Month: October 2019

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Homecoming

Florida State Mascot marches in homecoming parade

This has been a busy week

This has been a busy, exciting, and tough couple of weeks at FSU PC and for me personally. On October 20, my little brother died after a brief, but hard-fought battle with pancreatic cancer.    While his death was expected, it was still painful to see him go.  However, the celebration of his life was joyful, and I was able to spend time with people that I had not seen in 30 years.  People came “home” to celebrate his life and tell some great stories.  These stories included many discussions about the impact he had on their work and their lives.

Purely by coincidence

FSU staff barbecue during homecoming celebraion Purely by coincidence, it was also Homecoming week at FSU.  On both campuses, our students led events for current and past students, truly providing something for everyone.   Celebrations included a barbecue on the grounds of FSU PC, a Tuesday night kick-off event, Pow Wow and a parade on the Tallahassee campus, and a great Seminole victory over the Syracuse Orange.  As they have for more than 30 years, our FSU PC Student Government Council members presented the Torch on the field at the Homecoming football game, showing the connection between the two campuses.

Our Impact 

Durning homecoming week I heard countless stories from students, faculty, staff, and alumni about not only their memories of being on campus, but especially about the friendships they made and the impact their professors, advisors, and fellow students have had on their professional and personal lives.  At the football game, I ran into a student I taught in law school.  Now, he is a successful partner in his firm and works throughout the country.  While many of the conversations I participated in included discussions about time on campus, most, if not all, had a thread about the impact FSU has had on their lives.

Mourning our Own

Toward the end of the week, we received some very sad news.  Both a dedicated staff member at FSU PC and one of our star students died in separate automobile accidents.  On a campus where you get to know many of the students, faculty and staff, the word of these deaths spread quickly through our FSU PC family.

While there currently is and will continue to be sadness, the discussions have turned to the impact these two had on co-workers and fellow students.  People talked about the infectious smile and warm greeting the staff member had, treating everyone with the same level of respect, as well as the impact the student had on the members of her cohort and her love for helping young people.  There is no way to ease the pain of these deaths, but I take pride in seeing how well the members of our community love and support each other through times of tragedy.

A New DefinitionFSU students hold poster up for homecoming event

This week, I adopted a new definition of Homecoming.  Homecoming is for football, celebration and sharing happy memories, but it is also marching through challenging times, while constantly reminding ourselves of the strength that comes from community and what we learn from each other.  Homecoming is valuing the impact others have had on your life.  The FSU community is remarkable, and I am proud to call this place home.

 

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The FSU Panama City Promise

FSU PC Promise Logo

Promise

Last Thursday, October 10, was the first anniversary of Hurricane Michael ravaging our beautiful community, and surrounding areas. There have been many stories about people outside of the area not having any knowledge of the tremendous damage, and how long the recovery will take.

The people within this region are hard-working, dedicated and resilient. Every day we see improvements to our infrastructure, and businesses reopening. I am convinced that this area will not only recover but will also have an economic renaissance. I see it in my work with the local economic development officials as we continue to meet with many companies interested in expanding to the region.

A significant part of that economic renaissance is evaluating the work we do, and how we do it. Over the past six months, a group of dedicated volunteers, faculty, staff, and students from our campus has been developing a new strategic plan for FSU PC for the next five years. That process included identifying our core values — what makes this place so special, and what students can count on.

We call it the FSU PC Promise! We make the following promises to every one of our students:

We Promise To Be Your Partner

— as you pursue your academic goals at one of America’s great public research universities. Through small classes, individual attention, and working with mentors, you will have the greatest potential for academic, career, and professional development!

We Promise You Will Be Prepared

— as you move into the workforce or onto graduate school. The high academic standards, our commitment to helping you succeed, and your opportunity to participate in experimental learning, undergraduate research, and community service will advocate your success!

We Promise You Can Set Your Path

— through engaging in group and individualized projects, providing separate pathways, and participating in hands-on learning experiences directly tied to your academic career. You can count on us working with you to meet your individual goals!

We Promise FSU Will Always Be Your Home

— even after graduation, this partnership is more than a commitment for a few years. You will leave with greater critical thinking skills, a love for learning, and understanding the importance of being an engaged member of your community. Together, we will make sure that FSU continues to meet the needs of students just like you.

That’s our promise to our students. It is also a critical component of the recovery and economic renaissance of this area. We understand that we must play a major role in that recovery and revitalization, and we will start every day by focusing on the students, and student success — that’s our promise!

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I Had a Revelation This Week

I already knew it

But, this week, I saw it in real time. I was walking through the Holley Center, one of our academic buildings, when I noticed one of our recruiters showing a prospective student our beautiful campus.

One of the best parts of my job

One of the best parts of my job is meeting potential students. It didn’t take long for me to walk over to introduce myself to him and his grandmother. As a senior, this student was exploring colleges in the area.

Ok so, we like college football here and my first question was whether he was a Nole. He said something about “Roll Tide” and I saw his grandmother sternly look at him. I expected her to say she had always been a Seminole. However, she immediately pledged allegiance to Auburn, not Alabama.

Clearly, this conversation was not going well. So, I quickly moved from football to academics and welcomed them to one of the top public universities in the country. As of September 9, 2019, FSU is ranked by US News and World Reports as the 18th top public university in the country.

While currently attending a small private school in the area, this student has an interest in studying engineering. We engaged in a short conversation about math, his extracurricular interests, his friends and I answered a few questions about college. I could see the spark in his eyes as he talked about building things and how things work. He has developed software programs, built a building in his back yard, and has worked on numerous inventions.

As we continued to talk

I decided to call in the varsity and asked two of our engineering faculty to meet with him. Dr. Damion Dunlap and Dr. Walid Hadi were happy to spend time discussing his future. Dr. Dunlap is a mechanical engineering faculty member and Dr. Hadi is recognized for his work in electrical engineering.

The connection between the rising senior and these two talented faculty members was fascinating. I saw his interest grow as Dr. Dunlap, the advisor for our RoboBoat team, talked about the intricacies of mechanical engineering and his abilities to get involved on campus. Then, Dr. Hadi was equally engaging as he talked about the curriculum, including the circuits and power classes. He also talked about our electrical engineering students who placed nationally in the NASA rocket competition.

There was a little friendly rivalry between the professors as they urged the student to think about their individual disciplines. However, their primary focus was on what was best for the student—even if it was in a related area like computer science. For that, I am honored to have them as faculty members at FSUPC.

While I cannot be certain, my hunch is, that potential student and his grandmother walked out of our campus as Seminoles.