The administration of the State University System Board of Governors meets at noon today. Chairman Dean Colson, Vice Chairman Morteza “Mori” Hosseini, and Chancellor Frank Brogan will meet in the Turlington Building, 325 W. Gaines St., Suite 1614, Tallahassee.
State University System
Hazing death serves as tragic catalyst for change at FAMU
Dailyrecord.com
On Nov. 19, 2011, Larry Robinson was driving home to Tallahassee, Fla., from Washington, D.C., after a successful 18-month stint as an assistant secretary at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It was a Saturday and the Florida A&M faithful were in Orlando for the annual Florida Classic football game, pumped to see the “often imitated, but never duplicated” Marching 100 perform at halftime…
Memorial to mark one year since FAMU hazing death
Los Angeles Times
On Monday night, Champion’s parents will host a memorial service in Decatur, Ga., the family’s hometown. Champion graduated from Southwest DeKalb high school there…
On anniversary of FAMU drum major’s death, his parents target hazing
SportingNews.com
The last promise Pam Champion made to her son was that she’d attend Saturday’s game at the Citrus Bowl. She didn’t. And she wasn’t the only one. The crowd of 32,317 was half the usual size for a game between Florida A&M and Bethune-Cookman. The big reason was FAMU’s band was absent, and everyone remembered the reason behind that…
Former Board of Governors chairwoman tapped to lead Florida Polytechnic
MiamiHerald.com
Ava Parker has resigned her seat on the board overseeing state universities in order to accept the position of interim chief operating officer at Florida Polytechnic University. Parker has served on the Board of Governors for about a decade and was chairwoman last year when the board initially voted to allow Polytechnic to spin off from the University of South Florida, as well as during the Legislature’s controversial maneuvers to make the split immediate. Her first day at Polytechnic is Dec. 1 and she has agreed to serve for two years, according to a news release from the university…
Florida Polytechnic Names New Chief Operating Officer
The Ledger
A Jacksonville lawyer who has served on the State University System Board of Governors for 10 years has been tagged to take over as interim chief operating officer of Florida Polytechnic University. Ava L. Parker, president of Linking Solutions Inc. and a practicing lawyer at Lawrence & Parker P.A,, will resign from her board position to take over the new university. She will most likely start the job Dec. 3.
Board of Governors’ Parker to become COO of Florida Polytech
WFSU
Board of Governors member Ava Parker has resigned her position on the board to take a job at the state’s newest public university. Parker is one of the longest serving members on the BOG, which oversees the state public university system, having been appointed by former Governor Jeb Bush shortly after the group was created through a 2002 constitutional amendment. Governor Rick Scott extended her term for another year, which is up in January. Parker, a Jacksonville Attorney and lobbyist who is married to Senator Joe Gibbons, D-Jacksonville, will start as Florida Polytech University’s Chief Operating Officer on December 1.
Florida Poly hires its first employee
WTSP 10 News
The Florida Polytechnic University Board of Trustees chose an interim chief operating officer Monday to help make the crucial first steps in getting the new institution off the ground. Ava L. Parker, a Jacksonville lawyer with more than a decade of experience in higher education, has agreed to serve as Florida Poly’s leader for a period of two years, beginning Dec. 1.
Gene therapy outfit nabs $37.5M round for clinical trial work
FierceBiotech
Florida’s fledgling biotech community has picked up boasting rights to a big venture round for one of its University of Florida spinouts. Applied Genetic Technologies, one of a growing group of upstart gene therapy biotechs, nabbed a $37.5 million round from A-list investors to back a leading mid-stage orphan product and a slate of earlier-stage programs…
UF athletic association explains decision to ground cheerleaders
Gainesville Sun (blog)
After being blasted on Twitter all weekend for grounding the Gator cheerleaders, the University of Florida athletic association is finally explaining its decision. Gator cheerleaders were told Friday that they could no longer perform acrobatic stunts …
Our First Election: Lessons from University of Florida’s Integrated Newsroom
PBS MediaShift
While many college students were out celebrating — or mourning – the results of the election, nearly 80 University of Florida undergraduates covered the election live, based out of the College of Journalism and Communications’ new Integrated News Facility. The INF, which opened in August, is the new home for the college’s news, weather and sports operations, and marks the first time the college’s television, radio and web newsrooms are all in the same space. This two-story, 12,000-square-foot space replaced three 1980s-era newsrooms and provides nearly 100 seats for reporters, producers and editors, all under the supervision of professional news managers. That evening, UF students produced nearly three hours of live radio and TV content, broadcast on the 100,000-watt NPR-affiliate Florida’s 89.1 WUFT-FM, the 20,000-watt repeater station WJUF 90.1-FM, PBS-affiliate Florida’s 5 WUFT-TV and WRUF-TV, the 24/7 news/weather/sports station based at the college. Students also were live blogging on WUFT.org, creating 61 posts between 8 and 11:30 p.m.
