State University System
Searches for key university presidents could get more scrutiny
Tampabay.com
Two of the state’s most important universities are about to choose new leaders — an already delicate exercise that could soon get more touchy. The new president of the University of Florida will lead the state’s flagship. Florida A&M University‘s leader will have the burden of pulling the state’s only historically black public university out of crisis. Here comes the extra wrench. The overseers of the state university system, who are supposed to leave hiring and firing decisions up to universities, now want a bigger role in the search process…
Civil rights leaders urge FAMU to consider candidates of all races for new president
Florida Times-Union
The Florida Civil Rights Association urged Florida A&M trustees Thursday to consider candidates of all races and ethnicities — not just African-Americans — in choosing a new president to lead Florida’s only public historically black university. James Ammons, president of FAMU since 2007, resigned Wednesday in a scandal over the hazing death of drum major Robert Champion in Orlando last fall and widespread criticism of the school’s management. FAMU trustees will meet Monday to discuss selecting a new leader.
FAMU alumni group says it wants to be involved in hiring of new president
Orlando Sentinel
Group should be involved in transition and president James Ammons should be allowed to stay until October, alumni group president says…
Resignation of FAMU President Ammons doesn’t end controversy
WFSU
Florida A&M University is preparing to launch another presidential search. It will be the third time in the in the last decade the school has had…
Florida Crystals research affiliate opens at FAU park
Bizjournals.com (blog)
The Research Park at Florida Atlantic University has signed up American Sugar Refining’s Global Technology and Innovation Center as a new tenant to occupy approximately 12,000 square feet…
Incentives lure sugar refiner to Boca
Miami Hurricanes (blog)
American Sugar Refining Inc., which claims to be the world’s largest sugar refiner, plans to bring its scientists to a new office in the Florida Atlantic University Research and Development Park next spring. The city is providing a $10,000 incentive to make it happen. The move will bring 10 new jobs to the city that pay at least $88,000 a year, according to city documents.
FAU moving SeaTech’s Dania classes to Boca Raton
Sun-Sentinel
The journey may soon end for a Dania Beach campus that helped establish Florida Atlantic University as a leader in ocean research and education. FAU has yet to announce any official plans to close its 13-year-old SeaTech Institute for Ocean and Systems …
FAU students learn ‘app’ design
WPTV
Seven teams of students designed applications for Droid phones, ones that help patients keep watch of medical symptoms, ones that help doctors keep track of prescriptions, and one that helps the handicapped get help during a natural disaster. But this isn’t just about apps. It’s about jobs. FAU is trying to keep its students on the cutting edge of an emerging industry…
FIU’s EcoAcademy offers campers a peak at the ocean blue
MiamiHerald.com
At Florida International University’s EcoAcademy, children and teenagers ages 6 through 16 spend the summers learning about the joys of the ocean blue — and the squishy, squiggly residents that live there.
Drama over Coconut Grove Playhouse fate drags on
MiamiHerald.com
Lopez-Cantera said Florida International University and Miami Dade College would have first dibs on the playhouse, which would go to the county next if those institutions did not want it…
State colleges kept hiring in the depths of downturn
Atlanta Journal Constitution
Florida State University laid off 60 people in 2010 and the University of Massachusetts Medical School laid off the same number a year later…
FSU preparing to reinstate major in anthropology
Tallahassee Democrat (blog)
Despite Gov. Rick Scott’s quip that Florida doesn’t need any more anthropology majors — the comment came as the governor was pushing science and technology degrees — FSU trustees are expected to approve reinstating the anthropology major at their next meeting in September, paving the way for it be back on the books in time for Spring 2013. Somewhere, Indiana Jones must be smiling…
FSU students, alums revive boxing club
Tallahassee Democrat (blog)
Within a few months about 18 other clubs formed on campuses around the country, including the University of Miami and the University of Florida to form a fledgling governing body, the United States Intercollegiate Boxing Association.
