Federal stimulus money did little to help Florida colleges and universities
By Scott Travis
December 12, 2010
The federal stimulus money was touted as a historic opportunity to improve higher education, create jobs and stop the bleeding from of state cuts. But possibly its it’sgreatest impact at many Florida colleges and universities was helping to maintain the status quo for two years. Florida’s colleges and universities received about $600 million in stimulus dollars, as well as millions more in stimulus-funded Pell Grants and workforce grants, to help create and retain jobs. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
FAU Professor Claims College Discriminated Against Her
By Samantha Frank
November 15, 2010
A philosophy professor at Florida Atlantic University is suing the school, alleging discrimination while on the job. The lawsuit, which was filed in federal court last month, says that Carol S. Gould faced ageism and anti-Semitism and that the university violated her rights to equal pay, equal protection and freedom of speech. It also alleges racketeering on the part of some administrators, saying they used money from the Philosophy Department for personal expenses, including trips to Europe. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
FAU welcomes new president with weeklong inauguration events
By Samantha Frank
October 17, 2010
Florida Atlantic University is kicking off the inauguration of its sixth president, Mary Jane Saunders, with a concert to raise money for student scholarships on Oct. 24. Saunders launched the fund-raising initiative in May, a month before she officially took office, with $50,000 of her money. “I am absolutely committed to FAU and its students, and I want to assist in any way possible to help them succeed,” Saunders said. “I encourage others to join in helping students attend FAU and attain their scholarly goals.” Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
FAU president sets priorities on campus housing, research, student retention
By Samantha Frank
September 1, 2010
During her first State of the University address as president of Florida Atlantic University, Mary Jane Saunders said that her priorities are to increase student retention, to turn the university into more of a residential campus and to build upon existing research opportunities. “There is no more important mission for our society than the one that calls upon you and me to do everything in our power to put a degree within the reach of every student who’s willing to work hard for it,” said Saunders to a crowd of about 500 people this morning on FAU’s Boca Raton campus. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
3 percent salary increase is not enough, FAU faculty say, seeking extra 0.5 percent
By Samantha Frank
August 2, 2010
The faculty union at Florida Atlantic University is asking for an extra 0.5 percent raise, in addition to the salary increase of as much as 3 percent that the administration has offered. FAU President Mary Jane Saunders announced last month that all full-time employees, excluding those with special employment agreements and adjunct faculty, will get a 1 percent raise and are eligible for another 2 percent merit raise. It is the university’s first across-the-board salary increase since 2006. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
FAU employees to get first raises since 2006
By Samantha Frank
July 13, 2010
BOCA RATON — Just one month after taking office at Florida Atlantic University, President Mary Jane Saunders announced that university employees will receive their first across-the-board salary increase since 2006. All full-time employees, excluding those with special employment agreements and adjunct faculty, will get a 1 percent raise and are eligible for another 2 percent merit raise. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
Dispute over Fla university tuition goes to judge
By BILL KACZOR
The Associated Press
Friday, July 2, 2010
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — After three years of legal wrangling, it’s now up to a judge to decide whether the Florida Legislature or Board of Governors has the final say over setting tuition and other governance issues at the state’s 11 public universities. Lawyers for the Legislature and a group led by former Gov. and ex-U.S. Sen. Bob Graham, who led a citizen initiative that created the board, filed their final written arguments Friday with Chief Circuit Judge Charles Francis in Tallahassee. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
FAU Raises Tuition, Fees to Highest Level State Rules Allow
By Samantha Frank
June 23, 2010
It’s official. Students at Florida Atlantic University will see a 15 percent increase in tuition for the 2010-2011 school year, the most a public university can increase tuition under state law. During a 13-minute meeting this morning, FAU’s board of trustees unanimously approved the tuition increase, as well as student fee increases, without any discussion. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
Trouble with FAU newspaper program and its past adviser thickens
By Samantha Frank
June 13, 2010
BOCA RATON — Florida Atlantic University’s student newspaper is at the center of an increasingly tense feud, garnering attention from national media organizations. The trouble began May 21, when Michael Koretzky, who has been the part-time adviser for the student newspaper for the past 12 years, was fired with three days’ notice. Since then, Koretzky has continued to advise the students on a volunteer basis, but that goes against FAU’s policies, according to Marti Harvey, director of student media at FAU. All advisers must be employees of the university. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
Proposed FAU budget would increase both tuition, fees 15 percent
By Samantha Frank
May 26, 2010
