ANNUAL REVIEW

FLORIDA POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY

Randy K. Avent
June 2015
Report to the Board of Trustees

GOAL 1: DELIVER INNOVATIVE CORE STEM EDUCATION IN FASTGROWING HIGH TECHNOLOGY AREAS

Objective 1.1: Attract high-quality students to ensure a competitive

and accomplished student body

We welcomed an inaugural class of students and opened the University

for business in August. We ended the year with 553 students (522
undergraduates, 31 graduates). Of those students, 93% were from
Florida, 72% were First Time in College (FTIC), 86% were male, 81%
were white, and 42% from Polk and surrounding counties. The average
SAT score was 1741 (math 616) and the average GPA was 3.9.
We awarded scholarships to the inaugural class that covered full tuition
and related fees for three years ($5,000) and partial tuition for the
fourth ($3,200). We created additional scholarships for high-achieving
students and worked with financial aid to allow distribution of state
matching funds to low socioeconomic status students with disabilities.
We held a Reveal event to reduce summer melt and created a new
process where the Governor sends our students letters. We also
launched a Facebook page for admitted students to meet and form
relationships before attending.
We worked through the Board of Governors to get our courses entered
into the Common Course Numbering system. We worked with several
universities in the State University System (SUS) to accept our transfer
credits even though we are not yet accredited. We initiated several
articulation agreements with State Colleges and are working on ways
to improve transition for high performing students.
Given our 2014 results, we revamped our 2015 marketing strategy and
shifted to a national web and social media-based approach. We
launched a new digital ad campaign, produced Google hangouts,
conducted A/B testing of landing pages and revamped our print
material.
Our admissions staff visited 224 high schools, held 18 open houses,
hosted 3,463 visitors, and recruited at 258 college fairs in 10 different
states and four different countries.
At the time of this report, we have generated 51,224 inquiries. We
have more out-of-state inquiries than in-state, and the leading in-state
county is now Hillsborough. We have admitted 1,025 students and
have 469 deposits for the 2015-16 academic year. We project 494
freshmen and 110 transfers for 2015. We currently have over 95
graduate applications.
Analytics are used at Florida Poly in almost all stages of student
recruitment from helping to build a more robust and highly targeted
student email outreach campaign to calculating the scholarship
amounts needed to recruit a specific student.
We developed a need-based and merit-based scholarship for the
second class that varies from $1,000 to $16,000. We also created a

Provost and Presidential Level Scholarship to attract the highest

achieving students.
We streamlined our admissions process to make it easy for students to
apply and developed a novel idea for a USB-based admissions packet.
We applied for and became eligible to enroll international students
through the Student & Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS).
Planning continues for hosting an ESL program to attract
mathematically gifted international students whose English needs
improving.

Objective 1.2: Build programs and facilities that focus on retention

and prepare students for todays complex workforce by teaching
critical thinking skills and problem solving

We developed an extensive Library consistent with our mission to be

innovative and do things differently. The first day of classes, our
students had access to over 140,000 books and over 60 databases. In
August, the Library Journal and the L.A. Times wrote about our Digital
Library. From there, Fox Business News and Reuters picked up the
story, and it continued to spread receiving press coverage in more than
24 countries including India, Brazil, the UAE, Spain, Singapore, Japan,
Australia, Russia and the Netherlands.
We had 444 students sign up for a FLOW library account, which allows
students to manage their digital library holdings.
We entered into an agreement that allows for students and faculty to
request interlibrary loans from other universities in the SUS.
We built an effective Academic Success Center for providing assistance
to students with academic concerns. We held over 965 tutoring
sessions this past year, provided a help desk for students and worked
with any student that had special needs.
We identified students of concern and worked with them to develop
an academic success plan.
We developed a curriculum that provides the necessary courses to
ensure on-time graduation. We took a more active role in academic
advising by hiring a full-time academic advisor to work closely with
faculty and students to ensure they remain on schedule and maintain
their scholarships.
We conducted an analysis of first-semester Calculus performance. Not
surprisingly, we found it difficult to predict student performance based
on their transcripts, but we did identify several root causes for student
underperformance.
Based on the results of this analysis, we created several new
approaches aimed to improve student performance. During the spring
semester, we tested an approach to Calculus I which provided selfpaced instruction in discrete modules. Based on the lessons learned,
we also created a blended model for pre-calculus with trigonometry
that will be offered to students over the summer. This program
provides pre-testing to identify weaknesses and then targets
instruction in those specific areas. In developing this course, we also