New bell tower to be focal point of student plaza at New College
Bradenton Herald
Students at New College of Florida will have a great meeting place in the near future. Workers recently began the reconstruction of the open space plaza in front of the Jane Bancroft Cook Library…
New College of Florida Begins Library Plaza Renovation and Bell …
The Bradenton Times
New College of Florida has begun renovation of the plaza in front of the Jane Bancroft Cook Library, a facility it shares with the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee. A key component of the project is the construction of a new bell tower underwritten by Beverly Koski, one of Sarasota’s leading philanthropists and community leaders.
Clean start: Green technology companies, united by ‘acceleration network …
Florida Today
The Florida Cleantech Acceleration Network has been formed to speed that process by cataloging advanced clean technologies in Central Florida and helping entrepreneurs get them into the commercial marketplace more quickly, all the better to create jobs…The network is funded federally and operated by the University of Central Florida in Orlando, the Technological Research and Development Authority in Melbourne and the statewide Florida Energy Systems Consortium…
Hotels fear feds will slash per diem in wake of scandal
Orlando Sentinel
Locally, any cutbacks might have the biggest effect on hotels in east Orange County, near the University of Central Florida, where a cluster of training-simulation businesses and military agencies, most based in Central Florida Research Park, draw large numbers of travelers…
Scott wants cancer care in Florida better orchestrated
Gainesville Sun
Scott issued the warning in a May 10 letter to University of Florida-affiliated Shands, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa and the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami.
Mother Fears Donations May Leave USF System
The Ledger
When Deborah Eaves died in 1988 at age 21, the University of South Florida set up a scholarship fund to honor her as the first student government president of the Lakeland campus…
Ex-Polytechnic Head Marshall Goodman Resigns From USF
The Ledger
Marshall Goodman, the former head of the defunct University of South Florida Polytechnic campus, has resigned from USF — putting an end to an internal investigation of his work while serving as regional chancellor…
Former USF Poly chancellor Marshall Goodman resigns from faculty position
Tampabay.com
Marshall Goodman — the former chancellor of the University of South Florida Polytechnic, who led the campus on a quest to independence, who made headlines for buying giant slides and Star Wars statues on the school’s dime, and who was being …
Former Poly chancellor resigns from USF
Tbo.com
Former USF Polytechnic Chancellor Marshall Goodman, a champion of the effort to split the campus from the University of South Florida, has resigned from the university.
State College System
WHTC partners with UWF and Chipola to offer help for unemployed …
Chipley Bugle
WHTC, UWF and Chipola College will enhance or add training in the fields of information technology and healthcare. Participants will earn industry certificates that represent portable skills recognized by employers nation-wide…
Chipola Center for the Arts holding ribbon-cutting
Jackson County Floridan
Chipola College staff members are dwarfed by the lobby area for the new 56000 square foot Center for the Arts building.
Bad data gave Daytona State low ranking for rising costs
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Daytona State College officials say a college worker mistakenly provided the wrong data when submitting information to the US Department of Education, …
Questions welcome for News-Journal candidate forums
Daytona Beach News-Journal
The News-Journal, with the generous help of Daytona State College and Stetson University in DeLand, is holding a series of four “meet-the-candidates/debate” …
Shortage of machine operators in Volusia, Flagler leads to class
Daytona Beach News-Journal
While the association’s goal this year is to spread the word that there are more than 400 manufacturers in the region and they are poised to grow, Daytona State College and the Center for Business Excellence, the Volusia-Flagler area’s workforce development agency, are trying to prime the job feeder system…
Daytona State College to offer solar course
Daytona Beach News-Journal
The Center for Business & Industry at Daytona State College is offering a five-day course in the basics of solar installation and solar technology…
SACS explains why Edison was put on probation
Fox 4
We’re now learning the reasons why Edison State College was placed on probation three weeks ago. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) is the group that decides whether Edison will stay accredited. Three weeks ago they placed the college on probation for violating seven of their core principles – including a lack of integrity…
Accrediting body: Edison College report on course substitutions …
Naples Daily News
Edison State College was not forthcoming with its accrediting body about the problems it faced with inappropriate course substitutions, according to a letter to the school from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.
