Earlier this month, the Florida Legislature began its 2016 legislative session. You, as alumni and voters, can have an important role in determining our success in Tallahassee!
We’re counting on you to help make it a successful one for FIU! As you know, FIU is an economic engine for our community and state. We are educating tomorrow’s highly skilled workforce, fostering innovation, and finding solutions for the biggest issues we face.
Once again, we are working with our elected officials to provide the necessary funding for our FIU, but we also need you to communicate with our elected leaders, too. We need every Panther’s help to share the FIU story and seek the support of decision makers on key issues. I encourage you to join Advocate FIU, share your FIU success story and help advocate for our legislative priorities.
This year, FIU’s 2016 state legislative priorities include:LE
Campus Expansion: $20 million for the relocation of the Fair and FIU’s expansion. Currently serving 54,000 students, FIU has maximized use of its existing space and needs to expand its footprint in order to continue meeting the needs of the South Florida community, spur economic activity and serve a greater public purpose.
Satellite Chiller Plants: $7 million to finish the build-out of the remaining three chillers. The chillers provide critical emergency backup cooling to essential and critically needed facilities, such as vivarium and labs, in the event of a power outage.
SIPA, Phase II: $15 million to augment a $20 million gift from the Green Family Foundation. Thirty million dollars are needed to construct phase II of the Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). SIPA is on its way to becoming a globally recognized, top five school of international and public affairs, committed to innovative education with professional programs in global governance, human security, disaster preparedness, risk management and corporate citizenship.
FIU Startup: $5 million for a new initiative aimed at harnessing, encouraging and supporting the multitude of entrepreneurial activities at FIU. This initiative reflects a university, regional and state, emphasis on job creation, workforce development and post degree employment.
FIU Up:Lift: $5 million to create the UP:LIFT (University Paradigm: Learn, Interact, Facilitate, Transform) initiative to deploy state of the art evidence-based instruction, learning technologies, and advanced classroom assessment throughout critical Gateway and STEM courses.
Florida Consortium of Metropolitan Research Universities: $12 million for FIU, UCF and USF to share best practices, innovative solutions, policies and programs to efficiently increase the number of graduates in high-demand areas and maximize career development opportunities.
Royal Caribbean Partnership: $2.5 million for amenity improvement needed to address building deficiencies, increase student internships and job placement opportunities
We need your help in telling FIU’s story. We’re making it easy for you to be involved and stay informed. Become an advocate today by visiting advocate.fiu.edu. You can also visit the Governmental Relations website at government.fiu.edu for weekly updates on the 2016 Legislative Session.
Save the Date: FIU Day at the Capitol is Feb. 17. FIU Day allows us to come together to advocate for FIU, meet and connect with our legislative leaders, and show our Panther Pride. You can join us from wherever you are! The FIU family will be showing its support for our FIU on social media throughout the day using #AdvocateFIU.
If you’re in Tallahassee that day, we invite you to join us at the FIU Day reception at the Governor’s Club at 5 p.m.
Thank you for your support and for everything you do throughout the year for our FIU. I hope to have great news for you soon from Tallahassee. We are building a better university thanks to you!
Become an FIU Advocate Today!
Sincerely,
Mark B. Rosenberg,
President
