Updated on Oct. 30 at 4:37 p.m. to reflect a quote misattribution.
On Wednesday, Oct. 25, president Aysegul Timur and her Cabinet held a town hall on FGCU’s operating budget.
Timur’s Cabinet includes Executive Vice President and Provost Dr. Mark Rieger, Vice President and General Counsel Vee Leonard, Vice President for Administrative Services and Finance and Executive Director of FGCU Financing Corporation David Vasquez, Vice President for Student Success Mitch Cordova and Vice President for University Advancement and Executive Director of FGCU Foundation Katherine Green.
The main goal of the town hall was for the presidential Cabinet to discuss funding sources, the current budget and upcoming legislative session.
FGCU is receiving over $38 million in new revenue for fiscal year ‘24. The new revenue consists of $20 million in recurring operational support, $3.11 million in a Performance Based Funding (PBF) increase, $5 million in new tuition and $10 million for Faculty Retention and Recruitment.
The $20 million in recurring operational support from the Florida Legislature can be used at the discretion of the university. Of the new revenue, $3.11 million came from an increase towards the PBF that FGCU receives from the State University System of Florida.
“We’ve been doing really well with enrollment management and student success in finding students, and after a couple years of consistent performance, we feel comfortable enough in increasing the amount of new tuition we account for,” Vasquez said.
The amount of new tuition accounted for is $5 million.
$10 million is going towards the retention and recruitment of faculty. It is currently planned to be spent over the next four years.
“We have already used these funds to retain two faculty and prevent them from going to R1 institutions,” Rieger said.
Some of the things that FGCU is working towards receiving is the construction of Academic Building 10, a building dedicated to the health services program. FGCU received $58 million for the funding of AB 10 in the 23-24 state budget and is looking to receive the rest in the upcoming legislative session.
FGCU is also looking to ask for $2.6 million in funding renovations for Reed Hall this legislative cycle. The renovations are looking to add an additional third floor to the building.
