TALLAHASSEE
A little more than two years after Gov. Rick Scott signed the law creating Florida Polytechnic University, the state’s 12th university will welcome its first class this fall at its Lakeland campus.
In that short time, the university will have built a $134 million campus, including a distinctive 162,000-square-foot Innovation, Science and Technology building. It will welcome 500 new students, with the expectation that the student body will more than double in two years. It has hired a new president.
When students arrive in August, they will also find a 219-bed residence hall and 50 new faculty members.
The creation of Florida’s newest university has been at a brisk pace even for a school that is trying to position itself as a cutting-edge institution aimed at creating graduates focused on innovation and technology.
“I have never in my career seen any institution developed as quickly and as thoughtfully as this one,” Sandra Featherman, a member of Florida Polytechnic’s board of trustees, told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education last month.
“Higher education is known as being hidebound, for taking a long time to make decision, for taking a long time to put decisions into effect. But not at this school,” said Featherman, a president emeritus of the University of New England and a former vice chancellor at the University of Minnesota-Duluth who has more than 30 years of experience in higher education.
Construction continues on the Florida Polytechnic Innovation, Science & Technology building, Wednesday, March 5, 2014 in Lakeland, Florida. (The Ledger/ Rick Runion)
Florida Polytechnic still faces many challenges, not the least of which is winning accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission by December 2016 — a goal set in the law authorizing the institution.
Another benchmark is expanding the student body to more than 1,200 in the next two years.
But Florida Polytechnic’s biggest challenge was winning the initial approval from Scott and a skeptical Board of Governors, which oversees the state university system. And that was achieved largely through the forceful advocacy of former Senate Appropriations Chairman J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales.
One of the main criticisms was that the polytechnic school was unnecessary since degrees in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) were already available at existing state universities, including the nearby University of South Florida in Tampa and the University of Central Florida in Orlando.
Featherman said Florida Polytechnic leaders have kept that in mind as they have strived to create a unique institution in the state higher education system.
“What we want to offer is a set of unique opportunities that others are not already offering,” Featherman said.
She said the initial curriculum — which will include six undergraduate degrees and two master’s degrees — were developed by looking at projected job demands in the science and technology fields as well as consulting with other universities and business and industry leaders.
The university, which will emphasize partnerships and internships with businesses and industry, has already secured agreements with more than three dozen companies, including Apple, Microsoft, Harris Corp. and Lockheed Martin.
“The goal is to provide a real-world experience, problem-solving, applied-research model,” said Ava Parker, a former member of state Board of Governors and now the chief operating officer at Florida Polytechnic. “Our university is industry engaged. All of the students will be involved in research.”
“I tell folks all the time that we have a wonderful state university system,” Parker said. “And before we had 11 great universities and now the 12th state university is just a wonderful complement to the system.”
Despite its newness and its lack of accreditation, Florida Polytechnic has already attracted more than 2,700 applications from students — by early March — for its initial year. Three out of four applicants were males and the top major was computer science-cyber gaming, according to an update given to the Board of Governors last month.
Even before the first students step onto the campus, the main university building is already attracting national attention. The $78 million structure, designed by the world-renowned architect Santiago Calatrava, was featured in a television commercial for Chrysler Ram trucks that began airing nationally in February.
“The building’s cool architecture and the ruggedness of the construction site were just the right combination for this production,” said Ken Rosen, who produced the spot.
The building, which is visible from Interstate 4 and some have likened to an alien spacecraft, will house classrooms, offices and a library.
As Featherman told state senators last month, the IST building is just one aspect that will make the school stand out. She said she has been very pleased with the quality of faculty and students that the school is attracting.
“This place is going to rock,” she said. “You’re going to be very proud of what’s happening at this school.”