Flagler College to amend classroom building proposal on Cordova
St. Augustine Record
Neighbors don’t like college’s proposal for new classroom building on Cordova Flagler College representatives last week asked St. Augustine zoning officials to delay a scheduled July 23 hearing on the school’s application for a zoning change to allow a …
Eight graduate Keys police academy
KeysNet
Eight graduating cadets of Florida Keys Community College‘s Basic Law Enforcement Academy celebrated both their completion of the 770-hour training program and the start of new careers as law enforcement officers at a graduation ceremony July 10 at the San Carlos Institute in Key West…
Ex-homeless raise crops for Miami restaurant
MiamiHerald.com
Tuyo sits atop the Miami Culinary Institute at Miami Dade College, but seemingly worlds away from the farmers who provide fine-diners their fresh greens.
A Head Start: The Early College Program Experience
NextGen Journal
SAS is a dual-enrollment secondary school, and the program allows students to attend Miami Dade College full-time to earn an associate’s degree by the time of graduation.
PSC to offer computer-based GED testing
Pensacola Business Journal
Pensacola State College is partnering with GED Testing Service to offer computer-based registration, scheduling and testing for adult learners.
Independent College and University System
Embry-Riddle team hailed on canine robot work
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students are helping the US Army come up with ideas for more advanced robots to keep soldiers and Marines out of harm’s way…
American Legion post to open at Hodges
NBC2 News
A local university is doing something no other college in the state has done. It will be opening an American Legion Post on campus. It’s a move to increase dwindling Legion ranks and to help veterans find a sense of come together. ”I think it’s important for veterans to have a place like that.” Rob Francway, Hodges student and veteran, said.
Yip Yap: Noted and Quoted FLHE Voices from Around the State
FAMU faces huge tasks
Sun-Sentinel
FAMU needs a leader. One who can work diligently to address clean up the significant mess Ammons leaves behind.
Our Opinion: It’s not over at FAMU
Tallahassee Democrat (blog)
Dr. Ammons seemed to be the perfect man to lead FAMU into the 21st century. He was a FAMU alumnus, and he was a calm and eminently likable leader.
FAMU should look outside for leadership
Tampabay.com
All Floridians are better off now that James Ammons has resigned as president of Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, the state’s only public historically black institution of higher learning.
Opinion: Florida’s business-friendly cred marred by tax giveaways
Sun-Sentinel
…This will probably sound a little blasphemous, but instead of continuing to throw money at businesses in the form of tax incentives, maybe Gov. Scott and big business would be better served by directing more of that DEO tax incentive money to select state university programs to entice private investment, much like the job-producing partnership envisioned between Florida Atlantic University and Scripps Florida. Imagine a state university system rebounding from the $300 million in cuts and the controversy surrounding ever-increasing tuition rates thanks to an infusion of tax incentives that could help both academia and business…
Abels: If Scott’s ACA wishes come true, poor will fend for themselves
Orlando Sentinel
A fundamental role for government is to address citizen needs that are not being met through our market economy. Today about 21 percent, or 4 million citizens, of the state of Florida do not have health insurance. Nationally, 16 percent are uninsured. Statistically, Florida is ranked just behind Texas as having the highest percentage of uninsured citizens… Michael Abels of DeLand is an instructor in the School of Public Administration at the University of Central Florida. He has been city manager for Longwood, Palm Bay and DeLand.
Markel & Miller: Bowling, as Bail Condition
New York Times
Pretrial release raises complicated legal and policy issues in every case. Still, our core concern is that many judicial release orders exhibit confusion about or disregard for the distinction between pretrial release and post-conviction punishment. Judges determining pretrial release are not authorized to act as social workers or agents of public retribution. They need to stop pretending otherwise…Dan Markel is a law professor at Florida State University. Eric J. Miller is a law professor at St. Louis University.