developed the framework that will allow us to later offer this course in
on-line classes. We also created a summer math boot camp for
students who need more assistance than offered in an on-line venue.
A summer teaching study has been authorized to investigate how we
can institutionalize advanced teaching methods like active learning,
flipped classrooms and blended models. This study will develop a plan
for integrating and measuring performance of these approaches, and
will also address how to better measure teacher performance. MOOCs,
on-line learning and tighter integration of the humanities with STEM
will also be studied.
Our faculty and staff have worked hard this year to grow relationships
with students. We created and delivered new student orientation
programs, held student welcome week events and implemented
processes that allow students to easily communicate with our
administration.
We have a full functioning Student Government Association in place.
The students elected two consecutive student body presidents (one for
AY14 and one for AY15). We worked with the students to create an
executive branch with a senate and also ratified the student
constitution and budget.
With a fully functioning SGA, we developed and established numerous
clubs and organizations.
We created a student-driven campus
activities board and delivered over 40 student activities and events.
We partnered with Y Lakeland to also deliver information and details
about local events.
We created and delivered an intramural program with initial focus on
basketball and soccer. We also developed and implemented group and
individual fitness classes.
We developed and published a FERPA policy. We created and published
a student handbook that includes the student code of conduct and
students rights and responsibilities. We also created key policies
related to student affairs.
We formed partnerships with local providers to deliver comprehensive
health care services to our students. We designed and built a space
with the necessary equipment and partnered with a local pharmacy for
prescriptions. We staffed counseling, disability and health services
offices and organized a local referral network of health care providers.
We also designed and offered four stress management and wellness
programs.
We designed and offered two programs to educate faculty on
identifying and managing at-risk students.
We proposed and
formulated a behavioral intervention team for these same students.
We negotiated a contract with the Citrus Connection to offer bus
services for our off-campus students and held a press conference
announcing the partnership and unveiled a Florida Poly bus. We
monitored ridership and conducted a survey that helped optimize and
reconfigure our initial routes.
We provided a state-of-the art housing solution for 44% of our students
in AY2014. We worked with the BOG staff to develop a plan for building

an additional AY2015 dorm but were not able to get approval because
of state mandates.
We developed a Public-Private Partnership (P3) Invitation to Negotiate
(ITN) process for an AY2016 543 bed student residence hall. We
evaluated five proposals and negotiated with three vendors to choose
an overall winner, which was approved by the BOT. We presented this
to the BOG Facilities Committee, who recommended the full BOG
approve the request. The full BOG subsequently approved the 2 nd
dorm and construction will start soon.
We developed an ITN for an AY 2015 off-campus housing solution and
evaluated four proposals leading to a negotiation with two vendors.
We chose the apartment solution and have been working to provide
the necessary furniture, transportation, utilities and security needed
for our students.
We developed a unique project and design-based curriculum that
teaches students critical thinking skills and improves retention. We
made substantial project-based investments this year and held 10
internal competitions leading to projects like an energy harvesting boot
for charging wireless devices (provisional patent filed), magneticallypowered levitating lamps, a miniature lyophilizer, a Raspberry Pi-based
supercomputer,
an
integrated
robotics-3D
printing
desktop
manufacturing system and an app for connecting travelers and others.
This same freshman class entered three external competitions and
placed against upperclassman at other SUS schools. We also entered a
national Human Powered Vehicle competition at UF and had a strong
showing.
We authorized a summer Research Study to outline formal
procedures for how we conduct student projects through an RFP
process. Faculty, industry or the students themselves will generate
these RFPs. This study also examines funding and space requirements
for the top five concentrations.
The Cyber Security Lab systems context architecture has been created
and we have enhanced the Cyber and Information Security Program
with a partnership with Quadrant in Jacksonville, FL.
To help further define our project-based curriculum we visited Olin
College and Beaver Works at MIT to better understand their
approaches.

Objective 1.3: Continue to grow IT infrastructure that supports the

academic and research missions of the institution

We built a robust Technology Services infrastructure that includes both

wired and wireless services. We designed and developed an advanced
high-speed computing and network infrastructure with campus Internet
services, an open Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) ecosystem, open-use
computer labs, a genius bar-style helpdesk and VPN access to the Poly
Cloud from anywhere.
We designed and built a Network Operations Center and created a
network and system monitoring and management capability.

