President's Report 4/11/25

April 11, 2025 / Lyndsay Rhodes

Board of Trustees

BOT met Tuesday April 8th, 2025 @ 8:30am in AB9 138. There was a closed executive session on Collective Bargaining. In the regular meeting we welcome new Trustees Dr. Larry Antonucci (CEO Lee Health) and Ms. Gianna Ihuoma (SG President 2025-2026). Trustee Robbie Roepstorff (Founder and President, Edison National Bank) was reappointed by another term by Gov. DeSantis. We also recognized outgoing SG President Mr. Ryan Kaczynski for his service to the board.

A few highlights of the meeting include the BOT approval of the FGCU 2025 Accountability Plan, approval of the new Master of Business Administration in Business Analytics degree program (PSE), and approval of the updated Regulation 3.003 Textbook and Instructional Materials Adoption, Affordability and Transparency to include required BOG attestation language.

Several of the board’s committees will now meet separately and ahead of the full board meetings. These include the Academic/Student/Faculty Affairs Committee (Chair: Trustee Roepstorff), Finance, Facilities and Administration Committee (Chair: Trustee Eide), and the Strategic Plan ad-hoc Committee (Chair: Trustee Rivera). These meetings are scheduled to begin meeting ahead of the September 2025 meeting. Of note, Faculty Senate and Student Government Presidents will be voting members of the Academic/Student/Faculty Affairs Committee. Additionally, the BOT will have a Workshop focused on Student Success with focus on PBF metrics on June 10th in addition to our regular June meeting on the same date.

All BOT materials and presentations will be posted on the BOT website by April 22, 2025.

Attendance in Canvas

Digital Learning was charged with identifying an Attendance Software solution that integrates well with Canvas and would be a comparable replacement for Canvas' Roll Call Attendance. The features of Roll Call served as a baseline criterion for an attendance tool, and the data extraction requirements to make the most of attendance data added another layer of requirements to effectively evaluate the best solutions to meet the needs of the university. Stakeholders from Digital Learning, Faculty Senate, Student Success and Enrollment Management, and ITS participated to gather input and ensure an accurate assessment, leading to a recommendation for FGCU's next attendance solution - APlus+ Attendance. This platform will integrate within Canvas and offer all the features previously available in Roll Call as well as additional functions to enhance attendance in our courses. APlus+ will also allow for data sharing with SSEM for case management and interventions. Digital Learning and ITS are current working with Procurement, with expected rollout in Fall 2025. More information and training will be available.

Search Updates

It was announced on April 2 that Dr. Paul J. Dosal, Ph.D. has accepted the Vice President and Vice Provost of Student Success & Enrollment Management position and will start July 21, 2025. Dr. Dosal 15 years of experience in VP positions within the SUS (UCF and USF).

Other quick updates

Textbook Attestation in HelioCampus

Textbook attestations were extended until April 11, 2025. A list of outstanding courses were sent to Deans and Chairs Thursday, and those instructors will be contacted directly. All attestations are due by Tuesday April 15 as our report to BOG is due April 18. Please remind your colleagues to complete this in HelioCampus as this is a requirement by the BOG. We will likely use HelioCampus for the next few semesters (for which textbook adoption are already complete) for this purpose while we work on a more integrated process moving forward.

Interfolio

Thank you all for your efforts in completing your APDRs in Interfolio. We know there were some pain points, but we will continue to revise the template. We will continue to use Interfolio in many processes. I urge you to actively use the Faculty Activity Reporting as this is a valuable tool for many of our processes as well as allows us to integrate and recognize all the amazing work faculty are doing every day. Additional information and resources can be found on the Interfolio Resources webpage.

Commencement

Thanks to all who signed up to attend the commencement ceremonies on May 3 and 4. We’ve had a much better sign up process this year, and I can’t wait to see a full faculty section! A big thank you to Ms. Julie Eacho for coordinating and Provost Barringer for his words of encouragement. This is such an amazing way to celebrate the accomplishments of our students and share in this wonderful milestone with all their family and friends. I hope you’re all ready for that Swag and Sway!

Thank you

Finally, I want to give my heartfelt thanks to the Senators, Executive Team, Standing Team members, and all the faculty at FGCU for allowing me to serve as your Faculty Senate President these last 2 years. I’m honored that you trusted me to take on this position and I hope I’ve represented you well. I won’t lie, it’s been a lot of work, travel, and juggling of responsibilities, and just a tad bit stressful a times, but I have learned so much and I’ve truly enjoyed my time as president and vice president before that. The most rewarding part of my job is the amazing people I get to call colleagues and friends and your unwavering support for students and passion for learning. I know the work can be difficult and our positions challenging, but know you are making a difference every day and what you do here matters to many. It has truly been my pleasure, and I know I leave Senate in the capable hands of a great team. Thank you again and Go Eagles!