
For Profit and Career Colleges
Death of college dean in tow truck accident shocks community
MiamiHerald.com
Days after the death of a Keiser University dean in a freak accident, a community struggles to figure out what went wrong.
Tow-truck death investigation may have been complicated by police …
Sun-Sentinel
What began as a report of a minor injury stemming from a run-in with a tow truck driver has turned into a traffic homicide investigation that may be complicated by police delay in securing what now may be the scene of a crime. At the heart of the probe is the death of a Keiser University official who was apparently run over by his own car as he tried to prevent it from being towed …
Yip Yap: Noted and Quoted FLHE Voices from Around the State
Who Ever Knew Universities Harbor Such a Sad Lot?
Florida Voices
Florida once had a howling wolfpack of higher education reporters competing for scoops about small-time shenanigans. These days, the education beat is pretty much on life support. And in the absence of swift and sure journalism justice, the shenanigans are morphing into national scandals…
FAU gets $3 million endowment gift from doctor at medical school
Palm Beach Post
When Mort Levitt graduated from Duke Medical School in 1972, he got an unusual present. “My parents sat me down and told me they were setting up a trust that would make me a beneficiary, with the remainder designated to a medical program,” said Levitt, chairman of the integrated medical science department and a teacher of clinical biomedical science at Florida Atlantic University’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine…
One Today: Presidential Inaugural Poet and FIU Alumnus – Richard Blanco
FIU News
Today, two-time FIU alumnus Richard Blanco joined a very short list of great American poets, including Robert Frost and Maya Angelou, who have had the honor of being selected as inaugural poets. Blanco, who holds an undergraduate degree in engineering and a master’s degree in creative writing from FIU, recited One Today, an original poem he wrote for President Obama’s second inauguration.
Local Colleges Offer Help for Students Ailing From Flu Symptoms
News Chief
Florida Southern College takes pride in its clinic set-up, said Rob Tate, vice-president for advancement. ”Our Student Health Center is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday,” he said. It’s also open on weekends from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. A nurse practitioner who can prescribe medication is available. Flu shots are available for students there as well, Tate said. ”On the more emotional level, as far as nurturing goes, there are resident advisors in the dorms, and roommates can go to the cafeteria, maybe get them some soup. And we have a convenience store on campus,” he said.
Floridians celebrate Obama inauguration
Sun Sentinel
And among the dozens of South Florida students to witness this piece of history will be one from Boca Raton who looks remarkably like the man taking the oath. ”He’s my inspiration,” said Eric Gooden, 24, who served as a stand-in for Obama at rehearsals for a presidential debate at Lynn University last fall. “I look at him as a motivation, because of his politics and because he is also biracial.” ”Even in D.C.,” Gooden said, “three people have come up to me and said, `Has anybody told you that you look like President Obama?’”
Chamber of commerce announces Foy Shaw scholarship
Crestview News Bulletin
The memory of Foy Shaw, the late former mayor and one of the founders of the Crestview Area Chamber of Commerce, lives on with an educational scholarship named for the community leader. Area high school seniors planning to further their studies after graduation may apply for the new $1,000 Foy Shaw Memorial Scholarship. Shaw, who was passionate about educating area youth, helped establish a Crestview campus for present-day Northwest Florida State College. He served on the college’s scholarship foundation in the 1980s…
Volunteers Paint Community Center For National Day Of Service
NorthEscambia.com
“They do good things here for the children,” said volunteer Rico Simmons from Pensacola State College’s Student Government Association…
Student arrested for staging armed robbery
The Oracle
Former student body president candidate and senior majoring in economics Alan Ethington was arrested last week on charges of grand theft and scheming to defraud a financial institution. Ethington, a teller at Bank of America, recognized during the 2012 student body presidential election campaign for his signature top hat, bow tie and platform to build a stadium in place of Greek Village, was arrested after he reportedly aided Marcus Halbert, who graduated from USF in 2012, in staging an armed robbery of the Bank of America on N. Florida Avenue. Both confessed to detectives, according to TBO.com…
University of Tampa student hurt in hit and run
WTSP 10 News
Vincent Lanci was crossing Howard Avenue just south of North A Street early Sunday morning when he was hit by a gray or silver Acura according to Tampa police. The 21-year-old’s friends and family call him “Vinnie.” Vinnie’s sister, mother, and cousin can’t bear to be away from his bedside at Tampa General Hospital for a moment. They’re hoping for healing, and for answers.