We provided software distribution services to our faculty, students and

staff.
We negotiated agreements with key vendors that provide
important software packages for the engineering and mathematical
sciences.
When students complained about the wireless infrastructure in the
dorm, we designed and acquired a Distributed Antenna System that
provided higher bandwidth and improved cellular signal strength.
We planned, designed and developed a University data center, digital
signage, campus surveillance cams, a mass communications
capability, unified communications and VoIP telecommunications and
campus technology standards.
We also built a robust Administrative Computing capability by
implementing a CAMS-based Student Information System (SIS), the
MyPoly University enterprise portal, a student ID card and campus
parking system. We also created a disaster recovery plan, integrated
career services software and provided web domain services. We began
work on a data warehouse capability to support our continuous
improvement policy.
We built a robust academic and research computing environment by
implementing a Learning Management System (LMS), lecture capture
for all classrooms and labs and an on-line capability for virtual
classrooms. We designed and developed instructional computer labs,
created educational technology services for the classrooms, developed
and procured a High Performance Computing (HPC) environment. We
also evaluated and implemented approximately 100 academic
technology software packages.
We built a robust Information Security program by implementing
firewall app protection architecture and IDS/IPS, evaluating VPN
capabilities and developing a vulnerability management plan. We also
implemented a penetration-testing plan, enterprise anti-virus and
email SPAM filtering.

GOAL 2: BUILD ENVIRONMENT THAT ENCOURAGES PROBLEM-DRIVEN

APPLIED RESEARCH FOR NEAR-TERM IMPACT
Objective 2.1: Strategically recruit qualified faculty to meet our
growing student population and fill curriculum gaps

We conducted a faculty gap analysis based on the progression of our

students and course offerings for next year that led to a faculty hiring
plan.
We launched a faculty recruitment ad campaign, which included
targeted print and digital ads in industry publications, re-marketing
ads, email blasts and targeted mobile ads.
The campaign has
delivered 9.4 million impressions (brand awareness), 35,564 clicks to
our website and more than 650 applications.
We developed a process for faculty hiring that includes representation
from both senior administrators and faculty. We conducted over 60

initial screenings with 13 in-person interviews, and we have hired

sixteen new faculty members.
We developed a standard offer package that includes a 12-month
appointment for the first year of the initial two-year contract. For most
faculty members, we provide a small start-up package to help procure
laboratory equipment, and we provide support for professional
development.
We launched a Technical Symposium Speaker series and had six
outside speakers this year.
We developed reappointment and promotion policies and renegotiated
all initial 12-month faculty contracts. We developed a faculty workload
policy consistent with state law but flexible enough to allow our faculty
to excel in their chosen expertise areas. This policy is loosely based on
a differentiated faculty model.
We developed faculty performance evaluation policies that include
three important elements. The Statement of Mutual Expectations
(SME) outlines faculty duties in Education, Research and Service and is
negotiated between each faculty member and the Provost. The brief
resume provides an overview of performance in each of those areas
the previous year while a detailed dossier provides historical
performance.
The faculty created a Faculty Assembly and adopted a faculty
assembly constitution. We implemented weekly town hall meetings
for faculty and Academic Affairs to ensure we maintain open lines of
communications and allow open discussions on important and timely
decisions.
With no Department Heads or College Deans, we established and
funded academic program coordinators with 3-credit release time.

Objective 2.2: Build necessary research infrastructure and programs

for undergraduate students, graduate students and faculty

We made numerous decisions related to research activities including

cost sharing support on key proposals and the use of Graduate
Assistants to support faculty research.
Our Intellectual Property (IP) Policy has been drafted and circulated
internally for comments. To catalyze economic development and
facilitate industry engagement, the policy is both industry and faculty
friendly.
We met with a local consultant from UCF who helps universities adopt
a research infrastructure process (contracts, pre-award, negotiations,
compliance, IRB, etc.).
We hired a Contracts & Grants Manager to establish a sponsored
research office and help faculty with research proposals and administer
sponsored awards.
Our faculty have proposed over $2.8 million and have been awarded
nearly $1 million in FY15. These include the Florida Energy System
Consortium on sustainable energy, Harris Foundation for embedded

system design, State Price Index and Wearable Devices Security. We

also have a $5M gift to build a Health Care Informatics program.
Objective 2.3: Manage creation and growth of strategic Centers,
Institutes and Laboratories (CILs) that align with the University
mission and academic programs

