Florida Senate - 2015                             (NP)    SR 424
       
       
        
       By Senator Bean
       
       
       
       
       
       4-00648-15                                             2015424__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution commending the Independent Colleges &
    3         Universities of Florida for the organization’s five
    4         decades of service to the students, communities, and
    5         employers of this state.
    6  
    7         WHEREAS, a strong, private, not-for-profit higher education
    8  system is vital to the economic well-being of this state, and
    9         WHEREAS, in 1965, the presidents of 11 colleges and
   10  universities in Florida together created the Independent
   11  Colleges & Universities of Florida to support the critical role
   12  of independent higher education in this state, and
   13         WHEREAS, these college and university presidents sought to
   14  strengthen and promote independent higher education in Florida,
   15  thereby creating more educational options and access for the
   16  residents of this state, and
   17         WHEREAS, the Independent Colleges & Universities of Florida
   18  worked with Governor Reubin Askew in 1972 on the effort to
   19  create the needs-based Florida Student Assistance Grant Program
   20  for students attending public and private institutions, and
   21         WHEREAS, the Independent Colleges & Universities of Florida
   22  later championed the William L. Boyd, IV, Florida Resident
   23  Access Grant Program, which now, in its 36th year, is assisting
   24  nearly 40,000 students annually with their undergraduate tuition
   25  costs, and
   26         WHEREAS, today, the Independent Colleges & Universities of
   27  Florida’s 31 member institutions serve more than 155,000
   28  students at 135 sites across the state, offer more than 400
   29  online degree programs, and award more than 60 percent of
   30  degrees in the important fields of science, technology,
   31  engineering, mathematics, health care, business, and education,
   32  and
   33         WHEREAS, in this Golden Anniversary year, these independent
   34  colleges and universities will award 25 percent of all
   35  bachelor’s degrees, more than 50 percent of all first
   36  professional degrees, and more than 40 percent of all advanced
   37  degrees in Florida, and
   38         WHEREAS, Independent Colleges & Universities of Florida
   39  represents a vibrant educational system with $10 billion in
   40  assets, 35,000 employees, and annual operating budgets totaling
   41  more than $5 billion, adding to the economic vitality of this
   42  state and providing essential resources for its students, NOW,
   43  THEREFORE,
   44  
   45  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   46  
   47         That the Florida Senate extends its congratulations and
   48  commends the Independent Colleges & Universities of Florida for
   49  its five decades of service to the students, communities, and
   50  employers of this state.
   51         BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution,
   52  signed by the President of the Senate, with the Seal of the
   53  Senate affixed, be presented to the Independent Colleges &
   54  Universities of Florida as a tangible token of the sentiments of
   55  the Florida Senate.