THE EVOLUTION OF FGCU … THE FUTURE BEGINS NOW BLAKE GABLE, ’01, MBA
CEO Barron Collier Companies, Chair FGCU Board of Trustees
Everyone knows the university experienced tremendous growth in its first 20 years. “Now, we need to take a deep breath,” said Blake Gable, chair of the FGCU Board of Trustees. “We need to make sure we’re handling the basics and the fundamentals; we need to make sure we’re providing our students with a quality
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Some of the best business minds in the country call Naples home. They want to be a part of things in Southwest Florida. They want to make a difference. We need to do a better job of exposing these business leaders to the university and show them how they can make an impact.” BLAKE GABLE
education and the opportunity to move in and through their academic careers more expeditiously than in the past.” This means that FGCU needs to have a laser focus on student success – on providing those programs and degrees that allow students a sustainable path to graduate within four years. Realistically, he said, “Undergoing these kinds of initiatives takes a long time. There are a lot of components to it. We’re not going to see graduation rates change overnight.” That said, identifying the metrics for student success is critical. “All the basics are
here,” he said. “We just need to realign how we’re approaching things.” Gable acknowledges FGCU’s remarkable achievements. The evolution of any great enterprise, however, soon morphs from the congratulatory phase to a level of in-depth analysis. It is that analysis that moves an institution from great to greatness. And it is that point in the evolutionary process at which FGCU now finds itself. “We need to identify what’s not working,” Gable said, “and change it. And if the change isn’t working, we need to acknowledge that and do something different.” One thing Gable believes can be improved upon is outreach to the Naples community. “Some of the best business minds in the country call Naples home. They want to be a part of things in Southwest Florida. They want to make a difference. We need to do a better job of exposing these business leaders to the university and show them how they can make an impact.” TIMES ARE CHANGING … A SUSTAINABLE BLUEPRINT FOR STUDENT SUCCESS MITCHELL L. CORDOVA
Vice President for Student Success and Enrollment
“What it comes down to is positioning the university and its programs in such a way as to continue to attract the highest quality students who want to experience The FGCU Effect,” said Mitchell Cordova, vice president for Student Success and Enrollment, and former dean of the Marieb College of Health & Human Services. “And, ideally, we want FGCU to be our students’ first-choice school.” Simply said. Not so simply done. But Cordova embraces the challenge. He has been tasked with leading the student success and enrollment management initiative at FGCU, which involves many things: finding ways to improve FGCU’s four-year graduation rate; ensuring students are well prepared to graduate with the competencies and proficiencies they need to secure a good FGCU360.COM / FGCU360 MAGAZINE
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