- Florida Gulf Coast University
Infobox University
name =Florida Gulf Coast University
native_name =
image_size =
caption =
latin_name =
motto =
tagline =
established =1991
vision ="Florida Gulf Coast University will achieve national prominence in undergraduate education with expanding recognition for selected graduate programs."
type =Public
affiliation =
calendar =Semester
endowment =$46.5+ million (2007-08)
debt =
rector =
officer_in_charge =
chairman =
chancellor =
president =Wilson G. Bradshaw
vice-president =
superintendent =
provost =Ronald Toll
vice_chancellor =
principal =
dean =
director =
head_label =
head =
faculty =500, 336 instructional and administrative faculty, 164 adjunct faculty (2006)
staff =681
students =9510 cite web | url = http://www.fgcu.edu/files/v7n1.pdf | title = Board of Trustees Information System Quarterly Briefing Volume 7 Number 1| publisher = Florida Gulf Coast University | accessdate = 2008-08-12]
undergrad =8,143
postgrad =852
doctoral =
divinity =
residents =
other =515
profess =
alumni =
city =Fort Myers
state =Florida
province =
country =USA
address =10501 FGCU Blvd South
Fort Myers, FL 33965-6565
telephone =(239)590-1000
coordinates =
campus =Suburban Area
760 acres (3.08 km²)
free_label =
free =
sports =
colors =Cobalt Blue and Emerald Green, and as an accent,Old Gold color box|#0047ABcolor box|#50C878color box|#CFB53B
colours =
mascot = Azul theEagle
fightsong =
athletics =NCAADivision I , ASC; 6 men's varsity teams / 9 women's
affiliations =AACSB , SACS,SUSF
nobel_laureates =
website =http://www.fgcu.edu
publictransit =
footnotes =Florida Gulf Coast University is the youngest public four-year
university in the U.S. state ofFlorida , located in Fort Myers. Commonly referred to FGCU or Florida Gulf Coast, thecoeducational university is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of theSouthern Association of Colleges and Schools to award associate, bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. [ [http://www.sacscoc.org/details.asp?instid=30580 Commission on Colleges] ]About FGCU
History
The school was established by then-governor
Lawton Chiles in 1991, although the site of the university wasn't chosen until 1992, and construction pushed back even further still (until 1995). The school first held classes in August 1997.The Florida Legislature established governing boards of trustees for state universities in 2001, and 13 members were appointed to the Florida Gulf Coast University Board of Trustees. Trustees work closely with the FGCU President to meet the needs of today and the future.
In early 2007, FGCU President William Merwin announced his resignation due to an affair with a faculty member. The FGCU Board of Trustees appointed Richard Pegnetter, the Dean of the Lutgert College of Business, interim President. A search committee was appointed by the board of trustees to recommend candidates to be the permanent President. It was announced on
August 25 , 2007, that Wilson G. Bradshaw was appointed as the third president of the university. [ [http://www.fgcu.edu/crm/pressrelease.asp?id=20074 FGCU Board of Trustees Names Bradshaw Third President] ]Points of Interest
Student enrollment at FGCU has annually increased in double digits since FGCU opened for classes in August 1997, from approximately 2,000 students in its first year to over 8,300 today. Over the next five years undergraduate enrollment is expected to increase to more than 15,000 students. Recently added construction includes Academic Building V and a 500-car parking garage. Lake-front apartment-style student housing offers students watersports and private quarters with their own bath.
Former Secretary of State and retired General
Colin Powell spoke to a crowd of 4,000 at FGCU'sAlico Arena onMarch 23 , 2007, as a part of the University Lecture Series. [ [http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/mar/24/powell_it_or_not_iraq_civil_war/?local_news Powell: Like it or not, Iraq is a civil war] ]Campus
FGCU is located on convert|760|acre|km2 in
Southwest Florida . Four hundred acres of the main campus are set aside forenvironmental preservation . There are three other satellite campus locations (Naples Center,Cape Coral Center and the Charlotte Center in Punta Gorda) which are yet to be expanded.The university recently purchased a small waterfront parcel of land in
Bonita Springs with the intentions of developing a marine research laboratory. The site has 10 boat slips and is located on Estero Bay. In addition, the university has been preparing plans for a research center at theRookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve which is mid-way between Naples andMarco Island .cite web | title = FGCU purchases Bonita Springs waterfront property for marine lab | publisher = Florida Gulf Coast University | url = http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/Jul/09/fgcu_purchases_bonita_springs_waterfront_property_/ | accessdate = 2008-08-12]In October 2006, a 12-person panel (of leading Charlotte County citizens) was tasked with selecting the future location of an FGCU-Charlotte Satellite Center. There were five respondents to the Invitation to Negotiate (ITN). Each respondent met the minimum criteria of the ITN (although one was later removed from the process for falling short on (2) of the requirements) of convert|150|acre|km2 of land, $5M in cash to the University. In a unanimous vote by the panel (notably including Charlotte County Board of Commissioners Chairman, Tom Moore), only one was chosen, Hudson Sun-River. In their proposal to the FGCU, Hudson Sun-River offered $5M in cash, 150ac of land (located within their 2,458ac 'University Village' master-planned development), $750,000 in annual operating funds and up to $70M of built-out infrastructure.