We held several discussions with senior leadership at Mosaic on the

future of the Florida Phosphate Industry Research (FIPR) Institute. We
are in the process of responding to those comments and reengineering FIPR to make it more relevant to the phosphate mining
industry.
FIPR Institute continued work on the 5-year DOE Critical Materials
Institutes (CMI) project led by the Ames Laboratory.
We also
completed laboratory-testing projects, developed the FIPR dolomite
flotation technology, which could double the usable phosphate
resources in Florida, and demonstrated the technical feasibility for
remote chemical analysis of phosphate mining face using laser-induced
breakdown spectroscopy.
We upgraded FIPR Institute laboratory capabilities by installing new
equipment, participation in inter-laboratory check program, safety
training and implementation of new safety policies and procedures in
alignment with Florida Poly.
We continued FIPR Institute integration with Florida Poly including a redesign of the structure and content for the website to align with Florida
Polys website. We revised and submitted the FIPR Institute COOP plan
for inclusion in the Florida Poly submittal to the Governors Office. FIPR
Institute staff submitted a unit assessment plan in support of the
SACSCOC application
We published and presented research with broad environmental
applications in Florida, e.g. Screening of a New Candidate Biological
Control Agent of Brazilian Peppertree, Selective Control of Invasive
Exotic Grasses, and Peninsular Florida Stream Systems: Guidance for
their Classification and Restoration.
We proposed the construction of two new research centers to the
Legislature this past session. The first was a Sensor Analytics center
($13M nonrecurring) that both improves the efficacy of NASA launch
decisions and helps improve water management in Polk County. The
second center is an Applied Economic Analysis center ($1M recurring)
that studies the role of STEM in catalyzing state economic
development and identifies potential impediments.
The Florida Transportation Innovation Center (FTIC) is a joint initiative
of Florida Poly and Floridas Turnpike Enterprise (FTE). We have been in
discussions with Florida DOT and FTE and have developed a concept
for a new research center on Florida Polys campus that will conduct
research and test advanced tolling methods, autonomous vehicles and
airborne drones for traffic monitoring, among other things. We have a
draft MOU currently under review and are planning several workshops
to define the requirements for this new center. We are also in

discussion with attorneys for the Williams property and hope to

convince them that this is a positive addition to our property.
We made significant progress on building and growing our Health Care
Informatics program. We hired an Interim Director, a faculty member
with significant experience in both structured and unstructured
analytics and a visiting faculty that has a DVM from UF and PhD from
MIT. We made significant progress with our sponsor on defining the
mission and identifying advisory board members. We built strategic
relationships with key local health care organizations including
Lakeland Regional Health, Winter Haven Hospital, Moffitt Cancer
Center, Peace River Center and possibly WellDyne. We are also in
teaming discussions with Cerner, a major Electronic Health Record
(EHR) provider. We are nearing completion of a Big Data Lab that will
host this research and have already started populating our system with
important and relevant datasets.

GOAL 3: FORM INDUSTRY AND COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS FOR

MUTUAL BENEFIT

Objective 3.1: Continue to grow a deeper exchange with industry

leaders and business partners

To date, we have established 90 industry partners. Of these 90

partners, 74 are located in Florida with the majority being in Central
Florida. All 90 partners have agreed to advocate on behalf of Florida
Poly. Most partners have also agreed to provide internships (80),
student projects (18) and/or sponsor faculty R&D (20).
We hosted our Second Annual Industry Partner Summit and had an
exceptional turnout with four Summit Sponsors and 104 participants.
We highlighted student projects at this Summit to attract student
internship opportunities and had John Tonnison, the EVP and CIO for
Tech Data as the keynote speaker. The Summit also included industry
breakout sessions to allow us to learn more about specific industry
needs. A summary presentation of those lessons learned is currently
being drafted.
We hosted four other industry events at Florida Poly and represented
Florida Poly at 13 external industry events.
While companies typically target rising seniors for internship positions,
we are aggressively establishing a career planning and internship
center. To this end, we built a Career Planning Center complete with
Purple Briefcase, a software package that helps manage internships.
We held a Career Prep day on campus to teach students how to write
resumes and cover letters and to provide them with interview
coaching. 234 students attended the event.

