ORLANDO — The Board of Governors held its annual Trustee Summit last week and moved forward on several important proposals to push the State University System to the next level.The Summit, an annual gathering of trustees from all 12 universities, included keynote speaker U.S. Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta, who spoke about student apprenticeships. Trustees and Board of Governors’ members also took part in discussions about improving student outcomes, enhancing engagement with the business community, and effective trusteeship.
The Board also selected Vice Chair Ned Lautenbach as its new chair and Governor Sydney Kitson as its vice chair for the term beginning January 1, 2018 and ending December 31, 2019. They will succeed Chair Thomas Kuntz, whose two-year tenure has resulted in great strides for the System, including in his key focus areas of aligning degrees with the state workforce, enhancing 2+2 articulation, and raising the State University System’s research profile. U.S. News & World Report also named Florida the 2017 Best State for Higher Education.
Additional BOG meeting highlights include:
- Three new members joined the board. Governors Tim Cerio, Jay Patel, and Zach Zachariah were appointed recently by Governor Rick Scott.
- Board members appointed 10 new universities trustees, including Ms. Kimberly Moore, FAMU, Mr. Brent Burns, FAU, Mr. Richard Eide, FGCU, Mr. Roger Tovar, FIU, Dr. Louis Saco, Florida Poly, Mr. Jim Henderson, FSU, Mr. George Skestos, New College, Ms. Beverly Seay, UCF, Dr. Anne Egan, UNF, and Ms. Suzanne Lewis, UWF.
- Universities are successfully addressing workforce gaps in high-demand areas through the Targeted Educational Grant Program. Also known as the TEAm Grant initiative, 15 million dollars in competitive grants were allocated by the Governor and Legislature to address the state’s job needs. More than half of the TEAM Grant funding went to FIU, UCF and USF Florida Consortium member institutions.
- An Innovative, Collaborative Approach to Increasing the Supply of Quality Accounting Graduates in Florida Grant at $3,643,157
- An Urban University Coalition Response to Florida’s Computer and Information Technology Workforce Needs Grant at $4,858,413
- Here is a summary of the TEAM Grants
- The Florida Consortium sponsored Statewide College to Career Summits and Florida Consortium of Metropolitan Research Universities Career Fair also contributed to the state’s workforce and career readiness goals
- The Board also heard a progress report on the implementation of the 2025 Strategic Plan for Online Education, which was initially approved in November of 2015.
Consult the meeting’s official minutes for additional detail at http://www.flbog.edu. The Board’s next meeting is scheduled for January 24-25 at Florida State University in Tallahassee.