Golden Panther Band fails to get funding

Due to the University’s massive budget cuts, the Golden Panther Band has been eliminated.

The marching band’s future was unsure after two of it’s largest sources of support, the College of Architecture and the Arts and the University’s athletic department, were forced to cut its funding of the program due to steep cuts that needed to be made within the college.

The band turned to the Student Government Association for full funding. SGA had committed to funding the program if all other parties were involved. However, that not being the case, SGA did not commit funding to the band at a University Wide Budget Meeting on April 28.

Currently, all equipment used by the band is being held in storage. The athletics department is currently reaching out to high school marching bands to perform at University sporting events.

SGA releases "Summer Goals"

The Student Government Council at Modesto Maidique Campus released its list of "Summer Goals," which includes goals and initiatives SGC-MMC will push to implement during the Summer term.

Among these are the redesign and maintenance of their Web site and the creation of an SGA Strategic Planning Committee.

The Committee’s task, according to President Anthony Rionda, will be to thoroughly examine the Council's budget and the organizations it funds every year.

Student Government Association's budget stems from the Activity and Services fees, which are collected from tuition paid by students and are distributed by student government to student and campus organizations. SGA's budget from the A&S funding for the 2009-2010 fiscal year is $10,668,130.

Rionda also said that SGC-MMC will push to build awareness about SGA in the University community.

“We’re looking to get out there, to different places in the University and in the community," he said.

Rionda added that they are planning to hold senate meetings in different places on campus, rather than in their chambers (GC-150) to get other students involved.

According to Rionda, SGC-MMC is experimenting with the possibility of taping all senate and cabinet meetings to be available to the student body through the Internet.

“We’ve attempted this at several meetings. We’re looking into either using YouTube or an independent video hosting Web site so that students will be able to see what it is that we are doing,” he said.

Also included in the "Summer Goals" list was the possible purchase of more laptops to be made available to students and faculty in the Green Library as part of the newly approved Technology Fee.

“It’s all about how to make the overall University experience feel better," Rionda said. "This is a new time of transperancy and student service within student government.

UP campus renamed in Maidique's honor

University Park campus has been renamed in honor of outgoing University President, Modesto A. Maidique.

The renaming, proposed by Board of Trustees Chairman David Parker during the June 12 meeting, was approved unanimously.

“For more than two decades, President Maidique has demonstrated his strong, passionate and unyielding commitment to FIU, leading this university’s historic transformation,” said Parker in a press release issued by the Office of Media Relations. “The board’s actions are an expression of our gratitude for his tremendous contributions to FIU and the community at large.”

An official naming ceremony will be scheduled for the fall.

“Two decades ago, my dream was to transform FIU into a major urban public university,” Maidique said in the press release. “This university now has all the major components in place to join the ranks of the nation’s top universities. This honor is the pinnacle of this incredible journey.”

Baseball faces penalties; several programs make strides

The Golden Panthers baseball team is the University’s lone intercollegiate athletics program that will face NCAA penalties for the 2009-10 academic year, according to an NCAA report.

This is an improvement from the last two years that saw Athletics lose a total of 17.87 scholarships due to low Academic Progress Rate scores.However, baseball will still face some penalties. This upcoming season, the baseball team will be limited to 16 practice hours per week, 125 playing days and 54 games.

In 2008, four different teams lost a total of 5.75 scholarships. The prior year, football, baseball and men’s basketball combined to lose a total of 12.12 scholarships with football losing nine, men’s basketball losing two and baseball reduced by 1.12.

No team faces scholarship reductions for the next academic season.

Tennis wins conference championship, reach NCAA regionals

The Golden Panthers tennis team stormed through the Sun Belt Conference to become champions for the fourth time in the program’s history, on April 19. The team then won in the first round of the NCAA regionals against Princeton University. But the University of Miami Hurricanes ended the Golden Panthers’ tournament loss with a 4-0 defeat on May 9.

Board of Governors OK’s a 15 percent increase in tuition

Students in Florida public universities will see a an increase in fees, as the body which overlooks all 11 public universities in Florida voted to increase tuition by 15 percent in response to the mounting state university budget crisis.

According to the Board of Governors, the increase is expected to bring in $23.8 million in tuition money.

The law will allow tuition increases until Florida colleges, which boast having some of the lowest tuition in the country, reaches the national average of $3,735 per semester.

The state already approved an 8 percent increase, with the additional 7 percent coming from the last BOG meeting.

According to a press release sent out by FIU, the increase will vary upon what date students enrolled in the university.

An undergraduate student who enrolled at the University before July 1, 2007, taking a 15-credit semester should expect an approximate tuition increase of $185.68 per semester.

A student who enrolled after July 1, 2007 with the same semester course load should see an increase of $287.52 per semester.

In addition, the University will be implementing a $4.42 per credit hour technology fee, an increase in student activities fee (now set at $11.60 per credit hour) and a financial aid fee (5 percent of tuition).

According to News@FIU, most of the money will go towards funding libraries, as well as hiring faculty and academic advisors. The remaining 30 percent will go towards funding financial aid for needy students.

While there will be an increase in financial aid, Florida Bright Futures will now cover less money in student’s tuition. Instead of receiving a full-ride, academic scholars will instead receive $126 per credit hour, while Medallion Scholars (who previously were covered for 75 percent of tuition and fees) will now receive $95 per credit hour.

Provost Shuffle

Five months after Joseph J. West, dean of the School of Hospitality Management, agreed to become vice provost for Biscayne Bay Campus through August 2010, he changed his mind.

"After ten years as dean, a return to the faculty is too tempting to further postpone," said Douglas Wartzok, Interim Provost and Executive Vice President, in a University-wide email sent on June 11. "Accordingly, [West] has indicated that he will step down from both positions on 1 July 2009 and take his long delayed sabbatical during the 2009-10 year."

While also serving as dean of the School of Hospitality Management -- a position he's held since July 1, 1999 -- West's tenure as interim vice provost began in the summer of 2008, when former BBC Vice Provost, Damian Fernandez, resigned.

"I'm happy because it is necessary and I'm happy that I can do it," said West in an interview on January 2009 when he accepted the BBC Vice Provost position. "It would be nice to be on sabbatical now, but I understand the situation. We have budget cuts, we're constrained, this is a difficult time. I can do the job."

After his resignation, West will continue to work as professor in the School of Hospitality Management. He was not available for comment at the time of publication.

School of Hospitality Management associate Dean Joan Remington has agreed to serve as Interim Dean of the School beginning July 1. With a bachelor's in Business Administration from the University of Hawaii in Manoa and a Juris Doctorate from Willamette University College of Law in Salem, Oregon, Remington has worked for the University since 1990.

She started as visiting professor in marketing and travel law in the School of Hospitality Management. She then became director of career development, and in May 2003, she became assistant dean for Academic Programs. She has been associate dean since July 2005.

"I'm sad that Dean West is leaving. He's done a lot," Remington said. "But I'm very excited. It's a wonderful opportunity. I'm looking forward to the challenges I'm facing and the contributions I can make."

Steven Moll, associate professor and faculty chair in Hospitality Management, agreed to serve as Interim Vice Provost for Biscayne Bay Campus. He has been a professor of accounting, finance, operations management, and management for the past 30 years. With a bachelors degree in Hotel Administration, and a masters in Hotel and Food Service Management from FIU, he is also the director of the College of Business Administration at BBC.