2,000 copies of FAU newspaper with controversial story tossed in trash
By George East
November 12, 2010
BOCA RATON — For the second time this year, hundreds of copies of Florida Atlantic University’s campus newspaper were tossed in the trash after student journalists published a controversial cover story. Read more at sun-sentinel.com.
More than a third of Florida high school students skip college, report says
By Scott Travis
July 5, 2010
Justin Kilburn spent most of his high school years focusing on girls and partying, and he had no clue what do once he received his diploma. Guidance counselors had asked him what options might interest him, such as college, trade school or the military. “I always used the excuse, ‘I’m too young. I have no idea what I want to do for the rest of my life,'” said Kilburn, 20, of Loxahatchee. He graduated from an online high school in 2008 and spent the next year working dead-end jobs in food service, construction and telemarketing. Read more at sun-sentinel.com.
FAU newspaper adviser fired, but returns as regular guest speaker
May 28, 2010
By Scott Travis
BOCA RATON —The longtime adviser of Florida Atlantic University‘s student newspaper led what seemed like a normal staff meeting Friday, critiquing the latest edition of the University Press and offering suggestions on how to do better journalism. The only problem: Michael Koretzky had been fired from the adviser’s job a week before. The termination, which FAU officials said was part of a reorganization of student media, outraged students on the newspaper staff, who see it as a backdoor way to control content. They voted unanimously to keep Koretzky as their adviser, which he agreed to do as a volunteer. When FAU wouldn’t go for that, students named him to a new position: permanent guest speaker.
Read more at sun-sentinel.com.
In recession should Florida colleges spend so much on athletics?
May 20, 2010
By Scott Travis
Students at the University of Florida pay about $46 a year to support the powerhouse Gator athletic program, a bargain price that hasn’t changed in a decade. At schools with less established sports programs, such as Florida International University and Florida Atlantic University, students must pay more than $340 a year, even though the games struggle to attract student interest. Students say it isn’t fair — especially now, with a recession making it harder to get student loans, cuts in Bright Futures scholarships and 15 percent increases in tuition. Read more at Sun Sentinel.com.
Teacher merit pay: Florida House approves bill tying teacher compensation to student performance
By Josh Hafenbrack
April 9, 2010
After an after-hours, marathon session, the Florida House passed a landmark teacher merit-pay bill early Friday morning that aims to put the state at the forefront of a controversial national push to tie teacher compensation to student performance. The bill (SB6), identical to the Senate version that passed two weeks ago, upends the current salary system based on years worked and advanced degrees earned. In its place, it creates a new, complicated plan that ties teacher pay largely to student learning gains on standardized tests. Read more at sun-sentinel.com.
Broward County teachers protest controversial bills
By Georgia East
April 8, 2010
Hal Krantz, a teacher of students with special needs, said it’s unfair to tie their performance to his salary. Carrying a whistle and a sign, Krantz joined about 500 other teachers, district employees and parents who rallied outside the Broward Teachers Union office in Tamarac on Thursday to protest education legislation as it was debated in Tallahassee. Read more at sun-sentinel.com.
FAU medical school endorsed by Florida Board of Governors
By Scott Travis
April 7, 2010
Florida Atlantic University’s new medical school became closer to reality Wednesday, after receiving unanimous approval from the Florida Board of Governors. Now it’s up to the state Legislature to make the final decision. House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach, has indicated support for the school among legislators. “Today is an exciting day for Florida Atlantic University,” said John Pritchett, FAU’s interim president. “FAU’s medical education program has a strong foundation and will continue to position itself as a leader in state-of-the-art medical education and ground-breaking research.” Read more at sun-sentinel.com.