Williams: What does this column and President Lincoln have in common?
The Northwest Florida Daily News
One hundred fifty years ago on July 2, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed into law the Morrill Act, which created a nationwide network of public universities known as land-grant universities. The University of Florida was the university designated to be the State of Florida’s 1862 land-grant university…
AMU Student Dies in Single-Car Accident
The Ave Herald
The Ave Maria University community is mourning the loss of a popular 22-year-old student, Clayton Burroughs, who died in a car accident Friday morning on …
ERAU junior’s video makes cut for $25000 scholarship contest
Daytona Beach News-Journal
Dressed up as a cellphone using a box and spray paint, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University junior Constancia Malahias uses humor in a national video scholarship competition to convince people not to text and drive…
FAMU band member details hazing death of roommate to HBO Sports
CBSSports.com (blog)
A roommate of Florida A&M drum major Robert Champion, who died last year following a hazing ritual from other band members, told HBO’s Real Sports how Champion was literally beaten to death in the back of the band’s bus. Rikki Wills, Champion’s former roommate, spoke about what happened last November that led to Champion’s death.Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel debuts on HBO Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT. CBSSports.com obtained an advance copy of the segment reported by Real Sports correspondent Frank Deford…
Democrats see path to victory
Sun-Sentinel
“You look at how effective they are, if you’re a Democrat you’ve got to get pretty depressed,” said Kevin Wagner, a political scientist at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton…
A new twist for political forum
Lake City Reporter
Mike McKee, Director of Media and Public Information at Florida Gateway College, which hosts and co-sponsors the event with the Lake City Reporter, said the experience can be harrowing for candidates. “There’s a lot of pressure because you are on the air live, you are asked questions that you have no idea what they are and you have to respond with the people that you are running against,” said McKee, moderator of the event. “So the voter can compare the answers given by each candidate side by side by side.”
Hialeah native Michelle Aguirre crowned Miss Florida
MiamiHerald.com
Michelle Aguirre, a Hialeah native and Florida International University student, was crowned Miss Florida Saturday night at The Westin Diplomat Hotel in Davie.
EXCLUSIVE: Democrats Dump Opposition Research On Top Vice Presidential …
ABC News (blog)
American Bridge highlights reports that [Marco] Rubio obtained no-bid employment contracts for himself at two state agencies — Florida International University and Jackson Memorial Hospital — when they faced budget cutbacks. Rubio was hired to teach political science classes and conduct research part time for $69,000 a year at Florida International University despite the school never posting the job publicly and cutting 200 other jobs that year.
New poll: Barack Obama and Mitt Romney close in battleground Florida
VOXXI (blog)
The reversal of fortune is important also because Florida’s vote could foretell the national election, said Florida International University Professor Dario Moreno, a noted pollster and political analyst. “Florida is going to stay intense through Election Day,” Moreno told VOXXI. “The national polls are close. Florida polls are close. And I just think the way Florida goes, the country will go.” Not only is it a battleground state, Florida is also what many observers call a bellwether state with high concentrations of desirable, trending voter blocs — black voters, Hispanic voters, women, retirees. “Florida really reflects the country as a whole,” Moreno said. “Florida is a dash more Republican than the country as a whole, but not a lot. Both candidates are definitely competing in this state.”
FSCJ professor uses unique tools of teaching
Florida Times-Union
Steve Piscitelli said he lives a simple life. And in some respects he does…He teaches at Florida State College at Jacksonville, where he’s known for using metaphors, acronyms (PRIDE: know your purpose, act with responsibility, integrity, discipline and equilibrium) and the occasional paper-cutting exercise to illustrate his points.
Legally blind contestant is a first for Miss Florida USA pageant
CNN
[Connor] Boss, a freshman at Florida State University, graduated high school with a 4.2 grade point average. “All of her tests ended up being read to her, even the SAT and ACT for college were read to her,” said her mother, Traci Boss.