The average in-state undergraduate student at Florida Atlantic University can expect an increase of about $424 in tuition and $184 in other fees for the 2010-2011 school year if the board of trustees approves the proposed increases next month. A student taking 15 credit hours per semester would pay a total of about $3,254 for tuition and $1,540 in other fees for the school year, not including a $64.90 transportation access fee per semester, which all students must pay. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
Former Bush education tells crowd in Boca Raton current system is wrong
By Kevin Thompson
May 12, 2010
BOCA RATON — Speaking to more than 600 teachers, parents and elected officials tonight at Lynn University, leading education historian Diane Ravitch slammed the U.S. education system, saying it’s heading in the wrong direction and failing students. “We’ve been dumbing down our schools,” said Ravitch, former assistant secretary of education under President George H.W. Bush. “That’s the path on which we’ve embarked. We’re at a crucial moment in public education.” Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
Cost of new FAU president: $345,000 and free housing
By Samantha Frank
May 10, 2010
Mary Jane Saunders, the next president of Florida Atlantic University, is set to take office June 7 with an annual base salary of $345,000, which is $12,000 less than her predecessor earned. Saunders and Nancy Blosser, chairwoman of FAU’s board of trustees, agreed upon a five-year contract, making Saunders the sixth highest paid president out of the 11 schools in Florida’s statewide university system. She is also eligible for a merit bonus of up to $50,000 annually, based on the accomplishment of specific goals set by Blosser. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
FAU working on financing for $74 million football stadium
By Samantha Frank
April 21, 2010
BOCA RATON — Florida Atlantic University is working out the details of a $74 million financing plan for its proposed 30,000-seat, on-campus football stadium. Of that cost, construction will account for $62 million. The university plans to pay for the construction with a bank loan. FAU is recommending a $62 million proposal from Regions Bank, according to university general counsel David Kian, who spoke to the board of trustees’ audit and finance committee at a meeting today . Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
Crist says he tries to listen to people, and people are telling him to veto the teacher bill
By Michael C. Bender
April 13, 2010
TALLAHASSEE — As Gov. Charlie Crist decides whether to veto perhaps the most divisive education changes considered by Florida in a decade, he’s also in a U.S. Senate Republican primary race where the latest poll today showed him down by a 2-1 margin. Crist insists his decision whether to veto the teacher merit pay bill will not be influenced by his race against former House Speaker Marco Rubio. But others say he can’t help but consider it. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
Nation watches Florida push for merit pay
By Cara Fitzpatrick
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Many teachers watched with horror last week as Florida lawmakers passed what may be the most controversial and sweeping education overhaul in the history of the state, with changes that will tie their pay to student performance and eliminate long-term contracts. Having lost a bitter fight against Republicans pushing the legislation, many teachers now have pinned their hopes on a veto from Gov. Charlie Crist. But teachers aren’t the only ones monitoring the state’s political leaders. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
Crist: political pressure on teacher-pay issue is most since he’s been governor
By Dara Kam
Friday, April 9, 2010
TALLAHASSEE-The controversial teacher tenure bill that’s now on Gov. Charlie Crist’s desk poses a conundrum for the U.S. Senate candidate framed in the old Pete Seeger union song, Which Side Are You On? The self-described “People’s Governor” is facing mounting pressure from fellow Republicans to sign SB 6 into law and from Democrats demanding that he kill the bill. Crist told the Associated Press he’s received more political pressure from this issue than any other since he became governor. Crist said he’s gotten “a ton” of it Friday in St. Petersburg, and his office has been flooded with calls and e-mail urging a veto. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
Veto terrible merit pay bill: After one lost school decade, state could lose another
Palm Beach Post Editorial
April 9, 2010
Gov. Crist should veto the teacher merit-pay legislation the Legislature finalized Friday morning because:
Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
Florida lawmakers approve sweeping school changes, including teacher pay measure
By Michael C. Bender
April 8, 2010
TALLAHASSEE — Florida lawmakers, starting Thursday afternoon and not finishing until nearly 2:30 this morning, approved a sweeping package of public school changes that could eventually reach every student and teacher in the state. The divided House ultimately approved a quartet of bills that could prove to be the most significant education changes passed out of the state legislature in a decade. The proposals would change the way teachers’ contracts and raises are negotiated, make class sizes larger, high school graduation tougher and send more state money to private schools. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
No merit in merit pay plan: The biggest problem? There’s also no plan
Palm Beach Post Editorial
April 7, 2010
To implement a bold idea, you first need to have a real idea. In its latest spasm of school “reform,” the Legislature has no idea what it’s doing. Mostly on impulse, legislators are lashing out at Florida’s teachers. The Senate has passed a merit pay bill, SB 6, and by Thursday the House will pass the identical HB 7189, which a Republican-dominated House committee approved Monday on a party-line vote after a room full of teachers begged members to vote against it. The bill has huge flaws and gaps. Teachers would be evaluated based on “learning gains” as determined by test scores. But tests to measure those gains don’t exist. There’s a vague promise to consider factors outside teacher control, such as parental involvement and readiness to learn. How will the state measure such things, and what will be included? Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