South Florida educators and parents fear proposed changes on how Florida teachers are evaluated and paid
By Akilah Johnson and Marc Freeman
April 6, 2010
The panicked cries of South Florida’s education community are growing louder as a massive overhaul of how Florida’s public school teachers are paid and evaluated draws closer. “This is a harmful bill.” “It is a scary bill.” “Basically, it will destroy public education.” Parents, principals, union leaders, teachers and School Board members said teacher retention and recruitment will plummet if the Florida House this week approves HB 7189, its controversial companion bill to Senate Bill 6. Read more at sun-sentinel.com.
FAU receives support for medical school
By Scott Travis
March 11, 2010
Florida Atlantic University has passed its first hurdle in creating a new medical school with The Scripps Research Institute. A subcommittee for the Board of Governors, the body that oversees state universities, gave the proposal its support Wednesday. And House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R-Delray Beach, said he sees no obstacles in the Legislature, which will also vote on the issue. Read more at sun-sentinel.com.
FAU’s new president: University is ‘on the cusp of greatness’
By Scott Travis
March 6,2010
Florida Atlantic University may have its share of problems, but it also has enormous potential in the eyes of its new leader. Mary Jane Saunders, hired Wednesday as president, envisions a university that can be a first-choice institution for students and a world leader in science and research. After all, no other university can claim to house sites for The Scripps Research Institute and the Max Planck Society, two of the world’s giants in biotechnology. “I think this is a university on the cusp of greatness,” Saunders said in a phone interview from her home in Ohio. “All the partnerships are going to help transform the work at Florida Atlantic University.” Read more at sun-sentinel.com.
FAU Gets New President
By Scott Travis
March 3, 2010
Mary Jane Saunders, who has a strong background in science and administration, will become the next president of Florida Atlantic University. Saunders, 59, most recently served as provost and senior vice president at Cleveland State University. She received the FAU board of trustees’ vote of support after nearly two hours of discussion. She beat out two other finalists, Gary Miller, provost at Wichita State University, and Terry Hickey, provost at the University of Central Florida. Read more at sun-sentinel.com.
Three Candidates Make Their Case to be FAU’s Next President
By Scott Travis
March 1, 2010
The last time Florida Atlantic University selected a president, a clear front-runner emerged the moment the state’s lieutenant governor applied. Frank Brogan was unanimously chosen to lead the Boca Raton-based university in 2003, but who will succeed him isn’t as obvious. Three candidates made their case to students, faculty and community members at FAU’s campuses Monday. More public forums are planned Tuesday. The Board of Trustees plans to pick a new president Wednesday. Read more at sun-sentinel.com.
FAU President Brogan’s six year tenure draws to a close
By Scott Travis
September 10, 2009
It was considered a sleepy commuter school. And then a big-name politician came in 2003 to help transform its image into a well-known and increasingly popular university. Frank Brogan, the state’s former lieutenant governor who became Florida Atlantic University‘s fifth president, ends his tenure this weekend to become chancellor of Florida’s 11 public universities. Read more at Sun-Sentinel.com
Some question FAU President Frank Brogan’s video pitch for private development in Yeehaw Junction
By Scott Travis
August 11, 2009
Sitting behind his desk at Florida Atlantic University, President Frank Brogan touts the benefits of Destiny, a proposed 100,000-home community located two hours northwest of the school’s main Boca Raton campus. During his video pitch, Brogan says the Earth-friendly development in Yeehaw Junction “is going to be a wonderful place where people can reside, raise their families, grow and flourish.” “One might wonder why the Destiny project is important to a university president,” Brogan says in the two-minute video, which can be seen on You-Tube. Read more at Sun-Sentinel.com
FIU tops minority degree list; FAU’s Brogan at odds with blog
By Scott Travis
August 10, 2009