Penn State Pledges Fresh Oversight
Wall Street Journal
Former Florida State University coach Bobby Bowden—the second-winningest coach in major-college history, behind Mr. Paterno—along with other critics has called for the statue of Mr. Paterno to be removed…
Boca Raton wants its own Birthright Israel bus
Sun-Sentinel
“We need a new leader base, and sending people to Israel is the best way to do that,” said committee co-chairman Jon Sahn, whose daughter, Erin, went on a Birthright trip through Florida State University in May.
Office Depot internship program grooms future merchandisers
Palm Beach Post
Lynn University Business Dean Tom Kruczek said an internship gives a graduate a competitive edge in this job market. “It’s more important than ever right now,” Kruczek said.”It can be the door to a permanent job, it can enhance your education.” The school takes an active role in matching students with internships and coaches them on interviewing skills, proper conduct and networking…
In unsettled times, their example shines through
MiamiHerald.com
And at Miami-Dade College, Julio Calderón, a 23-year-old civil engineering major, continued his activism on behalf of Dreamers — undocumented students who consider themselves American and are hoping to gain legal status one day…
NWF State names Ross new Athletic Director
The Northwest Florida Daily News
Before looking forward with a new athletic director, officials at Northwest Florida State College took a look inward to find the right man for the job. On Friday, a 3-month search that included 35 applicants ended as NWF State promoted interim AD Ramsey Ross to the position of Athletic Director. Ross will succeed former AD Mickey Englett, who retired in April after 22 years at the school.
Are you a digital dinosaur?
Sun-Sentinel
At age 29, Diana Pierre-Louis sometimes feels like she’s running a digital marathon to stay current with social media trends, even though it’s her job as a digital media specialist at Palm Beach State College in Boca Raton…
Migrant Workers More Reliable Than Foreign Investors in Tough Times
Wall Street Journal (blog)
“Even as the global economic downturn continues to wreak havoc on world markets, the deployment of laborers from the Philippines carries on unabated,” said Ty Matejowsky, an associate professor of the department of anthropology at the University of Central Florida, in the report. “Most OFW households remain largely shielded from the crisis’s more adverse effects as the amount of money remitted home trends increasingly upwards.”
Hotel industry worries about what government is willing to pay for a room
Orlando Sentinel
“As far as providing room-nights, the U.S. government is the biggest customer [nationwide],” said Scott Smith, a lodging instructor at the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management…
NYC murder charge cites victim ‘torture’
MiamiHerald.com
A University of Florida law school graduate intended to cruelly torture his ex-girlfriend when he beat and strangled her, a prosecutor said in announcing that the man has been charged with first-degree murder. Jason Bohn initially was arrested on a second-degree murder charge, but Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said Friday that the upgraded charge was included in a 10-count indictment. The legal language in the new top count alleges the defendant acted in an “especially cruel and wanton manner” and intended to “torture” the victim inside their New York City apartment, the prosecutor said. Danielle Thomas, 27, a native of Danville, Ky., attended both the University of Florida and University of Central Florida, where she was a member of the Eta Sigma Delta Honor Society, according to her obituary in The Advocate-Messenger of Danville.
The unraveling of Rudy Eugene, aka the causeway face attacker
MiamiHerald.com
And because this is very much a story that makes no sense, religion is being used as a framework for understanding,” says Michelle Gonzalez Maldonado, a University of Miami associate professor of religious studies.
USF to explore genetics frontier
Tbo.com
The University of South Florida has created a Personalized Medicine Institute and hired [Stephen] Liggett from the University of Maryland to put it together and elevate it to national prominence…
Flagler, Volusia key in District 6 race for Congress
Daytona Beach News-Journal
“We’re seeing the same thing here in the Tampa area,” said Susan MacManus, a political science professor at the University of South Florida, adding that the intense focus on the presidential race moves candidates in less-prominent races to work harder.
