Independents, HBCUs, for-profits face their own issues
In the latest installment of Florida Trend's report on the state of higher education in Florida, we examine the issues facing three very different types of educational institutions: Non-Profits, For-Profits and Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Read the reports:
- Pressure Valve: Private, non-profits ease demand on state schools but face FRAG cuts. ?
- High Returns but at What Cost?: For-profit colleges are under attack as the schools oversell their programs. ?
- Sharper Focus: Florida A&M has record enrollment just as it's forced to cut its budget and many programs. ?
 Rollins College in Winter Park, like other private, non-profits, gets $2,149 for each Florida resident it enrolls. The Florida Resident Access Grant (FRAG) has been cut from a high of $3,000 in 2007-08. [Photo: Rollins College] |
» Related: Kaplan lays off 60 more workers
Governor Scott issues SunRail warning
Facing an end-of-the-week deadline to decide the fate of a controversial commuter rail project, Gov. Rick Scott on Tuesday sent his top transportation adviser to Central Florida to warn local officials that they'll be on the hook if the project ultimately fails. Florida Department of Transportation Secretary Ananth Prasad made clear that if Scott moves forward with the $1.28 billion, 61.5-mile commuter line called SunRail, the state will not help cover operational costs after the first seven years. And if local governments can't cover the costs, the money will come out of the region's state transportation dollars, Prasad said in meetings with local leaders. Translation — less money for roads and bridges. [Source: St. Petersburg Times]
U.S. home prices up; Florida cities lag behind
Home prices in most major U.S. cities are rising for the first time in eight months, boosted by an annual wave of spring buying. Analysts cautioned that the increases might be temporary and do not necessarily signal a rebound for the depressed home market. The latest reading from the Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller home-price index also did not bring much cheer for Florida. Both Tampa and Miami were among six cities that are at their lowest levels in nearly four years; Charlotte, N.C.; Chicago; Detroit; and Las Vegas are the others. Tampa posted a 0.4 percent drop, while Miami saw a 0.2 percent decline. Southwest Florida -- not part of the Case-Shiller measure -- has been bucking that pricing trend for most of 2011, but during May the median sales price as measured by Florida Realtors showed a 1.3 percent drop from April. That was the first month-to-month decline since a big drop in January. [Source: Sarasota Herald-Tribune]
11th Circuit hands Georgia victory in water wars case
A federal appeals panel handed Georgia a victory Tuesday by finding metro Atlanta can legally tap a reservoir that provides water to roughly 3 million of its residents and tossed aside a lower court order that would have severely restricted access to that water starting next summer.
 Florida's Biggest Private Landowners  Ten companies own more than 5,000 square miles of Florida — roughly a tenth of the state's total land area. The large privately owned swaths are vital to Florida's future.» Top 10 Private Landowners » Private Landowners Interactive Map » View the full 2011 Economic Yearbook |
Plan for campgrounds in Florida state parks drawing fire
A controversial proposal to let private contractors build and operate campgrounds at Florida state parks, including allowing recreational vehicles at Honeymoon Island State Park in Dunedin, is drawing fire from fresh quarters this week.
State Sen. Mike Fasano, R-Port Richey, sent letters Tuesday to both Gov. Rick Scott and Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Herschel Vinyard expressing his "adamant opposition."
He said the DEP should halt its plan until the Legislature can study the proposal, noting that "allowing a for-profit enterprise to run a high-impact campground on such a sensitive and important environmental treasure as Honeymoon Island is a major policy change that needs more review than it has been given."
[Source: St. Petersburg Times]
ALSO AROUND FLORIDA:
› 'Operation Orlando' launched by hacker group Anonymous
The computer hacker group Anonymous — credited with crashing the websites of Visa and MasterCard in support of Wikileaks — launched what it called "Operation Orlando" on Tuesday.
In news releases and emails to the Orlando Sentinel, the loose-knit group issued a "declaration of war" and promised to bring down a different Orlando-related website every day. One hacker told the Orlando Sentinel the group may target Orlando police officers, state lawmakers and the Florida Democratic Party.
Tuesday, the group chose an odd target: orlandofloridaguide.com, an unsophisticated, privately owned tourism site that has no apparent affiliation with City Hall. That website went offline shortly before 10 a.m. and remained down through the day.
› Progress Energy customers to pay for some nuke plant repairs
Progress Energy customers can expect pay as much as $560 million in costs the utility incurs as it repairs the Crystal River nuclear plant.
During a conference call with investors Tuesday, utility officials said insurance won't cover all of the expenses related to the idled plant.
Specifically, customers will have to pick up some of the costs of electricity that Progress had to buy to make up for the loss of the nuclear plant's generating capacity.
Insurance will cover up to $490 million of those costs. But Progress expects the total price tag to reach "just over a billion dollars," said Mark Mulhearn, senior vice president and chief financial officer for Progress Energy.
