Alico Arena was recently decorated for the 2024 Fall Kickoff Celebration, an annual employee appreciation event before the start of the new school year. Faculty and staff were encouraged to attend and enjoy food provided by the University Events and Chartwells Catering team, have the opportunity to win a prize for being the most spirited Eagle and hear FGCU Dr. Aysegul Timur’s State of the University Address. 

She opened the almost 40-minute speech by reflecting on the history of FGCU and how it took collaboration, perseverance and passion to make the university what it is today. She thanked and acknowledged those employees who were in attendance. 

Over the summer, Timur met with the university vice presidents to create the Annual Report, currently available on the FGCU website. The document covers how the university has grown, led students to success and highlights the university’s biggest wins. 

Including: 

• Record enrollment of 16, 212 students 
• “Ideas to Impact” campaign raising over $100 million
• Receiving $18 million in faculty research awards 
• FGCU Athletics winning seven ASUN Conference championships
• Approvement of the first Ph.D. program

She also highlighted FGCU’s biggest achievement last year: finalizing the 2024-2029 Strategic Plan. 

“As you know, our Strategic Plan is called ‘Innovating for Student Success: FGCU’s Journey to Excellence.’ It gives us our direction for the next five years, helping us build on past successes and continue moving the needle,” Timur said. 

She continued by speaking about FGCU’s efforts to have more visibility outside of Fort Myers in the surrounding state counties. The 2024-2029 Strategic Plan also discusses “branding” the university’s sustainability efforts. 

“We say sustainability is in our DNA, as it is something we’ve embraced since the day we opened our doors,” she said. “It’s time to brand it. It’s time to strategically align what we say and what we do to what we are known for.”

To help keep track, in real-time, of where the university is and where it is headed, an “FGCU Scorecard” is being made. It will reflect the combined work of campus employees, heavily focusing on collaboration and teamwork. 

Individual academic unit plans are operational and implemented into the 2024-2029 Strategic Plan. They ensure the campus’ larger goals and objectives are being met. Unit goals also guide individual performance goals. Since employees have a role in ensuring the success of FGCU, quarterly and annual reviews will be conducted. 

The first phase of the FGCU Scorecard will be presented to the Board of Trustees in September. 

As one of 12 public universities in Florida, Dr. Timur emphasized the importance of the Performance Based Funding (PBF) metrics established by the State University System of Florida. Last year, FGCU failed to meet its performance goals which caused a loss in funding.

“The U.S. News and World Report has named Florida the No. 1 state for higher education for eight years in a row. Our state leaders have invested in the work we do in higher education,” Timur said. “We are part of that work and we have to meet our scores to excellence.”

She acknowledges that the university has to work to meet excellence scores, hence the 2024-2029 Strategic Plan’s name, “Journey to Excellence.” 

“I am confident we are going to make progress. I trust you all to get there, and you must also trust me to lead our collective work,” Timur said. 

She then shifts her focus to the student’s success rates by introducing new student success pathways to guide students throughout their first year of college and give support throughout their academic careers. 

This is part of a campus-wide effort to use predictive analytics and real-time progress to monitor students who may need extra support to stay on track to graduate. The Student Success Council and the college intervention teams are working to address student retention, academic progress and graduation rates. 

“So yes, our PBF number hurts, but I want you to know that we are serving our students. Our students work, our students study hard, they graduate and they go on to build meaningful careers in the Southwest Florida community and beyond,” she said. 

New initiatives include proposing the next quality enhancement plan, “The Skills Advantage: From Campus to Career,” which aims to provide more visibility to transferable skills from student to career success.

An internal communications process is being created for the university. It is a new function of FGCU that aims to promote transparency and send timely information to employees. Three engagement events are currently planned for the fall semester, topics vary from understanding the goals of the 2024-2029 Strategic Plan to new campus projects and how to adjust to a growing campus. 

“What we are doing together is building a more informed community, a workforce that feels supported. We are shifting our culture,” Timur said.