NEWS

Higher education: 6 things for 2016

Thyrie Bland
tbland@news-press.com

When it comes to things to watch in higher education in Southwest Florida in 2016, make sure to keep an eye on Florida Gulf Coast University. The university is expected to start the process of finding a new leader  and will begin planning how it will celebrate its 20th year as an institution. In addition to FGCU, here are some other things to watch:

 Contraceptive issue

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to hear challenges in March from religious non-profit groups who are opposed to a contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act.

The U.S. Supreme Court

Ave Maria University, the private Catholic school in Southwest Florida, will be keeping a close eye on what the court decides. In 2012, the university filed a lawsuit against the federal government over the contraceptive mandate.

The school's case is not among those the Supreme Court will hear in 2016, but Jim Towey, Ave Maria's president, said the school still has a lot at stake.

The seven groups challenging Obamacare want a requirement that they have to opt out of the contraceptive mandate removed. They want the same exclusion from the mandate that has been granted to churches and other institutions that are solely religious organizations.

"People can disagree about contraception," Towey said. "That's fine. Why would they be forcing us to be part of their delivery system if we have a sincerely held belief that it violates our conscience?

"They have got public health clinics. They can set up a program like food stamps — contraceptive stamps or something. There is a bunch of ways if they want to get it out there for free to everybody that they could do, but I believe this was a very carefully designed attack on groups that don't embrace their point of view on contraception."

FGCU's search for a new president

Bradshaw

The Florida Gulf Coast University Board of Trustees is expected to start discussing how it will go about the search for the school's next president, including whether to use a search firm, in 2016.

FGCU President Wilson Bradshaw announced in November that he plans to retire when his contract ends on June 30, 2017.

Discussions about the search likely are to start sometime after the board selects a new chair and vice chair. The selections will be in January.

"I think in the first months of the spring you will start hearing in board meetings discussions kind of fleshing out... timelines and that sort of thing," FGCU Chief of Staff Susan Evans said.

Hodges' next leader

One-hundred and fifteen candidates applied to be the next president at Hodges University.

The university's plan is to narrow the field of candidates to 10 to 12 semifinalists and interview the candidates in January, said Keith Arnold, vice chairman of the Hodges University Board of Trustees.

The school's goal is to reduce the candidate list to four or five finalists by late January, Arnold said. The finalists will be invited to the school, and their names will be announced to the public, he said.

"We believe it's important that when we narrow it down to the finalists that there be a public disclosure of that and a public discussion of who these people are and how they best suit the needs of the institution," he said.

The countdown to 20

Florida Gulf Coast University is planning to have a year-long celebration of its 20th anniversary.

The celebration will start in August and continue through August 2017 when the school will commemorate the day it opened its doors to students. That day was Aug. 25, 1997.

A planning group will put together a list of activities, including organizing a kickoff event.

"I am hoping that it will be not just a celebration of the university, but a regional celebration here in Southwest Florida for what the university has contributed... over its 20 years,"  FGCU President Wilson Bradshaw said.

Aviation training  

Western Michigan University wants to start an aviation training program in Southwest Florida.

Western Michigan University is still trying to bring a flight training program to Southwest Florida.

If it does, Florida SouthWestern State College may start an aviation maintenance technician training program.

But Western Michigan's plan has hit a snag. The Florida Department of Education said there were problems with the two new school applications that WMU submitted to the Commission for Independent Education on Nov. 16.

"The materials have been reviewed and the applicant was notified on December 15, 2015, of omissions and deficiencies contained in the application," Cheryl Etters, spokeswoman for the Department of Education, wrote in an email.

Cheryl Roland, executive director of university relations at Western Michigan, said WMU is working to address the issues with the applications and hopes to return the applications soon.

WMU wants the OK to operate a flight training program in Punta Gorda for international and local domestic students and offer other programs. Its plan is to lease space on FSW's Punta Gorda campus and build a hangar at Punta Gorda Airport.

Western Michigan also wants to offer programs at a second location in Florida. It plans to lease space at the Western Michigan University Cooley Law School in Riverview, Roland said.

Institute opens

Florida Gulf Coast University President Wilson Bradshaw, left, and former U.S. Rep Connie Mack, right, participated in a ground breaking ceremony for for Innovation Hub in April 2010.

Florida Gulf Coast University faculty will begin using the school's new research facility — the Emergent Technologies Institute — in January.

The facility is the first in the Innovation Hub, a private-public partnership that will focus on renewable energy research. The hub is located on 241 acres that is off Alico Road just south of the Southwest Florida International Airport.

The hub is being developed by a private company.

"We are hoping that they will be able to attract other industries that are working in renewable energy, so they can collaborate with us on some projects," said Joseph Simmons, who chairs FGCU's renewable energy program.

To start, the institute will be where the renewable energy program will conduct research.

In the fall, there will be master's level engineering classes at the institute. Engineering research also will be conducted at the institute.

The price tag for the institute was about $12.5 million, including design, construction and furnishings. State funds and a gift to the university were used to pay for it. The institute has five research labs, six classrooms, an all-purpose room and eight faculty offices.