Elementary teachers at Boca Raton school protest by only working 7.5 hour workday
By
In a peaceful protest for higher salaries, most teachers at Calusa Elementary School in Boca Raton today started and ended their shifts in unison — working exactly 7.5 hours as required by their contract. They stepped into the building at 7:29 a.m. and left the premises at 3 p.m., hoping to send a message to Palm Beach County School District administrators that they won’t spend extra time at their desks without better pay. “We can’t sit around anymore” and hope for raises, said Liliana Rosales, a Calusa first-grade teacher. “We have to do something.” Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
Despite eight hours of scolding and pleading from teachers, a House panel advances the merit pay bill along party lines
By Michael C. Bender
April 5, 2010
TALLAHASSEE — Public school teachers packed a Florida House hearing today hoping to flunk a Republican proposal that would overhaul how the state gives annual raises to its 175,000 educators. “I’ve been teaching middle school for 21 years. It used to be a lot of fun. It’s about to become a nightmare,” said Donna Depinet-Dasher of Hernando County. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
Local protesters join statewide demonstration against teacher pay bill
By Cara Fitzpatrick
April 2, 2010
WEST PALM BEACH — Darby Boardman graduated from college with a plan: Teach for three years and then earn a master’s degree in her profession. Now, she’s not so sure. Boardman is one of thousands of teachers in Florida opposed to state legislation that would base teacher pay, in large part, on student performance, giving no value to years of experience or advanced degrees. Today, she joined a statewide grassroots effort to protest the legislation, which passed the Senate and is pending in the House. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
Legislature: Anti-union or just getting ‘Floridians back to work’?
By Dara Kam
March 26, 2010
TALLAHASSEE — Hundreds of thousands of Florida workers, including teachers, deputies and state employees, are facing salary cuts, pension reductions and other measures that labor leaders are calling an all-out assault on lower- and middle-class workers by lawmakers. House and Senate leaders in the GOP-dominated legislature say they are trying to boost a flailing state economy that is forecast to leave the state $3 billion short of the tax revenue it needs next year to pay for the same level of public services it provided this year. With the state’s unemployment rate hovering at 12 percent, the lawmakers say their goals simply are to balance the budget and create jobs. Read more at palmbeachpost.com
Anger erupts over school bills in Florida legislature
By Christina Silva, Miami Herald Staff Writer
March 26, 2010
Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau
The Florida Senate voted to put class-size limits back on the ballot Thursday, while across the Capitol, security guards rushed to protect lawmakers from a hostile crowd after a House committee rammed through a bill that would tie teacher pay to test scores. It was a chaotic finish to three days of lengthy policy debate that saw the passage of a tide of controversial education bills that could dramatically transform Florida’s public schools. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
Teachers union calls merit pay plan passed by Florida Senate an “assault”
By Dara Kam
March 24, 2010
TALLAHASSEE — Teachers salaries and job security would rest on how well their students perform on tests yet to be developed, under sweeping education reforms approved by the Florida Senate on Wednesday. The measure, passed after a heated partisan debate, would replace teacher tenure with merit pay. Democrats objected and Republicans’ defended the bill while the teachers union called it an “all-out assault” on educators. Sen. Joe Negron, a Stuart Republican whose father and grandmother were teachers, accused the teachers union of fear-mongering. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
Incoming FAU President “M.J.” Saunders known for openness, engaging personality
By Samantha Frank
March 21, 2010
When Mary Jane Saunders was selected president of Florida Atlantic University this month, everyone seemed to be watching the announcement via live Webcast — everyone except Saunders. “So many people were calling me at that moment that it shut off my cell phone,” she said. “I have more sympathy now for these people on reality shows.” Saunders, 59, will be the sixth president and the second woman to lead the university. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
Success of rally for college funding unclear
The Associated Press
Monday, March 8, 2010
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The message of hundreds of students who rallied in Tallahassee last week for increased state university funding may have fallen on deaf ears. More than 200 students joined university system leaders seeking to build support for the so-called “New Florida Initiative,” which seeks $1.75 billion in additional state support over the next five years. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
Cleveland State Provost Saunders tapped as new FAU president
By Samantha Frank
March 3, 2010
BOCA RATON — Florida Atlantic University selected Mary Jane Saunders, provost of Cleveland State University, as its sixth president Wednesday evening by a unanimous vote of the 13-member board of trustees. “This institution is just poised for greatness,” Saunders, 59, said at a welcome reception on FAU’s Boca Raton campus Wednesday night. “I’m very eager to get involved right away.” Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
