Graduate Studies: Elevating Excellence through Collaboration and Innovation | | Graduate and Professional School Fair Planning Committee: L to R: Shannon Acosta (Graduate Studies), Dawn Kirby (Academic Programs & Curriculum Development), Zachry Gelow (Marieb College of Health and Human Services), Monika Caraballo (U.A. Whitaker College of Engineering), Vivek Bhargava (Lutgert College of Business), Diane Kratt (College of Education), Dimitrios Dermisis (U.A. Whitaker College of Engineering), Tanya Benford (Lutgert College of Business), Menaka Navaratna (College of Arts & Sciences), Brian Bovard (The Water School), Jessica Rhea (Experiential Learning & Career Development), Melissa Perez (Office of the Provost), Jason Lortie (Daveler & Kauanui School of Entrepreneurship), Mary Larkin (Career Development Services). Not pictured: Lindsey Demarest (College of Education), Jazzmine Santiago (Graduate Admissions), Rosario Welle (Office of the Provost) | | |
At FGCU, Graduate Studies serves as a driving force for academic excellence, student success, and institutional innovation. We champion graduate education by streamlining processes, fostering collaboration, and elevating significant experiences for students and faculty.
We partner across campus to support high-impact programs that inspire personal and professional growth. For example, the upcoming October 28 Graduate & Professional School Fair—FGCU’s first in eight years—co-hosted with Career Development Services and Graduate Admissions, showcases FGCU’s graduate and professional programs alongside others from across the state. The fair offers our students direct access to faculty, staff, and admissions and career experts, a rich opportunity to explore advanced academic and professional pathways.
Graduate Studies also leads the following initiatives that simplify operations and enhance the graduate experience:
• Publishing comprehensive Graduate Student and Graduate Faculty handbooks,
• Streamlining graduate tuition waiver and graduate assistantship processes, and
• Extending Withdrawal for Extenuating Circumstances and Grade Forgiveness to graduate students, expanding their opportunities for academic success.
Our commitment to continuous improvement is reflected in current efforts to integrate Wings Up! as an advising tool and to strengthen collaboration among Graduate Program Coordinators to clarify admissions and operational processes.
Graduate Studies is a strategic partner in FGCU’s academic and career mission. We champion excellence through graduate education by focusing on students’ academic success and engaging in continuous improvements, which is an investment in FGCU’s long-term impact.
| | |
Provost's Seminar Series | Friday, December 5, 2025
Location: Seidler Hall, Room 114
Click the Eagle Link for additional details
| The series kicks off with Dr. Michael Osterholm, Director Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy Research and Innovation Office, University of Minnesota, discussing pandemic preparedness. | | Click to access EVP and Provost Thorne's recent communications | | Check out past editions of the Academic Affairs newsletter: Academic Affairs Events | | Have you seen a faculty member or academic team exhibiting academic excellence and going the extra mile for student success? Email us: academicaffairs@fgcu.edu. | | |
The Lucas Center for Faculty Development
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
The Lucas Center Symposium on Teaching & Learning
A Celebration of Passionate Teaching
| | |
Tuesday, February 17 & Wednesday, February 18, 2026
PROPOSAL SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Sunday, October 26, 2025
This year, we wish to recognize the tremendous time, effort, and emotional energy that is invested in teaching and in cultivating meaningful relationships with students. The symposium serves not only as a space for professional growth but also as a celebration of the dedication and care that educators bring to their classrooms every day.
We invite proposals that explore critical issues, research findings, and practical applications related to teaching and learning in higher education. We hope to highlight effective, easy-to-replicate, and low-cost strategies that promote student success. Session formats may include interactive teaching demonstrations, panel and roundtable discussions, and presentations on the scholarship of teaching and learning.
All FGCU community members are invited to submit proposals that highlight the ways in which their teaching-related activities are contributing to student success. Proposals that focus on practical, student-centered approaches to teaching and learning and that include achievable goals, relevance to the Symposium theme, and clear writing will receive the highest consideration from the review panel. Reviewers will also make every effort to accept proposals from a wide range of disciplines and topic areas to attract participation from across the university. (If you’re interested in submitting a proposal but are unsure if your topic fits the above Call for Proposals, we encourage you to reach out to lucascenter@fgcu.edu to discuss further.)
Call for Proposals open to all FGCU community members until October 26th!
Click here for more information and to submit your proposal!
If for any reason the above hyperlink does not work, please use the following direct link: https://fgcu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_br6UUZuvjtNGRq6
| | |
The Lucas Center is seeking Faculty Partners for the Spring 2026 Student-Faculty Partnership Program (SFPP).