South Florida colleges and universities topped the list of schools producing the most degrees for minorities. Diverse Issues in Higher Education, an academic journal, lists Florida International University as the No. 1 school for issuing minority bachelor’s degrees in a 2009 list of Top Degree Producers. The list looks at how many blacks, Hispanics, Asians and American Indians received degrees from the institutions during the 2007-08 year. Read more at Sun-Sentinel.com
FAU faculty union duke it out to governor
By Scott Travis
August 4, 2009
Florida Atlantic University President Frank Brogan’s relationship with the faculty union isn’t improving much in his final weeks in office. Brogan, who plans to leave FAU by mid-September to become chancellor of the state university system, sent a letter to Gov. Charlie Crist saying he’s “disappointed by the level of vitriol,” that United Faculty of Florida has expressed on its blog. The union has been at odds with Brogan on several issues, most recently the layoff of five tenured professors during a reorganization of the College of Engineering and Computer Sciences. Read more at Sun-Sentinel.com
FAU’s would-be to donor, insurance magnate Barry Kaye, unable to fulfill $16 million pledge to college
By Scott Travis
July 28, 2009
Former insurance magnate Barry Kaye has told Florida Atlantic University fundraisers he is unable to fulfill a $16 million pledge, the largest in FAU’s history. Kaye, 81, said Tuesday that he would write the school a final $1 million check, bringing his total gift to $5 million, and he asked to take his name off the College of Business. FAU accepted Kaye’s revised agreement, which he blamed on economic conditions, according to a letter from Randy Talbot, executive director of the FAU Foundation. “We have enjoyed working with FAU to further the educational goals of the university and have been pleased to support the community and student body,” wrote Kaye, who moved last year to New York City with his wife, Carole. Read more at Sun-Sentinel.com
Florida Atlantic University to seek new president; Frank Brogan becomes chancellor of Florida’s State University System
By Scott Travis
July 17, 2009
Florida Atlantic University will search for a new president, after Frank Brogan accepted a job Friday as chancellor of the State University System. The FAU board of trustees will meet Wednesday to discuss how to replace Brogan. It will launch a national search, said Nancy Blosser, board chairwoman. Provost John Pritchett will likely be named as interim president, said trustee Armand Grossman. Read more at Sun-Sentinel.com
Teacher Layoffs part of budget slicing at FAU
By Scott Travis
May 30, 2009
Florida Atlantic University will lay off 30 employees, including five tenured professors, as part of its budget reductions, officials said Friday. FAU also plans to raise tuition by 15 percent, not 13 percent as originally proposed, President Frank Brogan said in video remarks on FAU’s website. Read more at Sun-Sentinel.com
FAU to lay off 30, raise tuition 15%
By Scott Travis
May 29, 2009
Florida Atlantic University will lay off 30 employees, including five tenured professors, as part of its budget reductions, officials said Friday. FAU also plans to raise tuition by 15 percent, not 13 percent as originally proposed, President Frank Brogan said in video remarks on FAU’s website. The university has been looking for ways to offset $16.7 million in state cuts. Brogan said 45 university majors will be eliminated and FAU will also leave 140 vacant positions unfilled. Read more at Sun-Sentinel.com
FAU not counting on stimulus for budget cuts relief
By Scott Travis
February 25, 2009
BOCA RATON – Florida Atlantic University President Frank Brogan is warning his school not to get too hopeful about a federal stimulus package easing the pain of budget cuts. Brogan told members of the Board of Trustees on Wednesday that he doesn’t know how much money FAU will get from the $787 billion stimulus package, which President Obama signed last week. But he doubts it will be enough to make a major dent in the $18 million in budget cuts the university faces next year. After next year’s cuts, he said the university will have lost about $42 million since 2007. “My concern is the mind-set that some people are taking on that the stimulus package is going to solve everyone’s problems,” he said. “As much money as we’re talking about, it won’t do that.” Read more at Sun-Sentinel.com
PLEASE NOTE: UNFORTUNATELY, THIS COLLECTION OF ARTICLE SUMMARIES IS NOT EXTENSIVE BECAUSE THE TRIBUNE CO./SUN-SENTINEL HAS A PAY-PER VIEW POLICY ON MANY OF ITS STORIES WHICH ARE MORE THAN A FEW MONTHS OLD.