This FAU presidential search takes different tone than when Brogan was chosen
By Samantha Frank
March 3, 2010
BOCA RATON — It was seven years ago Wednesday when Frank Brogan left his post as lieutenant governor in Tallahassee and took office as the president of Florida Atlantic University. From the moment the charismatic politician expressed interest in coming to FAU, he seemed to be a shoe-in for the position. The questionable search process left many people in the FAU community with a sour taste in their mouths. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
Three FAU President Candidates Respond to Faculty, Staff, Student Questions
By Samantha Frank
March 1, 2010
The three finalists in the presidential search at Florida Atlantic University are making their way around the FAU campuses today and Tuesday, fielding questions from students, faculty and staff and giving them a glimpse at the people behind the applications and resumes. At least 200 people came to the open forums looking for answers to big questions, such as how the finalists would move FAU forward to become a top-tier research institution, which campus projects they would support and how they plan to work within budget constraints. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
Three finalists set to visit campus on Monday, Tuesday
By Samantha Frank
February 26, 2010
The three final candidates in Florida Atlantic University’s search for a new president will be visiting the FAU campuses next week in a series of open forums for the university community and the public. Read more at palmbeachpost.com
FAU narrows presidential search to five
By Samantha Frank
February 23, 2010
BOCA RATON — Florida Atlantic University has narrowed its list of 43 presidential candidates to five semifinalists, including the former chief scientist at NASA and four public university provosts. The semifinalists are: Paul W. Ferguson, provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville; Terry L. Hickey, provost and executive vice president, University of Central Florida; Gary L. Miller, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs and Research, Wichita State University; Kathie L. Olsen, senior adviser, National Science Foundation; Mary Jane Saunders, provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs, Cleveland State University. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
Two more enter names in FAU presidential search
By Samantha Frank
February 22, 2010
Two new candidates have stepped forward in Florida Atlantic University’s search for a new president. They are Paul W. Ferguson, provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs as Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, and Bruce T. Murphy, chief academic officer of the United States Air Force Air University. Read more at palmbeachpost.com
Florida Atlantic University faculty endorse proposed medical school
By Samantha Frank
Friday, February 5, 2010
BOCA RATON — Florida Atlantic University is one step closer to creating its own independent medical school. The faculty senate today approved a proposal for the university to grant its own four-year medical degrees and collect tuition from medical students. Read more at palmbeachpost.com.
List of Those Seeking FAU President’s Job Grows By 17
February 3, 2010
By Samantha Frank
BOCA RATON — The list of potential candidates for Florida Atlantic University’s next president is growing. A consulting firm conducting the presidential search released the names of 17 new candidates Wednesday who have officially stepped into the public arena. They include candidates from universities such as Texas, Rutgers, North Carolina State and Central Florida. Read more at palmbeachpost.com
FAU Medical Program a Milestone for School, County
Letter to the Editor by FAU President John Pritchett
January 25, 2010.
There are moments in the life of a university when it becomes clear that the institution is poised to take a quantum leap forward. Such a moment is unfolding at Florida Atlantic University right now. Last Wednesday, FAU’s board of trustees unanimously approved a proposal to end the university’s medical education partnership with the University of Miami and transition to FAU’s medical education program, in cooperation with The Scripps Research Institute. Read more at palmbeachpost.com
Boca Raton FAU to offer its own medical degree, shifting to Scripps from UM
January 20, 2010
By Scott Travis
Florida Atlantic University plans to stop offering University of Miami medical degrees on its Boca Raton campus and instead start its own program with the help of The Scripps Research Institute. Students in FAU’s new four-year medical program could also apply to get a Ph.D. from Scripps’ Kellogg School of Science and work on them jointly. Scripps’ Florida site is on FAU’s Jupiter campus. Read more at palmbeachpost.com
Crist’s Proposed $22.7 billion Fla. Education Budget Hinges on Seminole Gambling Deal
January 25, 2010
Associated Press/PB Post Staff
Gov. Charlie Crist on Monday proposed a $500 million increase in education spending for 2010 that largely depends on a Seminole gambling deal already rejected by a key legislative committee. Crist, who is running for the U.S. Senate, announced the record $22.7 billion education budget proposal during a visit to a St. Petersburg elementary school he attended as a child. He’s asking for a $179 increase in per-student spending. That would be a 2.61 percent hike, and the first increase in two years. Read more at palmbeachpost.com
No local or state candidates so far in FAU presidential pool
January 7, 2010
By Samantha Frank
BOCA RATON — The first potential candidates in Florida Atlantic University’s presidential search have stepped into the public arena. R. William Funk and Associates, the consulting firm working on behalf of FAU in its search for a new president, has released a list of 12 candidates for the position. Read more in palmbeachpost.com.