Applications are open through Thursday, November 6th!
The Student Faculty Partnership Program (SFPP) at FGCU places one student and one faculty member in dialogue with each other for an entire semester. Students work up to 6.5 hours per week in the paid role of teaching consultant to a faculty member, earning approximately $1,560 per semester. Through this program, student consultants analyze, affirm, and support the revision of classroom practice in the context of one of the faculty partner's courses with the goal of maximizing engagement and learning for all involved. Student and faculty partners take a range of approaches to their collaboration, starting with a focus on classroom practice and often expanding to consider curriculum, assessment, inclusion, and other dimensions of teaching. Overall, student and faculty partners work to develop a dialogue in the interest of improving the course.
If you are interested in learning more about the SFPP you can read about the program and watch a video in the FGCU 360 feature here or visit the SFPP section of the Lucas Center website here.
Use the following link to submit your application to be a faculty partner:
https://fgcu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cZrZFxIr2qjJvXU
Are you unable to participate but want to share? Feel free to forward this email to other faculty you think may be interested! Do you know a student who may be a good partner? Please share the student application link: https://fgcu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eM9j8fYT0eixeqG
If you have any questions please contact FGCU Lucas Center at lucascenter@fgcu.edu.
| |
|
Career Advancement Assistance Program
The Office of Academic Affairs is pleased to announce the Career Advancement Assistance Program. The purpose of the Career Advancement Assistance Program is to provide time for faculty members to engage meaningfully in activities that yield outputs and impacts enhancing FGCU’s scholarly impact and timely promotion of faculty members.
- Faculty categories included in this initiative are those on the professor and instructor tracks. The Career Advancement Assistance Program partially relieves teaching obligations to provide time for scholarly, research, or career development endeavors. During the Career Advancement Assistance Program, faculty teaching load and/or other assignments will be reduced, and no overload teaching will be permitted.
- The number of awards is contingent on the availability of funding through the Provost’s office.
-
The deadline for the Summer 2026 Career Advancement semester is Monday, November 17, 2025. Summer semester is now available for 12-month AND 9-month faculty. Please see the guidelines for details. For 9-month faculty, if selected, they will receive 25% of their base salary as additional summer pay. No summer teaching will be allowed for those in the program during the summer career advancement semester.
Access the application cover page and detailed information about the program here:
Please submit your application in its entirety to Julie Leyden (jleyden@fgcu.edu).
| |
|
Digital Learning Online Workshop
Integrating GEN AI In Your Course
| Scan the QR Code to Enroll | |
Digital Learning EDUBITES
Scan the QR Code to register or contact kiconroy@fgcu.edu
| | Office of Research & Sponsored Programs (ORSP) | | |
Application Deadlines
There are posted deadlines for ORSP applications. For time-sensitive opportunities, ORSP will attempt to accommodate requests but cannot guarantee submission unless the following are met:
For FGCU to meet sponsor requirements and provide added value to each proposal, the following standard internal deadlines have been established for electronic and paper submissions (these lead times do not include time required by the relevant unit(s) for their review/approval):
1. A proposal must be initiated in Streamlyne. Streamlyne is FGCU’s internal proposal routing/approval process. Work with ORSP’s pre-award team if you need assistance.
2. Three (3) business days (days when FGCU business operations are open) prior to submission deadline: The final complete budget, additional administrative materials, and draft narrative are due to ORSP.
3. Ten (10) business days are required for subrecipient documentation when FGCU is the prime for the proposal.
The deadlines are in place so that last minute errors/warnings can be addressed in advance of the sponsor’s deadlines. If error/warnings are received close to the sponsor deadline and cannot be adjusted, applications may not be submitted if we are not able to remedy the issue(s).
More information can be found at:
https://www.fgcu.edu/academics/research/#ProposalPreparationPreAward
| | |
October 14, 2025
Gulf Scholars Invitation: Dr. Jack Davis (Pulitzer Prize Author)
Academic Building 9, Room 106, 2:00 PM
| |
Join Jack E. Davis for his lively long historical view of the Gulf, drawn from his Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea.
Significant beyond tragic oil spills and hurricanes, the Gulf has historically been one of the world's most bounteous marine environments, supporting human life for millennia. Davis starts from the premise that nature lies at the center of human existence and takes his audience on a compelling journey from the Florida Keys to the Texas Rio Grande, along marshy shorelines, and majestic estuarine bays, profoundly beautiful and life-giving.
At the center of his talk is the way people, from pre-Spanish natives to present-day coastal residents, have organized their societies and individual lives around nature, and how Gulf nature has been a positive force in human events.