› Large poker room planned for Jacksonville
Efforts are under way to bring a large poker room across from Regency Square Mall in Arlington. The Garden Ridge store at 201 Monument Road is closing because Jacksonville Kennel Club has a contract to purchase the property.
The kennel club has applied with the state to open a poker room on the site, which a spokesman said would create 200 new jobs.
Last year, the state Legislature changed the law to allow pari-mutuel businesses to operate a separate cardroom and betting facility if the license holder closed an existing facility and opened the poker room in the same county and within 30 miles of old one.
Jacksonville Kennel Club on McDuff Avenue closed in 2009 after operating for 74 years. Its owner, Jacksonville Greyhound Racing, donated the entire facility to the Knowledge is Power Program, which targets underprivileged children.
› Tallahassee prepares for thousands of layoffs
Florida's capital city is bracing for thousands of public employee layoffs due to spending cuts in the new state budget.
The city joined with other governmental and private interests in the Tallahassee area Tuesday to launch a re-employment effort.
It features a website that includes job, networking and unemployment compensation information along with retraining opportunities.
The site — bigbendworks.com — also has contacts for financial resources and social services including crisis counseling and food assistance.
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› Scott acknowledges attending Koch retreat
Gov. Rick Scott acknowledged Tuesday what his staff had refused to disclose: He flew to Colorado over the weekend to attend a secretive policy retreat hosted by powerful conservative donors Charles and David Koch.
"It was very interesting," Scott said. "They wanted basically to know what am I doing in Florida."
Scott said he gave an overview of his agenda since taking office in January: education and Medicaid reform, tax breaks for businesses, drug testing welfare recipients and overhauling the public employee pension system.
The billionaire Koch brothers are widely influential in national politics and helped spur the tea party movement through groups like Americans for Prosperity.
› Manatee County leads sales surge on Gulf coast
Through much of 2010, as Florida's economy started to recover — led by South Florida and Orlando — most of Southwest Florida lagged behind.
But that appears to be changing this year, based on surging sales figures that businesses in the region are reporting to the state.
During the first four months of 2011, as the state economy grew by 8 percent, businesses in the seven counties stretching from Pinellas to Collier reported an 11 percent jump in sales.
Leading the pack was Manatee County, which had been badly lagging its neighbors last year. Manatee businesses reported sales increases of 15 percent so far in 2011.
› Palm Beach County checks in with Office Depot on employee retention
After confirming Monday that it plans to outsource 80 finance jobs to Guatemala and India, Office Depot is under the watchful eye of Palm Beach County's assistant administrator Shannon LaRocque.
Boca Raton-based Office Depot agreed to retain at least 1,750 employees in accepting multimillion-dollar incentives from the county and the state. The office supply retailer signed an incentive contract with the county on Aug. 18, 2009, to receive $650,000 a year in maximum incentives over a 10-year period, in return for capital investment, job retention, job creation and maintain a certain average salary. But the plan to outsource 80 jobs, under new CEO Neil Austrian, has the county concerned.
› Workplace bullying a growing problem
In an economic environment where jobs still are scarce, standing up to a workplace bully has become difficult. Experts are calling workplace bullying an epidemic, citing several recent studies that confirm the seriousness of the problem in the United States. One government study says workers are bullied in one out of every four workplaces.
"Sometimes good people bully," says Gary Namie, who operates the Workplace Bullying Institute in Seattle. "They become more and more aggressive at work because it gets reinforced. Employers who are indifferent are rewarding it."
Although unprofessional, workplace bullying is not illegal in the United States. There is no law that prohibits managers from threatening, insulting or mocking employees or making their work lives miserable. Some bullies hide under the guise of being a tough boss.
› Furniture stores adapt to unstable economy
Furniture retailers in Southwest Florida are adapting to a leaner economy and are reaping small rewards.
But since the downturn began, many furniture stores in Southwest Florida have closed. The closings included high-end retailer Robb & Stucky, which is liquidating through bankruptcy court.
The industry is closely linked to home sales and consumer confidence, which have both been hammered in the downturn.
"There's going to be a lot of players that come and go now because it's just going to be based on what their overhead is," said C. Britt Beemer, retail research analyst with Charleston, S.C.-based America's Research Group.
The retailers that have maneuvered through the worst have adjusted their costs and are finding opportunities to expand, he said.
› Bright Futures pays for less, requires students do more
Florida college students are being required to do more to obtain Bright Futures scholarships and will get less from them, a trend that will continue over the next few years. One of the latest requirements, effective Friday, is that students must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid to receive the scholarships. While the top scholarships once completely covered state university tuition, tuition increases and caps on award amounts mean that students now have to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket.
The changes have a significant impact at the University of Florida, where more than 98 percent of in-state freshmen qualify for Bright Futures.