About FGCU

Florida Gulf Coast University will achieve national prominence in offering exceptional value in high-quality educational programs that address regional and statewide needs. Our programs, firmly grounded in the liberal arts and sciences, will employ emerging instructional technologies. Possessing an entrepreneurial spirit, graduates will be well prepared for productive lives as civically engaged and environmentally conscious citizens with successful careers, ready to pursue further education.

Approved by the FGCU Board of Trustees September 8, 2015.

土库曼对伊朗比分预测佛罗里达海湾大学是一所综合性的高等教育机构，为佛罗里达西南部及其他地区提供具有战略重要性的本科和研究生学位课程。复旦大学在科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)学科、卫生专业、商业以及海洋和环境科学等方面寻求卓越的学术成就。优秀的教师和工作人员在强大的顾问社区的支持下，为学生提供有收入的就业和成功的生活，成为负责任的、有生产力的和积极参与的公民。学校强调创新、以学生为中心的教学和学习，提倡和实践环境的可持续发展，拥抱多样性，培育社区伙伴关系，重视公共服务，鼓励公民责任，培养终身学习和发现新知识的习惯。

Approved by the FGCU Board of Trustees May 10, 2016.

The founding of Florida Gulf Coast University at the advent of a new century is a signal event. It comes at a moment in history when the conditions that formed and sustained American higher education are fundamentally changing, and at a time when rapid shifts wrought by technology and social complexities are altering the very nature of work, knowledge, and human relationships. As a public institution, Florida Gulf Coast University eagerly accepts the leadership opportunity and obligation to adapt to these changes and to meet the educational needs of Southwest Florida. To do so, it will collaborate with its various constituencies, listen to the calls for change, build on the intellectual heritage of the past, plan its evolution systematically for the twenty-first century, and be guided by the following principles:

• Student success is at the center of all University endeavors.The University is dedicated to the highest quality education that develops the whole person for success in life and work. Learner needs, rather than institutional preferences, determine priorities for academic planning, policies, and programs. Acceleration methods and assessment of prior and current learning are used to reduce time to degree. Quality teaching is demanded, recognized, and rewarded.
• Academic freedom is the foundation for the transmission and advancement of knowledge.The University vigorously protects freedom of inquiry and expression and categorically expects civility and mutual respect to be practiced in all deliberations.
• 多样性是更新和活力的源泉。The University is committed to developing capacities for living together in a democracy whose hallmark is individual, social, cultural, and intellectual diversity. It fosters a climate and models a condition of openness in which students, faculty, and staff engage multiplicity and difference with tolerance and equity.
• Informed and engaged citizens are essential to the creation of a civil and sustainable society.The University values the development of the responsible self grounded in honesty, courage, and compassion, and committed to advancing democratic ideals. Through service learning requirements, the University engages students in community involvement with time for formal reflection on their experiences. Integral to the University's philosophy is instilling in students an environmental consciousness that balances their economic and social aspirations with the imperative for ecological sustainability.
• Service to Southwest Florida, including access to the University, is a public trust.The University is committed to forging partnerships and being responsive to its region. It strives to make available its knowledge resources, services, and educational offerings at times, places, in forms and by methods that will meet the needs of all its constituents. Access means not only admittance to buildings and programs, but also entrance into the spirit of intellectual and cultural community that the University creates and nourishes.
• 技术是实现教育质量、效率和分配的基本工具。大学以创新的、实验性的和实用的方式运用信息技术进行教学、行政和信息管理，并为学生提供访问和支持。它促进并提供远程免费学习。它要求并培养学生和员工的技术素养。
• Connected knowing and collaborative learning are basic to being well educated.大学在整个课程中构建跨学科的学习体验，赋予学生在整个系统中思考的能力，并理解跨学科知识的相互关系。重点放在通过合作机会发展团队合作技能。总的来说，大学在治理、运营和规划方面实践集体学习和协作的艺术。
• Assessment of all functions is necessary for improvement and continual renewal.The University is committed to accounting for its effectiveness through the use of comprehensive and systematic assessment. Tradition is challenged; the status-quo is questioned; change is implemented.