Please RSVP on Eagle Link! https://getinvolved.fgcu.edu/event/11657440
| | |
October 15, 2025
Apocalyptic America and Revelation
Library Data Viz Wall, 11:30 AM
This is presentation is sponsored by the Department of Communication and Philosophy
| | |
October 15, 2025
Math Seminar
2:30 p.m. | Seidler Hall, Room 114
| | |
FGCU University Library
Events on October 15 and 16
| | |
October 22, 2025
All students and faculty are welcome to attend this event hosted by the English Honor Society. Please RSVP at https://getinvolved.fgcu.edu/event/11724156
| |
Sunday, October 26,2025
Norman Krieger, piano
U. Tobe Recital Hall
Purchase tickets online: https://www.fgcu.edu/concerts/
| |
October 28, 2025
Graduate & Professional School Fair
Academic Building 9, Room 138
10:00 AM - 2:00 PM
The entire Eagle community is invited!
| | |
This fair is open to all FGCU students interested in exploring graduate and professional school opportunities.
Encourage attendance by highlighting the value of early graduate and professional (law, medicine, etc.) school exploration.
Showcase your graduate program by attending the fair and engaging with prospective students who are eager to learn more about FGCU’s graduate offerings.
Questions? Contact Dr. Dawn Kirby, Shannon Acosta, Jessica Rhea
| |
|
November 3, 2025
President Aysegul Timur cordially invites you to An Interactive Panel Discussion with Prominent Southwest Florida Entrepreneur, Sandy Stilwell Youngquist. The event takes place on Monday, November 3, 2025 from 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM at the Water School at FGCU. Details are below.
RSVP HERE by October 20, 2025, or by clicking the invite below. Wings Up and Go Eagles!
| |
November 4, 2025
How $1,000 Drones
Are Rewriting Superpower Warfare
The Water School, Room 106
| |
November 5, 2025
National First-Generation College Celebration Day (FGCC), is observed annually nationwide. It honors the signing of the Higher Education Act (HEA) of 1965, which expanded opportunities for low-income and first-generation students to attend college.
Our First-Generation College Celebration event will celebrate the achievements of all first-generation students, staff, faculty and alumni, and is meant to increase awareness of the first-generation college student experience here at FGCU and nationally, and to ensure that first-generation students are connected to campus resources needed to succeed!
Our Library Lawn Celebration will take place on Wednesday, November 5, 2025 from 10:00am - 2:00pm. There will be several Campus Partners in attendance, activities and games, food, and more! Retention and Graduation Services will be providing special "first-gen" stoles for first-gen graduating seniors. There are also service-learning opportunities available for students. EagleLink URL here.
Our Panel of Pioneers: The First-Gen Experience, will take place the following week on November 13, from 9:30am - 11:30am in AB9 106. This will be a panel led by half students, half alumni, to discuss their experience being first-generation. This panel, like the lawn celebration, is open to anyone to attend, but will require an RSVP through EagleLink.
Please visit our EagleLink page and view the "First Generation Celebration - Panel of Pioneers" event to RSVP. EagleLink URL Here.
| |
November 14, 2025
Fall Faculty Fest
Faculty:
join us for food, fun, drinks, and friends!
EagleLink:
getinvolved.fgcu.edu/event/11559895
| |
November 17, 2025
Global Engagement Office
28th Annual International Reception
| | |
PAST ANNOUNCEMENTS
Missed an announcement? We've got you covered.
| | The Office of Service-Learning and Civic Engagement is looking for full-time and adjunct faculty members to join the FGCU Fall 2025 Cohort for the Service-Learning Faculty Academy. The Fall 2025 Cohort will be held November 7, 14, and December 5. Faculty must apply by October 7, 2025. Questions and application materials can be sent to Jamie Wilson, Coordinator of Faculty and Community Partnerships at jawilson@fgcu.edu by November 1st to be considered for the Fall 2024 Service-Learning Academy. | Click here for more information. | | FGCU's Office of the Ombuds is here to assist faculty, staff, and students! Employees who may be experiencing a university-related concern or conflict are encouraged to reach out to the Ombuds Office as an informal and confidential resource | Visit the Ombuds’ webpage for more information. | | OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUR STUDENTS | | |
Daveler & Kauanui School of Entrepreneurship
Sustainable Future Challenge
Ideas Centered on Sustainability and Real Impact
| | |
Tuesday, October 28
Graduate & Professional Students Fair
The Water School (AB9), Room 138
Students will:
- Discover on- and off-campus graduate and professional school programs
- Learn about admission requirements and processes
Encourage your students to attend! Eagle Link
| | | | |