GOAL 4: SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCH UNIVERSITY AND ESTABLISH SOUND

FINANCIAL GROWTH, STABILITY AND ADMINISTRATIVE PRACTICES

Objective 4.1: Create a flat and integrated organizational structure

with key positions filled and a focus on continuous improvement

We created the appropriate delegations of authority in several areas to

become more consistent with the operations of other SUS institutions
and with SACSCOC requirements.
We reorganized along three levels and identified key positions that
needed filling. We returned control of individual budgets over to each
department, and then we went through a re-budgeting process that
tied departmental budgets to our strategic plan. We identified excess
funds and re-budgeted to maintain strategic reserves for capital
improvements and infrastructure investment
We developed a methodical budget planning process for FY16 and
have developed a Budget Council that reviews and approves all
budgets. We held training sessions on budget authority and budget
construction.
A study of both our peer institutions and other institutions in the SUS
defined a target staff-to-faculty ratio.
Based on that target, we
developed a hiring plan and allocated positions accordingly. We filled
the key positions of CFO, VP of Advancement, Director of Institutional
Effectiveness, Director of Environmental Health and Safety, and
Director of Purchasing.
We created and implemented a student worker program to fill voids,
and we created a Presidential Ambassador Program for important
events.
We created a Presidents Cabinet that meets weekly to discuss
strategic University issues. This cabinet also conducts weekly deep
dives into a business unit to discuss its budget, staffing, goals,
priorities and strategic directions.
We additionally hold weekly
operational meetings, Academic Affairs meetings and town hall
meetings with faculty. We also hold a monthly All-Hands meeting.
We restructured all standing committees and memberships to both
make the committees more effective and to reduce burden on key
individuals.
We built a Purchasing Department that assumed responsibility from
UF for all competitive solicitations. This department helps establish
fiscal responsibility by enhancing competition and reducing the use of
high-risk contracts. We established a purchasing policy for goods and
services and implemented a supplier diversity procedure.
We built a Bursars Office that created infrastructure for cash
handling, payment plans, book vouchers, credit card payment
processing, meal plan payment plan, financial aid refund, delinquent
accounts, student financial responsibility, returned check, uncollectible
accounts/write-off, tuition & fee deferment, employee tuition
assistance, petty cash, SSN use, nonresident alien tax withholding,
taxable scholarships & grants and third-party billing. The department
created nearly 20 forms, an operations manual and an office-landing
page that is relevant to operations.

10

We built a Business & Auxiliary Services Office that developed

numerous auxiliary services.
We developed parking rules and
procedures, permits, passes, a citations and appeal structure, on-line
vehicle registration and permit sales. We installed visitor parking kiosk
stations, an on-campus POS for parking passes, and provided payroll
deductions and billing for faculty/staff parking permits.
We established a food service management contract that came with a
$1M investment in our cafeteria dining and catering program. We built
out the kitchens and seating areas in the Wellness Center. We built
Starbucks, Grab & Go, Grill and Sub Connection for convenient access.
We established a POS for meal plans and food-to-go programs. We
also designed meal plan brochures, sold meal plans online and built an
online catering request process.
We analyzed results from the first year meal program and renegotiated our contract with Sodexo to eliminate their minimum
purchase requirement and to increase food quality. In the future, all
on-campus residents will be required to have a meal plan, so we added
new options that made dining at Florida Poly more flexible.
We established a bookstore management contract with Barnes & Noble
and equipped the bookstore at the Wellness Center. We established a
book voucher system linked to students Florida Poly ID cards and
provided online textbook adoption for faculty and students to order
and purchase textbooks. We established textbook ordering deadlines
with the goal of adhering to the Board of Governors new regulation on
textbooks.
We established a mail/copy service management contract and used
this contract for all copiers and printers on campus. We set up
copy/print codes on all copy machines.
We also provided text
notification of packages to resident students, established digital
submission of documents for printing or copy-making to the copy
center and provided postage meters for campus mail.
We set up an ID card office that was integrated with the student
information system. We also established an off-campus merchants
program.
We established contracts with an ATM provider and a vending provider.
We built a lounge and study area in the Wellness Center and provide
important campus information on the TV monitors.
We built an Assistant Controller Office that provides a centralized
Accounts Payable (AP) process for approval and payment of invoices.
We negotiated vendor payment terms, implemented controls over cash
collection, and streamlined Accounts Receivable, revenue collection,
processing and recording.
We built a Facilities & Construction Office that finished and closed
out all capital projects on time and within budget ($135M). We
procured continuing service provider contracts, updated our Master
Plan and developed campus standards and specifications.
We
designed a recreational field and campus parking facilities. We had
signs installed on I-4 and created way-finding signage for campus. We
also had the speed limit on University Blvd. and Research Way