Analysis: US governors make risky political bet on healthcare funds
Reuters
At a minimum, Democrats will see the healthcare issue as a big plus for them,” said Susan MacManus, political science professor at the University of South Florida.
Educators aim to excite students in science
Tampabay.com
“A lot of assessments and curriculum are already built around it,” said Gerry Meisels, director of the Coalition for Science Literacy at the University of South Florida.
About 1000 from Tampa area turn out for Dr. Oz physicals
Tbo.com
Early Thursday, [Mehmet] Oz led a brief pep rally with the 100 volunteers, who included Pepin Heart Hospital employees and students from the University of South Florida Health and Hillsborough Community College medical programs.
Florida KidCare growth surges
Tbo.com
“There are a lot of families who never realize this was available and they are forgoing prescriptions and appointments and dental treatments,” said Jodi Ray, project director of Florida Covering Kids & Families at the University of South Florida …
Man accused of speeding, crashing stolen car on UF campus
Gainesville Sun
A Newberry man who crashed into a planter at the Hub on the University of Florida campus early Saturday morning was later arrested on a charge of stealing his sister’s car, police reported. Bennie Lee McCray, 29, of 245 Newberry Lane, was charged with grand theft auto and burglary for allegedly stealing an orange Nissan 350 ZX and breaking into an SUV to get the keys to the Nissan, according to an arrest report by the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office…
Florida poised for election showdown
The News-Press
A study co-authored by University of Florida political science professor Daniel A. Smith found more than half of the nearly 1.1 million blacks who voted in the 2008 general election in Florida did so during the early-voting period…
George Stoney, Documentary Filmmaker, Mentor, Dies at 96
The Moderate Voice
“George Stoney was one of the pioneers of documentary film, bringing his early work and training as a journalist to enrich the genre,” said Jane Daugherty, a family friend who teaches journalism at the University of Miami.
Treasure Coast Hispanic voters divided on Romney, Obama
TCPalm
The economy might be a bigger factor than immigration for undecided Hispanic voters, said Susan Purcell, director of the University of Miami’s Center for Hemispheric Policy and an expert in Hispanic voters…
New candidate info is up, and new board announced
Florida Times-Union
Ryan Thompson: An editor at the University of North Florida’s student newspaper, he is helping the Washington Post track media coverage in swing states…
RNC visitors to be greeted by Tampa Bay ‘elephant herd’ sculptures
Tampabay.com
In late June, printer Carl Cowden III unveiled his tribute to Tampa, featuring images of Busch Gardens, University of Tampa and an Ybor City street car. The mural-style work hangs at Tampa Bay & Company’s visitor center at Channelside.
The second time around
Tbo.com
This go-round he will tweak a few details, notably painting an additional University of Tampa minaret and sketching the palm trees more to his liking. “I’ve always wanted to redo it,” Cowden said.
Ex-Director of Student Activities at Warner University in Lake Wales faces…
Orlando Sentinel
The former Director of Student Activities at Warner University in Lake Wales faces child pornography charges as a part of Project Safe Childhood a joint initiative between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The U.S Department of Justice said Clinton Duane Pancake, 37, of Riverview sent 14 child pornography images to undercover agents in March.
Former Warner University Official Faces Porn Charges
The Ledger
A former Warner University director of student activities is facing federal child pornography charges, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa. Clinton Duane Pancake, 37, of Riverview is accused of distributing 14 image of child pornography to an undercover agent in March, the release states.
Releases and Web Stories
Manatee Spotlight July 15, 2012
The Bradenton Times
Effective July 1, 2012, the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee (USFSM) announced the newly named College of Hospitality and Technology Leadership…
UWF Foundation announces board of directors
Pensacola Business Journal
The University of West Florida Foundation announced today new members of its board of directors for 2012-13. The board supports UWF’s mission and programs by encouraging private gifts and through the financial oversight of the foundation’s investments and annual budget…