Pros vs. Joes pits students and ROTC against UNF fitness instructors
Florida Times-Union
It’s called Pros vs. Joes, a friendly athletic competition between the staff and students at the University of North Florida’s three-month-old Student Wellness Complex…
State College System
Watch your stuff; theft is everywhere
Daytona Beach News-Journal (blog)
Some students at Daytona State College found out the hard way earlier this year that walking away from their laptop computers or iPhones for just a few minutes was a bad idea…
Independent Colleges and Universities
Familiar Field
Florida Trend
Stetson University in DeLand is preparing to take to the football field again after a more than 50-year hiatus, and the college town in west Volusia County is hoping to attract visitors and recognition through the school’s affiliation with the Pioneer League, composed of small, academically rigorous schools including Mercer, Davidson, Drake, Morehead State and Marist College…
Stetson buys University Inn
Orlando Business Journal
Stetson University has bought the University Inn adjacent to its DeLand campus, with plans to use it as a residence hall to handle continuing enrollment growth…
Miami self-imposes 2nd straight bowl ban
The Associated Press
Calling the move prudent and unprecedented, Miami is self-imposing a second straight postseason ban on its football program because of an NCAA investigation that is expected to eventually lead to stiff sanctions against the Hurricanes…
Yip Yap: Noted and Quoted FLHE Voices from Around the State
STEM promotes science instruction at the expense of humanities
Miami Herald
We need more engineers and scientists. That has become the mantra of promoters of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) in education. There is nothing wrong with such a rallying cry, except that investment in STEM education usually comes at the expense of HAS (humanities, arts, and social sciences)…Luis Martínez-Fernández is a history professor at the University of Central Florida and trustee of the College Board.
Robertson: Miami, Shalala made the right long-term move
Kansas City Star
The University of Miami football team’s season ends Saturday. UM has banned itself from joining the nonelite company of 50 teams that will play in mostly meaningless bowl games. Seems like a reasonable price to pay.
Bill Hogarth’s blog: Undergraduate Open House underscores growing interest in USFSP
USFSP
Last Saturday I had the privilege of welcoming a couple hundred prospective students and their parents to an undergraduate Open House at the University Student Center. It was the second Open House of the fall semester and just as busy as the first…
Local college students help surprise families in need
Daytona Beach News-Journal
With a stack of cans in her hands, Ally Perez-Brasa helped pack special Thanksgiving baskets with fellow students from Daytona State College for families in need…
Former FAU student arraigned in Boca Raton Ponzi scheme charges,
Bizjournals.com (blog)
Former Florida Atlantic University student Donald R. French, 25, was arraigned Friday on charges of running a $10 million Ponzi scheme in Boca Raton that included about 50 victims who lost a total of $1.3 million…
FSU, FAMU Presidents Asked To Weigh In On Innovation Park Proposal
WFSU
Innovation Park, the science incubator run by Leon County and Tallahassee, could see major organizational changes after an embezzlement scandal shook up leadership three years ago. Newly appointed chairwoman Kristin Dozier is proposing to transfer over most of the park’s buildings to private businesses and universities. When it was created 30 years ago, Innovation Park was supposed to promote scientific research in order to boost the region’s economy. But Chairwoman Dozier says, scandals and staff turnover have put the park in dire straits financially. So, she’s hoping to shift some of the building leases to the park’s main tenants, Florida State University and Florida A&M. “We have an incredible untapped resource of the research and technology coming from our universities and how that can be translated into small businesses and job creation,” Dozier said.