11

increased to a more reasonable speed to reduce the number of

speeding tickets from our important visitors.
We built a Human Resources Office that developed important HR
policies, authored an Employee Handbook, updated all job
descriptions, implemented a staff credentialing process, developed an
outside activity and disclosure form, worked on a COI policy and an
Employee Assistance Program, developed a staff appraisal process and
form, developed a process for posting and approving positions and
drafted offer letters and contracts.
We implemented federal policies on Title IX and immigration H1B
processes.
We built an Accounting Office that implemented a CAMS billing
module, successfully negotiated down the Universitys position in
buildings transferred from USF, processed the University finance
equipment leasing program and built all financial tables for the
SACSCOC application.
We rectified several issues that would have resulted in audit findings
for the University. We coordinated the FY14 financial audit resulting in
a clean audit for financials. We also coordinated an external audit of
construction and operations. We engaged KPMG to assist us with an
internal audit plan and internal controls and are currently going
through an operational audit, audit of Bright Futures and a financial
audit from the State of Florida. Our Foundation received a clean audit.
We built a Finance & Planning Office that completed all requests
from the BOG on time and accurately. We provided for state reporting
including, but not limited to, the Universitys preliminary operating
budget, tuition and fees schedule, 2015-16 Legislative Budget Request
(LBR), Capital Improvement Plan, Universitys Employee/OPS file,
Universitys Salary Category Detail file, Universitys Operating Budget
and seven supplemental schedules, Universitys Consolidated Financial
Statements, Universitys SUS GAAP Financials, Universitys Five Percent
Budget Reduction Exercise, Universitys Efficiency Report, Financial
Section of the Universitys Workplan and the Finance Data section of
IPEDS.
We developed and implemented several policies and procedures
including the Universitys Ethics Policy and Surplus Property Policy. We
led the process for disposing surplus property resulting from the move
from the South Florida Avenue location to Main Campus and Poly
South.
We implemented all policies/regulations mandated by the Florida
Legislature, Board of Governors and SACS (47 regulations, 4 rules and
39 policies).
We built an Environmental Health & Safety Department that
developed and implemented policy and procedures on health,
environmental and safety protection. We ensured that emergency
action preparedness plans are communicated to all personnel to
ensure familiarity and coordination between facility personnel and
emergency responders.

12

We drafted and published a Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) in

accordance with state and federal mandates. This plan describes the
roles and responsibilities of the Universitys support departments,
operational groups and personnel during emergency situations. It is
currently filed with the State of Floridas Department of Emergency
Management.
We built a Department of Public Safety and Police that hired five
sworn police officers and four non-sworn Public Safety Officers to
replace contract security. Department services are provided 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week.
An ORI number was obtained from the FBI to be recognized as an
official Police Department.
We brokered mutual aid agreements with the Lakeland Police
Department (LPD) and the Polk County Sheriffs Office (PCSO). LPD
provides dispatch duties and background checks at no cost to the
University.
We drafted 85 departmental policies and procedures and created over
25 forms to be used by our police officers and PSOs.
We obtained three Ford Crown Victoria vehicles and a 30 mobile
command center from UCF at no cost to the University.

Objective 4.2: Maintain accreditation schedule and activities to

support legislative timeline

We hired a SACSCOC consultant and created a timeline that would

provide for a potential December 2016 decision on regional
accreditation. We worked with Academic Affairs and staff to generate
four drafts of the initial application before submitting the fifth and final
draft on time on December 19, 2014. We now wait to respond to any
feedback the commission might provide concerning our status.
Several key individuals attended the SACS Annual Meeting in Nashville
and had discussions with our SACS coordinator and the President of
SACS in preparation of submitting our application. We invited the
President of SACSCOC to give a talk on SACS and the accreditation
process at our June Board of Trustees meeting.
We continue to hold regular accreditation workshops and trainings. We
also conducted a debrief meeting with our consultant to discuss how
we might better prepare for the next series of submissions. We reengineered our internal committees and immediately began work on
the full application. First semester data has been compiled and an
update to the application was submitted as promised.
We developed a new process and schedule for how each committee
communicates and how work flows through the steering committee.
We developed a timeline for each of the comprehensive standards and
assigned primary responsibilities. We built a status spreadsheet that is
discussed at each weekly update meeting.
We have transitioned
much of the day-to-day operations of our accreditation to our new
Director of Institutional Effectiveness, who is providing skeletons of