Currently, the 63,000 square-foot Lutgert College of Business building and the 70,000 square-foot Holmes Hall - U.A. Whitaker School of Engineering Building are under construction and are scheduled to open in fall 2008. In addition, there are plans to construct the 40,000 square-foot Herbert J. Sugden Hall - Resort & Hospitality Management Building and a 60,000 square-foot building for the College of Arts and Sciences (Academic Building 7). The University has also announced that they will build a shared-use facility at the Naples Botanical Gardens.cite web | title = FGCU-Facilities Planning | publisher = Florida Gulf Coast University | url = http://www.fgcu.edu/facilities/progress.html | accessdate = 2008-08-12]
On-campus housing is made up of two sections: North Lake Village and the new South Village. North Lake Village is located on an 80-acre lake and features apartment-style residence halls. South Village is currently being constructed and the first suite-style residence hall (Everglades Hall) is slated to open fall 2008 and will house 406 first-year students.
Academics
The University is currently expanding its graduate offerings and is adding to its research capabilities, with an Environmental Forensics Facility or "body farm" in the works. The Division of Justice Studies in the College of Professional Studies is in its first year of offering a Master of Science in Criminal Forensic Studies. Students can choose to become qualified as a Forensic Behavior Analyst, under Dr. Duane Dobbert, or as a Death Investigator.
The Death Investigator concentration prepares students to sit for the St. Louis University School of Medicine’s Medico-Legal Death Investigators Certification Examination. This exam qualifies a person to make the "death call" anywhere in the US. Those in Death Investigations may specialize in Crime Scene Investigations or in Human Identity and Trauma Analysis. The CSI course, under Dr. David Lounsbury, prepares students for laboratory management. The Human and Trauma ID concentration, under the direction of forensic anthropologist Dr. Heather Walsh-Haney, trains students to identify human remains through skeletal attributes.
Athletics
On
May 10 ,2006 , FGCU gained membership to theNCAA Atlantic Sun Conference effective when FGCU moves toDivision I sports starting in the 2007-2008 academic year. Athletic teams at FGCU include baseball, men's cross country, men's basketball, men's golf, men's soccer, men's tennis, softball, volleyball, women's basketball, women's cross country, women's golf, women's soccer, women's swimming and diving, women's tennis. OnMarch 24 2007, FGCU women's basketball team ended their 35-1 season with a loss in theDivision II National Championship toSouthern Connecticut State University . [ [http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/mar/24/despite_loss_national_championship_recruits_optimi/ Disappointment, heartbreak] ] In 2008, the Women's Basketball team qualified for theWNIT , becoming the first team to qualify for the WNIT in its first season ofDivision I sports. [ [http://www.fgcuathletics.com/wbasketball/news/66/744/ Women's Basketball to Host USF in First Round of WNIT] ] During the 2008 WNIT Tourney, the team became the firstAtlantic Sun conference team to win a post-season game since 1998, whenFlorida International University won in the Women's NCAA tourney. [ [http://www.fgcuathletics.com/wbasketball/news/66/754/ FGCU Athletics - Official Site] ]FGCU is currently the defendant in a federal lawsuit that charges the school with retaliation against two female coaches after they challenged the school’s compliance with Title IX. Its former General Counsel, Wendy Morris, also filed a lawsuit in federal court in April, 2008, alleging that the university retaliated against her when she expressed concerns about gender discrimination in athletics, and that her employment was terminated as a direct result of her refusal to go along with the school's actions.cite web | title = Second Former Coach Sues Florida School for Retaliation | publisher = Florida Gulf Coast University | url = http://www.publicjustice.net/PR/Flood_SecondCoach_041208.htm | accessdate = 2008-08-12]
tudent Life
Greek Life
Florida Gulf Coast University has five Sorority Chapters and five Fraternity Chapters currently on campus. The sororities are
Alpha Kappa Alpha ,Delta Delta Delta ,Delta Sigma Theta ,Zeta Tau Alpha , andChi Omega while the fraternities areKappa Alpha Order ,Kappa Alpha Psi ,Pi Kappa Alpha , Epsilon Phi Chi, andSigma Phi Epsilon .Media
The university has operated
public broadcasting stations WGCU television andWGCU-FM since 1996, when the license was transferred from theUniversity of South Florida in Tampa. WGCU is aPBS member while WGCU-FM is anNPR member and broadcasts news,classical music andjazz .ee also
References
External links
* [http://www.fgcu.edu/ Florida Gulf Coast University] - Official website
* [http://www.fgcuathletics.com Florida Gulf Coast Athletics] - Official Athletics website
* [http://www.eaglenews.org/ "Eagle News"] - Student Newspaper
* [http://www.fgcu.edu/crm/ FGCU Press Releases]
* [http://www.wgcu.org/ WGCU]
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