Olympic coach leads skeet shooting clinic at JU
Florida Times-Union
That’s what Jacksonville University students found out this past weekend when the school welcomed U.S. Olympic skeet shooting coach Craig Hancock and his son, Vincent, a gold medalist in the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics for a shooting clinic…
Video – Molly Ringwald Signs Her New Book At A Miami Book Fair
Contactmusic.com
‘Sixteen Candles’ star Molly Ringwald attends a book signing to autograph copies of her new novel ‘When It Happens to You: A Novel in Stories’ at the Miami International Book Fair at the Miami Dade College.
McAfee software creator releases blog after UCF restaurant owner’s death
WFTV Orlando (blog)
New blogs have surfaced, apparently written by anti-virus software creator John McAfee, who’s on the run in Belize after being accused of killing a University of Central Florida bar owner. The blog shows McAfee’s fear of that country’s government, since he’s wanted in connection with the murder of his neighbor, Gregory Faull.
Protein test is first to predict rate of progression in Lou Gehrig’s disease
Medical Xpress
Earlier research in this area was conducted by Gerry Shaw, Ph.D., a neuroscientist at the University of Florida, who is the study’s senior investigator and the developer of the neurofilament assay used in the study…
Marco Rubio takes step along path to 2016
The Hill
Outside observers like Professor Susan MacManus of the University of South Florida argue that Rubio’s prominence is beneficial for the Republican Party, regardless of whether he ultimately seeks the presidency. “It’s very good, from the Republican perspective, that he be in the news a lot, because it gives a totally different face to the party,” she said.
Diet and exercise are keys to healthy, sustainable weight loss
The News-Press
That’s why Teresa Sievers, MD, MSMS, FAARM is offering her expertise in nutrition and weight loss to help people sort through all the different approaches and advice — and to lose weight and keep it off in a healthy way. Dr. Sievers is board certified in internal medicine and has a master’s degree in metabolic and nutritional medicine from the University of South Florida…
Former USM President gets Florida provost job
WHLT22
The University of West Florida is hiring Former University of Southern Mississippi President Martha Saunders as its new provost and vice president of academic affairs. UWF is located in Pensacola, Fla. and has about 13,000 students…
Releases and Web Stories
Regional Airline Chief Safety and Operations Execs Meet at Embry-Riddle
The Leading Aviation Industry Resource for News, Equipment and
Washington, DC-November 16, 2012—The first of its kind in North America, RAA brought together top regional airline safety and operations officers this week to meet with federal safety regulators and to assess the industry’s most recent safety advancements. The three-day session of the RAA Joint Regional Operations Council (ROC) and Safety Council was held at the Embry-Riddle Aviation University’s (ERAU) College of Aviation in Daytona Beach, FL.
Student nurses win ‘Chapter of the Year’ award
Seminole State College
The Student Nursing Association (SNA) at Seminole State College of Florida received the state’s highest award at the Florida Student Nursing Association …
UF departments should plan ahead for extended holiday closing period
University of Florida
Departments throughout the University of Florida are encouraged to plan ahead for their staffing needs this holiday season. The university will be closed beginning Dec. 25 and will reopen Jan. 2. Monday, Dec. 24, is not included in the holiday closing …
Fitch Affirms University of North Florida Student Fee Rev Bonds at ‘A+ …
MarketWatch (press release)
NEW YORK, Nov 19, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Fitch Ratings has affirmed approximately $15.3 million of student fee revenue bonds issued by the State of Florida, Board of Governors on behalf of the University of North Florida (UNF). The Rating Outlook is …
Corwin Talks Conservation
University of South Florida
During his lecture last week at the University of South Florida, Jeff Corwin, animal and nature conservationist, paraded a host of visitors before the audience, species that originated from all around the globe, including the continents of Africa, South America and Asia…
Black Friday Morphing into Thursday
University of South Florida
USF marketing experts see the unofficial shopping holiday intruding even more on Thanksgiving in coming years…