13

what needs to be answered for each of the standards and

requirements.
We have begun the ABET accreditation process and hope to develop its
application in parallel to SACSCOC. We developed a timeline for
meeting with ABET and submitting our application.

Objective 4.3: Develop a 10-year strategic University growth plan

that includes student growth, capital needs, faculty hires, degree
production, foundation needs.

An initial 10-year strategic growth plan has been completed that

identifies student growth over the next ten years. From this, housing,
faculty, office space, laboratory space, degree offerings and other
important requirements for the University can be derived. This plan
will drive the Campus Master Plan, which will be included as part of the
SACSCOC application for candidacy.
In growing to 5,000 students over ten years the plan shows that we
would require too much capital investments to make the plan feasible.
The plan was modified to a three-phased approach with more realistic
growth expectations and capital requirements.

Objective 4.4: Develop the University foundation to support the

scholarship and financial initiatives of the University

We planned and held a very successful PIVOT and LAUNCH event

celebrating the opening of this new University.
We secured 56
sponsors, grossed over $1.8M ($3.6M with an applied match) and
brought over 1,500 people to the campus in a 24-hour period, including
the Governor, BOG representatives, and other state and local officials.
We successfully raised the necessary capital to fund our scholarships,
advocacy and salaries for this first year.
We secured a gift agreement for the Health Informatics program in the
amount of $4.75M and were able to use up to $2M of that for matching
funds.
We launched the second annual faculty/staff campaign with 62%
participation for $21,000.
We hosted an inaugural scholarship luncheon recognizing scholarship
supporters. There were over 100 guests in attendance and included a
select group of student scholarship supporters.
Planning for the Presidents Investiture events are underway. The
scholarship fundraiser, PIVOT, will take place on Thursday, October 8,
2015. The Steering Committee continues to meet monthly and has
successfully launched an Ambassador Program to engage additional
community leaders in support and awareness of the event.
We established five new committees as part of the Foundation Board
and established nominating policies and procedures. We approved
growing the Foundation Board to include up to 32 members with a
focus on growing members outside of Polk County.

14

We initialized and implemented Foundation financial policies and

procedures and are working to implement a Moves Management
Software System to refine and grow our donor/prospect list.

Objective 4.5: Increase awareness of the University and develop

relationships with University constituents including the Florida
Legislature, Board of Governors and regional elected officials and
community leaders

We participated in Polk County Day at the Capital, where we met with

legislators to discuss Florida Polys Legislative Budget Request.
We held a separate Florida Poly Day in the Capital, which included 15
students and six staff. We met with six members of the Legislature
and gave away promotional items including a white paper focused on
the economic importance of STEM.
We worked through our legislative delegation to ask for a $2M increase
in operational funds, $10M for first-year funding to construct an
Applied Research Center, $13M of nonrecurring funds for the Sensor
Analytics Institute and $1M recurring funds for an Applied Economic
Analysis Institute.
We met with numerous key members of the Legislature along with
their staff to discuss the Florida Poly mission and vision.
We visited four key BOG members and hosted Norm Tripp, Dick Beard,
Tom Kuntz and Ed Morton during their visits to the campus to discuss
housing and University growth issues.
We provided monthly written update reports and presented to the
Florida Poly Select Committee six times. We met with Marshall Criser
(Chancellor of the State University System of Florida) and Randy
Hannah (Chancellor of the Florida College System).
We met with three residing SUS presidents (Hitt, Bense, and OShea),
all three University and college presidents in Polk County (Polk State
College, Florida Southern, Southeastern University) and the Polk
Superintendent (K-12).
We reached over 400 individuals through outside speaking
engagements.
We met with 20 local elected officials from the City of Lakeland, Polk
County Commission and the City of Auburndale.
We hosted numerous influential leadership groups on campus,
reaching over 200 individuals.
We hosted several Economic Development groups reaching over 125
people.
We met with the Commissioner of Agriculture to share our mission and
vision for the University.
We completed a statewide media tour including visits to the
Tallahassee Democrat, Miami Herald, Orlando Sentinel, Florida Today,
Tampa Tribune and Tampa Bay Times. We followed that tour with letters
to the editor of each paper. In the first quarter of 2015 alone, we have
had more than 50 positive news stories.

