Letter to the Editor: FIU is reaching higher and setting new standards

Claudia Puig

Chairperson, FIU Board of Trustees

Last month, the FIU board of trustees held our last meeting of the academic year, where we approved the university’s $1.3 billion budget and work plan for the 2016-2017 year.

As Miami’s only public research university, FIU has charted a course that honors its responsibility to serve local residents, and my fellow FIU trustees and I want to share with you our vision for the future of this university under the leadership of President Mark B. Rosenberg.

Since taking the reins of FIU in the fall of 2009, President Rosenberg has pursued a strategy of controlled growth and improvement that has yielded excellent overall results, especially in two key areas that universities are judged by: research and student success.

Earlier this year, FIU made it into the top category of research universities in the nation – R:1 Doctoral Universities, with more than $165 million of research funding a year and high production of Ph.D.s.

This fall, we will welcome a freshman class with the highest average high school GPA in FIU history – 3.9. We have found that GPA is the best predictor of success and timely graduation. That is why in the last few years, while adding about 2,000 students a year, we have prioritized GPA over standardized test scores in the freshman admission process. Even then, average SAT scores have remained above 1120, which is higher than they were 10 years ago.

In addition, they are graduating at rates never before seen at FIU: The six-year graduation rate is at 58 percent, up from 42 percent 10 years ago, and climbing. In the last three years, the graduation rate has become important to the funding model adopted by the Florida Board of Governors, which governs state universities. FIU has done very well under this model, always scoring in the top half among Florida’s 12 public universities.

Education is the key to success in the 21st Century economy, and FIU is working to make sure that anyone in our community who has the desire and the preparation to pursue a college education, has the opportunity to do so right in our community.

It is a pleasure and an honor for us to serve on the board of trustees of FIU. Together, we have charted a course that will help make FIU one of the great universities of this nation, building on our success as an agent of change that transforms lives. We are counting on the energy and the talent of our students, faculty, staff, alumni, elected officials and this community to help us reach higher.

DISCLAIMER:

Letter to the Editors are published once a month. They are not written by FIUSM staff but by members of the FIU community.  If you would like to submit a letter, please email it to opinion@fiusm.com

Image retrieved from Flickr.