SHARE:
Higher Education in Florida
New programs on Florida campuses
Colleges and universities around Florida are trying new programs tailored to a changing workforce and student needs.
New College
New College of Florida in Sarasota has a joint venture with the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute in Albuquerque, N.M., to share faculty and provide internships to students in bioinformatics. » The college is building a lab for the faculty and students in its 3-year-old computation science program, in which math, computer science and simulation combine to solve problems in a range of scientific disciplines.
» Students in the school’s Chinese language and culture program spend seven semesters studying the language and are pushed to spend at least one semester in China or Taiwan. Three students have won U.S. Department of State scholarships to study in China since 2010.
 Students in the Chinese program spend seven semesters studying the language at New College. |
 Elaine Nicpon Marieb gave $5 million to FGCU for its new health professions building. |
Florida Gulf Coast University opened its $28-million health professions building, the Dr. Elaine Nicpon Marieb Hall, named for the donor of the $5-million lead gift.
University of South Florida
English professor Joe Moxley and his team used money from a student technology fee to develop a software tool called “My Reviewers” that improves how feedback is delivered on student writing in the university’s first-year comp classes.
» The university’s college of nursing has moved more deeply into veterans’ health care. The school is one of eight nationally that have partnered with the VA to train baccalaureate nurses to work for the VA. The college also developed a course in military and veteran health issues that begins this fall and will host a national conference on veteran health.
» Meanwhile, this fall it adds new concentrations — in adult-gero (gerontology) and acute-care gero — to its master’s for nurse practitioners.
Polk State College
The Advanced Manufacturing Institute at Polk State College allows manufacturers to get the employees they need by customizing training and using state-of-the-art equipment. It’s part of Polk’s “Corporate College,” which each year trains nearly 12,000 Polk workers in everything from child care to insurance and factory work.
 Bryan Hogue, a graduate of Polk’s apprenticeship program |
University of North Florida
The University of North Florida began a new concentration in medical laboratory sciences. The university reports that there’s a national shortage of laboratory professionals. UNF biology majors who pick the laboratory specialty will get training in local health care facilities along with their class work and will be eligible to sit for a national certification exam.
» The university’s “On Campus Transition” program allows students — currently 25 — with intellectual disabilities to have a real college experience while earning a certificate as they audit classes. The students, whose disabilities prevent them from pursuing traditional degrees, have UNF student mentors and learn life skills to be independent. The program is a partnership with non-profit The Arc Jacksonville.
 UNF’s new program allows biology majors to specialize in laboratory sciences. |
