Local universities expect big expansion

Unlike 2007, Southwest Florida won’t be celebrating the 10th anniversary of its state university or the grand opening of a Catholic university’s new campus.

The landscape of local higher education, however, won’t be stagnant in 2008. The region’s five colleges will feature an abundance of academic and operational changes, and construction crews will be as common as cram sessions at three schools next year.

Here’s what is on tap at each area college:

Ave Maria University

The paint has barely dried at Ave Maria’s new campus in eastern Collier County, but university leaders announced in January that a fourth dormitory is needed to handle a projected enrollment surge. That project will be completed for the fall 2008 semester, and a recreational pool and cabana complex also will be ready about the same time.

Academically, Ave Maria cannot make any substantial program changes until it completes an accreditation process with the Southern Association of Colleges and Universities. Athletics will make a push onto campus, though, as the Gyrenes expect to field teams that will compete in National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Edison College

Edison will offer two more bachelor’s degrees in the fall 2008, accepting students for secondary education in math and biology. The college already has a bachelor’s in public safety management. “Edison Online” also will debut in the fall, allowing students to complete an associate’s of arts degree without ever setting foot on campus.

Presidents of Edison’s Charlotte, Lee and Collier county campuses will start to operate more autonomously, essentially making decisions as if their campus is its own college.

Next fall, the Lee campus will break ground on a 50,000-square-foot nursing annex and reopen the library after a $6 million renovation project.

Florida Gulf Coast University

His honeymoon is over, and new President Wilson Bradshaw will have to get going on how he wants to shape the university’s second decade.

In the fall semester, FGCU will welcome its first doctoral-level students, offering physical therapy and education specialist degrees.

The construction frenzy will be at full steam in 2008 at the San Carlos Park school. A soccer stadium and parking garage will be ready next month. Another housing complex, resort and hospitality building and business hall will be finished in August. The state-of-the-art engineering complex will be completed by December, towering over the entrance to campus.

Hodges University

Already with campuses in Lee and Collier counties, Hodges will set up shop in Immokalee with an associate’s degree in interdisciplinary studies and a bachelor’s degree in management in Key West. That’s in addition to a distance education program that continually is adding more online courses, and a new bachelor’s in health administration for Charlotte County students.

Hodges will solidify plans for a Hispanic Institute to assist current and future students, as well as research education issues important to the area’s Hispanic community.

With $1.3 million already in the coffer, Hodges will continue raising scholarship money for its American Military Veterans Education Fund.

Southwest Florida College

Programs, programs and more programs.

The college is expanding its offerings from two to five bachelor’s degrees, creating tracks in elementary education, early childhood education and interior design. It also will add certificate programs for emergency medical technicians and paramedics.

The Fort Myers college already has a branch in Tampa, but is eyeing leased space in Estero, Lehigh Acres and Cape Coral. An agreement could be finalized in January, cutting down travel time for students.

The Tampa campus is piloting a bachelor’s in emergency medical services, a program that could make its way to Southwest Florida in 2008.


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