New FAU president lists goals in first ‘State of the University’ address

September 2, 2010   ·   0 Comments

By Dale M. King

BOCA RATON – In her first address to the Florida Atlantic University community, newly appointed FAU President Dr. Mary Jane Saunders stressed the need to “engage students, preserve the vision and pursue new goals.”

“I chose that title [for her speech] very deliberately because, taken together, these three concepts define the direction we’ll be taking in the years ahead.”

“We’ll continue to engage students in every possible way, from helping them achieve academic success to involving them in all aspects of the life of the university,” she said in her first State of the University address delivered Sept. 1.

“We’ll preserve the carefully nurtured vision of this university as a center of distinguished scholarship, research and creative activity, a well as a meaningful service to the greater community,” Dr. Saunders added.

“And we’ll work together in the pursuit of important new goals, such as expanding e-learning capabilities and becoming a statewide leader in the development and delivery of STEM curricula – science, technology, engineering and math.”

Dr. Saunders addressed an audience at the university’s Lifelong Learning Center auditorium, then held a brief news conference and attended a reception in the Student Center.

“I’m glad there were a lot of people,” the new president told reporters after the speech.  She said she did not feel nervous addressing the large crowd, citing her 27 years of classroom teaching.

Saunders, former provost at Cleveland State University, has been at FAU since last spring, succeeding former President Frank Brogan, who quit to become chancellor of the state university system.

She praised a number of staff members by name as well as instructors as a whole, saying, “The faculty and the hard-working staff who support them are the people who bring a university to life.”

The new president took note of how FAU’s Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute “captured the national media spotlight” when NBC news reported about Harbor Branch’s work on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

She also noted that FAU is among Florida universities selected to receive a $10 million block grant to conduct research on the effects of the spill.

“A few months ago,” she said, “we took a step in the direction of setting important new goals when, for the first time, we identified three research priority areas through a competitive internal grant submission process.”  The areas are: climate change, brain function (damage and repair) and healthy aging.

She also ran some numbers on the university.  She said FAU scored “an impressive 13 percent increase in sponsored research awards – totaling $42 million.”

This year, she said, “we’re welcoming 69 new faculty members.”  A majority have doctorates, and some come from “exceptionally prestigious institutions such as Harvard, Cornell and Stanford.”

Students are getting smarter, she indicated.  This year’s incoming freshman class has average high school GPA’s of 3.4, and their combined SAT score is 1620 – up 18 points over last year.

She also focused on campus growth, including the Innovation Village Apartments that should open next year; new buildings that will be certified by the U.S. Green Building Council and construction of a first-ever football stadium on the Boca campus.

Dr. Saunders invited the crowd to attend inauguration ceremonies Oct. 29 “when I’ll have the great privilege of being inaugurated as the sixth president of this wonderful university.”

By luana