15

We developed three external advisory committees comprised of

influential area leaders. Each committee has representation from local
government and businesses.
Key staff members represent the University in leadership programs
throughout the region as well as sit on numerous boards and
committees.

Objective 4.6: Continue to develop the University brand and increase

the marketing reach of the University

We continued to develop a strong versatile brand identity through a

successful #NextGreatMascot initiative that created an official
University mascot through a student-centered process. Following the
reveal of the mascot, we began developing a fresh logo and seal for
the University. We also generated positive growth in direct visits to
FLPoly.org.
We continue to advertise strategically and emphasize measurability
and ROI. We launched a new digital ad campaign targeting students,
which included pay-per-click, re-marketing and social media ads. The
campaign has generated more than 150 leads, which is a more than
200% improvement over last years campaign at a reduced cost per
lead of 29%.
We continued to evolve FLPoly.org by launching a new design for our
websites homepage based on feedback from students, staff and
faculty focus groups. We launched a basic search engine optimization
(SEO) campaign and a Web CrossFit effort to add content to
FLPoly.org with a better balance between design and information. We
transitioned the site to our own independent cloud-based server to
improve site security and scalability and have maintained strong yearover-year traffic growth.
We built social media communities to lead the on-line STEM
conversation. We maintained strong growth and engagement on social
media channels, and we have grown followers on Google+, YouTube,
Vimeo and Flickr channels. We completed a series of three Google+
Hangout virtual events in which we discussed robotics, Big Data and
Supercomputers, and STEM employment. Each session generated
significant increases in traffic to our academic program pages. In
addition to driving traffic and leads, the videos are archived on our site
offering rich content that showcases our faculty, industry partners and
programs. This helps to improve on-site engagement and SEO.
We expanded our portfolio of promotional material with an emphasis
on brand consistency. We designed a new general brochure, updated
our admissions viewbook, created a new financial aid brochure,
created a digital acceptance packet, updated the Poly Premiere
footage, designed a cutting-edge showcase booth for conventions and
created a vetted catalog of promotional items.
We finalized and tested our crisis communications plan and tools, and
we worked with the Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) committee
and the Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) to

16

ensure alignment. We launched a dark website that can take over

the FLPoly.org homepage in the event of an emergency and serve as a
communications hub for students, parents, staff and community
members. We established a collection of emergency notification
templates for our Blackboard Connect emergency alert system to
ensure emergency alerts can be sent quickly with clarity and
consistency, and we developed a department-level Continuous
Operations Plan and conducted team cross-training to ensure
duplication of basic skills in the event of an emergency.
We completed a media training series for key University spokespeople
that included crisis communications training, interview tips and oncamera practice sessions and coaching.
We are working with our General Counsel and Purchasing departments
to establish a trademark use and brand licensing process for both
internal and external requests. This includes the recently added
Marketing and Communications sign-off requirement for purchases
involving Florida Polys brand elements.
We developed a University style guide to ensure consistent use of our
existing brand elements and conducted our first communications
survey of staff, faculty and students to inform communications
strategies moving forward and to set benchmark data for future
comparison. We also transitioned oversight of the campus electronic
message boards to Marketing and Communications, who developed a
content plan and workflow for regularly updating information and
managing requests.

Objective 4.7: Develop a plan for independent back office services to

eliminate the shared services agreement with the University of
Florida.

We re-negotiated the Shared Services Agreement from 10% of actual

expenditures to 7.5%. We developed a phased-in approach for
transitioning activities from UF to Florida Poly, and we are currently in
the process of assuming all functions associated with purchasing,
accounts payable, travel, and P-card. Human Resources functions such
as payroll and benefits administration will remain with UF until we
implement an ERP system.

The University completed an extensive due diligence on several ERP

systems, including a return on investment analysis, and chose
Workday. Our initial goal is to have a unified system to handle all
financial and human resources processes in a seamless manner. The
implementation will begin late June/early July and includes hiring key
employees funded from the savings from the Shared Services
Agreement.

17

18