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Highlights: Board of Governors Meeting, August 30-31

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The Board of Governors discussed a progress report of the State University System’s  gains
toward its Strategic Plan Goals and heard from a Think Florida: A Higher Degree for
Business panel about the role universities can play in helping start-up companies succeed.

Reaffirming its commitment to accountability and efficiency, the Board of Governors this week advanced several initiatives to promote excellent student outcomes and ensure the State University System is meeting its Strategic Plan goals.
The Board discussed a progress report on the System’s achievements, which showed the System is on track to meet or surpass its goals on retention and graduation rates, degrees in areas of strategic emphasis and more. In the 2015-16 academic year, 86 percent of first-time-in-college students met the System standard for retention– an increase of 7 percentage points since 2005-2006. Similarly, over the past five years, four-year graduation rates have increased by 10 percent and six-year graduation rates have increased to rank Florida second among the 10 largest states. Meanwhile, the System has reached its goal four years early of meeting Florida’s demand for degrees in strategic areas, including STEM.
“Due to performance funding and other accountability initiatives, the State University System’s progress in recent years has truly been remarkable,” said Tom Kuntz, Board of Governors Chair. “We’ve seen nearly across-the-board improvement on several quality indicators, and we have every reason to believe our momentum will continue.”
During the meeting, the Board also received a visit from Senate President Joe Negron, who discussed his recently filed Senate Bill 4 and his commitment to the State University System and to students.
Additionally ,the Board also hosted a Think Florida: A Higher Degree for Business panel, which focused on the role that universities can play in boosting start-up companies. Panelists were Helena Cowley, CEO of Captozyme, and Sue Washer, CEO of AGTC, both of which develop therapies to treat various medical conditions, as well as UF Vice President for Research David Norton.
Chancellor Marshall Criser III, who moderated the discussion, also presented on the Board of Governors’ new ‘concierge’ website, which provides a single portal to recruit from all 12 public universities.
“Through Think Florida: A Higher Degree for Business, the Board of Governors is actively striving to learn more about the needs of our businesses and meet them where they are,” said Chancellor Criser. “We are using the feedback we receive from the business community to make sure our students are ready for the workforce and to provide the services that will help our businesses thrive.”
Additional meeting highlights include:

  • University of West Florida, University of Central Florida, Florida A&M University and Florida State University presented their Strategic Plans to the Board for approval.
  • The Board approved its 2018-2019 Legislative Budget Request, with a focus on performance funding and key System or state initiatives.

For more information, consult the meeting’s official minutes at http://www.flbog.edu/. The Board’s next meeting is scheduled for November 8-9 at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

Board of Governors appoints trustees to UCF and UWF boards

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The Board of Governors on Thursday appointed John Lord to the Board of Trustees at the University of Central Florida and Adrianne Collins to the Board of Trustees at the University of West Florida.
John Lord, of Orlando, is retired from his position as the Orlando Area Market President and Small Business and Premier Banking Executive for the State of Florida with Bank of America. Mr. Lord currently serves as a board member of the Nemours Foundation and as a trustee of the Alfred I. DuPont Testament Trust. Mr. Lord serves as a board member for Dornoch Sutherland Assurance Ltd, Cruden Bay Risk Retention Group and the Pediatric Medical Services of Florida Inc. Mr. Lord previously served as chair of the Valencia Community College Board of Trustees, Orange County Industrial Authority, Mid-Florida Industrial Development Commission, Community Foundation of Central Florida, Florida Citrus Sports Foundation and Heart of Florida United Way. He is appointed for a term beginning June 22, 2017 through January 6, 2020.
Adrianne Collins, of Gulf Breeze, is the Power Delivery Vice President at Gulf Power Company. Ms. Collins currently serves as a board member of the North American Energy Standards Board Whole Electric Quadrant and the Ronald McDonald House of Northwest Florida. She is a member of Society of Women Engineers and alumni of Leadership Pensacola. Ms. Collins previously served a board member of the United Way of Atlanta Cole and the Fayette Care Clinic. Ms. Collins received her associate’s degree from University of West Florida and her bachelor’s degree from University of Florida. She is appointed for a term beginning March 30, 2017 through January 6, 2020.
The appointments are subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.

Universities mark another year of improvement under performance funding

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The Board of Governors announced university performance funding scores at its meeting on Thursday, celebrating the fourth year in a row of nearly across-the-board improvement. The System boasted year-over-year gains on six of the eight performance metrics that are common to all universities, including the number of students earning degrees in areas of strategic emphasis (such as STEM). The System’s graduation and retention rates have increased by roughly five points each during the same period.
Based on their excellence or improvement on the Board’s metrics, universities are eligible for a share of the $520 million allocated by the Governor and Legislature during the 2017 legislative session. The model’s 10 metrics include graduation and retention rates, cost to the student, and success for recent graduates.
“In the past four years, we’ve seen steady improvements at the System level and for individual universities,” said Tom Kuntz, Board of Governors’ Chair. “Especially exciting is that we’ve seen universities in the bottom three soar to the top of the pack as they’ve renewed their focus on student success.”
The Board’s newest metric, cost-to-the-student, also pointed to positive outcomes. The average cost of earning a bachelor’s degree is less than $15,000 after financial aid (grants, scholarships and waivers). Furthermore, University Work Plans, in which institutions lay out their future financial goals, indicate that universities are expected to decrease their prices further in the coming years, cutting the student cost per degree from $14,820 to 14,090 by the 2019-2020 school year.
“Affordability has been a priority for the Governor and the Legislature as well as the Board of Governors because it increases student access and relieves student debt,” said Ned Lautenbach, Vice Chair of the Board of Governors and Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee. “It’s exciting to see the universities turning that goal into a reality.”
Universities also boasted a number of individual successes. New College of Florida will get a share of performance funding dollars this year due to its increase in student retention, average full-time wages of undergraduates employed one year after graduation, number of students graduating in areas of strategic emphasis, and cost to students.
The University of Florida, University of South Florida and the University of West Florida all scored in the top three, with UWF soaring from a bottom three to a top three performer in only one year. The accomplishment is partially due to the university’s 5.3 percent jump in retention and 6.6 percent jump in the number of graduates employed one year after graduation, both of which are remarkable gains. UWF’s success is due to a campus-wide effort to invest in long-term strategies designed to increase the institution’s performance in the selected metrics and enhance the overall quality of the education and experience provided. Among the institution’s most successful initiatives is an online graduation dashboard that empowers students, faculty and staff to closely monitor degree progression.
USF secured its spot in the top three by gaining on several metrics, including retention rates, cost to the student, bachelor and graduate degrees in areas of strategic emphasis, the number of students employed one year after graduation, and the number of bachelor’s degrees without excess hours. The achievements are a result of the university’s focus on better preparing students for the workplace through a rigorous and relevant curriculum and strengthened career preparedness initiatives, including the expansion of required experiential learning and internship opportunities.
UF, meanwhile, increased its “number of licenses and options executed” from 147 to 261.The university credits its success to playing “the long game,” focusing on closing deals, fostering a great reputation, and encouraging commercially targeted thinking among faculty.
“We’re at a point in which the effects of performance funding are indisputable,” said Board Member Alan Levine, Vice Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee. “Universities are working diligently toward improvement on these metrics, and that commitment is paying off in the form of better outcomes for students.”