Interest in FAU rises along with reputation, Palm Beach Post

By Kimberly Miller
August 21, 2008


BOCA RATON — Florida Atlantic University is attracting more students than ever from other counties - a testament, officials said, to the school's rising profile among the state's 11 public universities.

Nearly 3,300 students from outside FAU's traditional recruitment zone of Broward and Palm Beach counties applied for fall admission to the school. That's a 43 percent increase over last year's applications from the same areas.

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FGCU president: Rapid growth at university is a positive, Naples Daily News

By Brad Kane
August 21, 2008

ESTERO — After growing from nothing to a bustling Southwest Florida university in 10 years, Florida Gulf Coast University enters its second decade of existence on Monday with more than 10,000 students for the first time ever.

FGCU President Wilson Bradshaw welcomed back staff and faculty with his State of the University address on Thursday as the university’s newest students moved into their new homes.

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UF's bid to rise in rankings stalls, Gainesville Sun

By Nathan Crabbe
August 21, 2008

The University of Florida’s quest to rise in the national rankings has stalled.
UF placed 49th among national universities and 17th among public universities in the U.S. News and World Report rankings released today. The university had identical rankings in last year’s edition of the coveted but controversial rankings.

UF President Bernie Machen said the rankings, based in part on the university’s

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Arriving Students Find Fewer Teachers, Capital News Service

August 20, 2008

College kids across the state are moving into their dorms this week but with the state’s 11 public universities losing 174 million dollars to budget cuts they can expect less. As Whitney Ray tells us, students moving into their new dorm rooms can expect fewer creature comforts and fewer study partners.

Hear it Here: Universities Drop Enrollment to Balance Budgets

Omar Butcher is moving back into the dorms at Florida State University for his senior year. Omar worries about budget cuts diminishing his quality of education.

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Machen and Meyer talk of rising above tough times, Gainesville Sun

By Nathan Crabbe
August 21, 2008


University of Florida President Bernie Machen on Wednesday renewed his call for the state to use rainy-day funds to forestall budget cuts.

Machen, speaking at the 38th annual UF Joint Civic Club luncheon, said the university has endured $100 million in cuts and more are likely this fiscal year.

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Budget cuts slash FSU's freshman class, Tampa Bay Channel 10

August 21, 2008

Tallahassee, Florida - Florida State University's incoming freshman class is unlike any in the school's history. Its members are smarter than any other freshman class and it's the smallest in at least a decade. But Malia Dreyer won't be a part of FSU's wave of incoming students, though she had a 3.6 grade point average at her college preparatory high school in Winter Park. She's among more than a thousand who didn't' get in because of budget cuts.

Officials at FSU had to further restrict admission because of state budget cuts. This year's incoming class is 5,053. That's down from about 6,326 who entered last fall. In the last two years, FSU officials have had to deal with about $41 million in cuts and more are looming.

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Florida State must stop stonewalling, Orlando Sentinel

By Mike Bianchi
August 20, 2008

Not much sunshine in Orlando this week because of Tropical Storm Fay.Not much Sunshine in Tallahassee either due to another tropical storm on the horizon -- a top-secret list of alleged NCAA violations.

The Sunshine we're talking about is the State of Florida's Sunshine Law, which Florida State is once again trying to finagle around amid an academic fraud scandal that has turned into a national embarrassment for the Seminoles and their athletic department.

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Crist to throw reserves at $1.5 billion budget hole, Tampa Tribune

By Catherine Dolinski
August 20, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Charlie Crist said Tuesday that he plans to take at least $600 million from state reserves to plug part of the $1.5 billion budget hole expected this year. But he's not interested, he said, in bringing lawmakers back to the capital for a special session to prioritize cuts to state spending.

Lawmakers authorized Crist last spring to take up to $1.67 billion from state reserves - $1 billion from the Lawton Chiles Endowment Fund for health and related programs, plus one-half of the $1.34 billion budget stabilization fund - if revenue falls too far south this fiscal year. Last week, state analysts projected a $1.8 billion shortfall, triggering Crist's emergency authority to dig into the two reserve pots.

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Season of Gloom, Gator Sports (Gainesville Sun)

August 19, 2008


The start of a new academic year is usually an occasion for hope and optimism in this college town. But with Florida facing its most severe economic downturn in decades, its state universities are feeling the pinch.

Last week state economists said Florida is facing another $1.8 billion revenue shortfall. Although Gov. Crist is considering using state reserves and money from the tobacco fund to help balance the budget, the prospects of still more cuts loom large.

That's especially bad news for UF and its sister institutions. As the Miami Herald reported last week, as state university students begin classes "they can expect fewer choices for majors and classes, more crowded classrooms, and a faculty that's being lured away by other states at an alarming rate."

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FSU turns research into business, Tallahassee Democrat

By Stephen Price
August 17, 2008

High-powered microscopes and scientific research have become important tools that officials at Florida State University are using to transform ideas into jobs.

The Office of Intellectual Property Development and Commercialization (OIPDC) has focused its vision on spawning private companies in hopes of producing significant benefits for the area’s economy and an infusion of cash for the university.

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Group says budget cuts cutting state's vital organs, Central Florida Channel 13

August 17, 2008

MAITLAND -- Funding for social services programs in the state of Florida has been slashed by more than seven billion dollars in the last two years.

A new group of concerned citizens met to try and make sure that number doesn't get any higher.Members of Florida's People, Florida's Promise held a town hall style meeting Saturday in Maitland. The group said Florida's budget crisis has taken money away from groups that need it most. Members said while they know these are hard times across the board, cuts have to stop.

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FAQ on shifting state ballot, New Journal

By Mark Lane
August 17, 2008

The most important vote on the state constitutional amendments pushed by the Tax and Budget Reform Commission is going to be cast by justices of the Florida Supreme Court. That's because, one by one, the amendments are being ruled on by circuit judges, touched on by appellate courts and bounced up to the state supreme court.

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Budget cuts another blow to weakened universities, Miami Herald

By Oscar Corral
August 17, 2008

When college students start the fall term at the state's public universities next week, they can expect fewer choices for majors and classes, more crowded classrooms, and a faculty that's being lured away by other states at an alarming rate.

Deep budget cuts imposed by the state Legislature this year have resulted in the elimination of the industrial engineering major at Florida International University, the Diabetes Research and Training Center at the University of Florida, and many others around the state. The money crunch prompted FIU to put its staff on a four-day work week over the summer.

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Crist looks to reserves as revenue in state ebbs, Tampa Tribune

By Catherine Dolinki
August 16, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - Record plunges in state revenue are punching a $1.5 billion hole in the state budget this fiscal year, triggering emergency authority for Gov. Charlie Crist to dig into state reserves.

It also could force more cuts to education, health care services and other parts of the $66 billion state budget, which is already $6 billion less than the budget lawmakers passed in May 2007.

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