Florida Senate - 2024 (NP) SR 1804
By Senator Martin
33-01930-24 20241804__
1 Senate Resolution
2 A resolution recognizing January 23, 2024, as “Florida
3 Gulf Coast University Day” in Florida.
4
5 WHEREAS, in May 1991, then-Governor Lawton Chiles signed
6 into law a bill passed by the Florida Legislature authorizing
7 the creation of Florida’s tenth public university, Florida Gulf
8 Coast University (FGCU), to provide higher education
9 opportunities and workforce development in the previously
10 underserved region of southwest Florida, and
11 WHEREAS, FGCU opened its doors to 2,584 students on August
12 25, 1997, and held its first commencement in May 1998 with 81
13 graduates, and
14 WHEREAS, FGCU has been led by five outstanding and dynamic
15 presidents: Roy E. McTarnaghan, William C. Merwin, Wilson G.
16 Bradshaw, Michael V. Martin, and Aysegul Timur, and
17 WHEREAS, with the leadership and vision of President Timur
18 and the FGCU Board of Trustees, FGCU students will be encouraged
19 to embrace an entrepreneurial spirit, and graduates will be well
20 prepared for productive lives as civically engaged and
21 environmentally conscious citizens with successful careers, and
22 WHEREAS, FGCU’s top priority is the realization of its
23 Excellence in Student Success strategy to provide students a
24 comparative advantage as they enter the workforce, with early
25 identification of career paths and the opportunity for all
26 students to have meaningful work experiences before graduation,
27 including internships, micro-credentials, and digital badges,
28 and with a strong focus on relevant programs led by accomplished
29 faculty and supported by dedicated staff to build tomorrow’s
30 workforce by graduating students who have in-demand expertise
31 and transferable skills, and
32 WHEREAS, FGCU has strategically grown into a regional
33 university of more than 16,000 students and today offers 64
34 undergraduate, 26 graduate, and 7 doctoral programs and 17
35 academic certificates, and
36 WHEREAS, FGCU’s many pathways to student success have led
37 it to achieve national prominence in student service learning as
38 one of the only public institutions of higher education to make
39 service learning a graduation requirement for all undergraduate
40 students, with more than 4 million hours contributed to the
41 southwest Florida community since 1997, and
42 WHEREAS, with restored or preserved nature making up half
43 of its 800 acres, the FGCU campus is a living laboratory for
44 innovative and interdisciplinary learning, offering students
45 diverse opportunities to participate in meaningful research led
46 by their professors, and
47 WHEREAS, in 2022, FGCU established The Water School,
48 located in the midst of Florida’s complex freshwater and
49 saltwater systems, uniquely positioning it to explore water
50 based issues, including the health of waterways that impact
51 surrounding ecosystems, regional and state economies, and the
52 people who rely on water for life and leisure, and making FGCU a
53 catalyst for change in the community and throughout the world,
54 and
55 WHEREAS, FGCU continues to work collaboratively with the
56 State University System to meet regional and statewide workforce
57 needs by graduating career-ready students from the Marieb
58 College School of Nursing in six program areas, with a nearly
59 100 percent graduate employment rate and excellent first-time
60 passage rates on required nursing licensure examinations, and
61 WHEREAS, FGCU has more than 43,000 graduates, 70 percent of
62 whom are working in their respective fields of study, with 2,000
63 businesses started in southwest Florida and more than 20
64 chapters of the FGCU Alumni Association throughout the United
65 States, and
66 WHEREAS, FGCU strives to bring diversification of the
67 economy to the region it serves through innovation in
68 agribusiness, construction management, and environmental
69 engineering, and
70 WHEREAS, FGCU serves in and engages with its surrounding
71 community, offering a wealth of enrichment opportunities,
72 including visual arts, music, theater, and public radio and
73 television, and
74 WHEREAS, FGCU’s athletic teams continue to be a growing
75 source of pride for their loyal fans, with nine programs having
76 earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sports, and
77 student-athletes continuing to demonstrate their academic
78 strengths, and
79 WHEREAS, the collegiate experience continues to enrich the
80 lives of FGCU students as they transition from high school to
81 college to career while serving the surrounding community
82 through “Turning Ideas into Impact” and the university’s
83 longstanding commitment to service, NOW, THEREFORE,
84
85 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
86
87 That January 23, 2024, is recognized as “Florida Gulf Coast
88 University Day” in Florida.
89 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution, with
90 the Seal of the Senate affixed, be presented to Aysegul Timur,
91 Ph.D., President of Florida Gulf Coast University, as a tangible
92 token of the sentiments of the Florida Senate.