Approved by the Deans Council June 18, 1996

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佛罗里达海湾海岸大学(FGCU土库曼对伊朗比分预测)的历史是一所具有远见卓识的大学，建立在为佛罗里达州西南部提供高等教育机会的基础上。该地区的居民开始倡议在佛罗里达的这个地区建立一所州立大学，他们的早期请求很快得到了当地和州一级民选官员的支持。

SW Florida gets a state university
The former Florida Board of Regents formally recommended in January 1991 the development of Florida’s 10th state university to be located in Southwest Florida, and, in May 1991, then Governor Lawton Chiles signed the legislation authorizing the new university. Southwest Florida’s support for a university was never more evident than during the next year, when private landowners offered more than 20 gift sites for the university campus. In early 1992, the Board of Regents selected the site offered by Ben Hill Griffin III and Alico, Inc. of 760 acres of land located just east of Interstate 75 between Alico and Corkscrew Roads.

University and president named
Roy McTarnaghan was named founding university president in April 1993. Initial staff was hired that summer, and the university’s academic and campus planning began in earnest. Plans for the first phase of campus construction were unveiled in February 1994, and shortly thereafter, the Florida Legislature named the institution as “Florida Gulf Coast University.” The vision for the university was one that would address emerging higher education needs for the 21st century, including the use of technology in the learning/teaching process and multi-year contracts as an alternative to faculty tenure. The Board of Regents approved an agreement in May 1995 with the United Faculty of Florida allowing FGCU to offer a contract system for faculty.

2 years from groundbreaking to opening
Campus groundbreaking was held on November 28, 1995, with more than 600 people participating in the celebratory event for Southwest Florida. With aggressive academic program and campus development schedules slated to culminate in an opening day of August 25, 1997, the early staff and faculty were busy meeting deadlines every month. Inaugural degree programs were approved by the Board of Regents in March 1996. The FGCU Foundation, a private fundraising arm of the university, gained extraordinary financial support for an institution that at the time could only be seen on a drawing board. Faculty members throughout the country were attracted to FGCU for the opportunity to offer higher education in new and innovative ways.

81 graduate in 1st commencement
The first FGCU student, Mariana Coto, was admitted in January 1997, and she participated in the historic ribbon cutting on the university’s August 25, 1997 opening day. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) awarded FGCU accreditation candidacy later that year, and a comprehensive self-study was launched. The first commencement was held in May 1998, with 81 FGCU graduates. In August 1998, the first phase of student housing opened.

Accreditation and the 2nd president
In September 1998, Founding President McTarnaghan announced his intention to retire as President on May 1, 1999. The Board of Regents launched a national search for FGCU’s second president held during the spring and summer, and the university received official notification in June 1999 that it had achieved, in record time, accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In July 1999, the Board of Regents named William C. Merwin as FGCU’s second president. President Merwin arrived on campus for his first day on September 16, 1999. He initiated a highly participatory strategic planning process for students, faculty, and staff to carry the young institution to its next stage of development.

University gets own Board of Trustees
The Florida Legislature established governing boards of trustees for state universities in 2001, and 13 members were appointed to the Florida Gulf Coast University Board of Trustees. This governing board continues to provide leadership that is strategic, forward focused, community based, and responsive to the region and state. In January 2007, FGCU President Bill Merwin retired, and Dean of the Lutgert College of Business Richard Pegnetter was named Interim President by the FGCU Board of Trustees. A highly competitive national search for FGCU’s third president was launched.

3rd president selected on 10th anniversary
On the university’s 10th anniversary of its opening day — August 25, 2007 — the FGCU Board of Trustees selected Wilson G. Bradshaw to serve as the institution’s third president. President Bradshaw led FGCU through its second decade of development and service as a comprehensive university offering access to quality higher education in Southwest Florida. Student enrollment grew 60% from 2007 to 2016, and new undergraduate and graduate degree programs continued to be added, along with academic buildings and student housing. FGCU Athletics achieved NCAA Division I status emerged as national powerhouse in 2013 when "Dunk City" became the first #15 seed to advance to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA DI Men's Basketball Championship.

Nearing 20th year, FGCU selects 4th president
As FGCU approached its 20th anniversary in August 2017, the FGCU Foundation exceeded a $100 million fundraising campaign to fuel continued development of scholarships, athletics and programs that contribute to student success. Graduates grew to more than 25,000, spurring the launch of 10 Alumni Association chapters across the country. President Wilson G. Bradshaw announced he would retire at the end of the 2016-17 academic year after a decade of leadership, and the Board of Trustees in February 2017 selected Michael Martin to succeed him.

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