FIU Quickview Fall 2017

Fast Facts Rankings Points of Pride & Latest News

QUICKVIEW FALL 2017

Great Colleges to Work For

Top of the class FIU offers an environment that is academically rigorous and highly supportive so that students can attain their educational goals.

The Chronicle of Higher Education named FIU one of the “Great Colleges to Work For” in its 2017 annual report.

The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education places FIU in the top research category – R1: Doctoral Universities – Highest Research Activity.

The Brookings Institution ranked FIU No. 6 in the country in producing important research while also promoting upward social mobility among students.

U.S. News & World Report named FIU one of its “Best Grad Schools” in the nation for 2018.

U.S. News & World Report ranked the College of Business undergraduate program in international business fifth in the nation in “Best Colleges” 2017.

The Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management’s online bachelor’s in hospitality management was named the best in the country in 2017, according to bestcolleges.com.

The Wolfsonian-FIU ranks among the top 25 “Most Amazing U.S. University Museums,” according to the website College Rank.

Be WorldsAhead

A great place to work FIU was recognized for creating an exceptional work environment in The Chronicle of Higher Education’s 2017 “Great Colleges to Work For,” one of the largest and most respected workplace-recognition programs in the country, which acknowledges colleges and universities that earn top ratings from their employees.

FIU is the only university in the country this year to achieve honor roll designation with recognition in all 12 categories of The Chronicle’s annual report on the academic workplace. While FIU made “Honor Roll” last year, this is the first time the university received recognition in all categories.

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A poet of national note Phillip and Patricia Frost Professor of Creative Writing Campbell McGrath was named a finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. A faculty member in the College of Arts, Sciences & Education’s nationally renowned Creative Writing Program and the author of more than a dozen poetry collections, McGrath recently took on 100 years of history with his latest work, “XX: Poems for the Twentieth Century.”

It features a poem for each year and covers a wide range of experiences in a century that gave us Hollywood, the atomic bomb, Elvis and Dolly the cloned sheep. The ambitious project caught the attention of the Pulitzer Prize committee, which announced the finalists and the awardees in April.

Be WorldsAhead

Largest alumni gift ever: $10 million Alumnus Chad Moss ’94, executive vice president of Moss & Associates, announced a $10 million gift through Moss Foundation, Inc. to FIU’s College of Engineering & Computing— the largest donation by an alumnus to date.

In recognition of his gift, announced at the 2017 Torch Awards Gala, FIU’s College of Engineering & Computing will name the construction school as the Moss School of Construction, Infrastructure and Sustainability. With more than half of the world’s population living in urban environments, the school’s naming coincides with the academic reorganization of the school, reflecting a broader view of the industry and new approaches and methods for building sustainable urban infrastructure.

Moss’ gift will fund scholarships for first-generation students, veterans and disadvantaged youth; faculty and postgraduate research initiatives; continuing professional education and industry programs; and more.

eMerging innovation FIU took center stage at eMerge Americas 2017, an international exhibition of innovation and entrepreneurship in the tech industry.

At FIU’s 900-square-foot pavilion, faculty and students exhibited how they use technology for innovation and transformation in the fields of research and entrepreneurship. Among the groups featured at the pavilion: new companies associated with StartUP FIU, scientific breakthroughs in chemical testing and prosthetics, and research that aims to protect ocean predators worldwide.

At the conference, President Mark B. Rosenberg took the same stage as Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak to address the evolution of postsecondary education.

He introduced what he calls the “University 3.0” model. It’s characterized by “an intense experiential ecosystem”—learning by doing—which focuses on converging soft skills like critical thinking and civic knowledge with hard skills like coding and cybersecurity to increase workforce competency. This convergence of skills is the driving force behind entrepreneurial thinking and problem solving in the tech world.

Making students a Golden Promise FIU has made a potentially life-changing promise to the 2017 freshman class: If your family cannot help you pay for college, FIU will.

The university has guaranteed the incoming students that their tuition will be covered if they are Florida residents and have an expected family contribution of zero on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. These students typically come from families that earn less than $33,000 annually.

Golden Promise covers gaps in financial aid so that students can complete 30 credit hours a year and earn a bachelor’s degree in four years. FIU’s financial aid office estimates that 1,200 freshmen will benefit from the program during the 2017-2018 academic year.

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FIU football moving forward FIU tight end Jonnu Smith was drafted by the Tennessee Titans in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft. Smith set FIU records for career receiving yards (2,001) and career receptions (178) by a tight end.

Big changes are in store for FIU Football this fall. Along with a new coach, Butch Davis, the team is getting an upgraded, newly renamed facility in which to play. Riccardo Silva Stadium has been outfitted with high-end artificial turf and an 1,800-squarefoot high-definition videoboard. The improved facility is named for the owner of the professional soccer team Miami FC, which plays its home games at the stadium. Since 2015 Silva has contributed $3.76 million toward athletics.

FIU’s first home game will take place Sept. 9 at Riccardo Silva Stadium.

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Cancer’s new enemy Cancer, in most cases, is still treated the same way it was a few decades ago—with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

But FIU Professor Sakhrat Khizroev and his research team are working to bring society closer to a cure.

In partnership with other collaborators, the team is using nanotechnology to fight the pervasive disease at the most fundamental level: the cell. The researchers use magnetoelectric nanoparticles, which have an electrical charge that allows them to uniquely locate specific cancer cells in the body. These nanoparticles are so tiny that doctors can send them in noninvasively as many times as needed with no lasting side effects.

The technology has already proved successful in treating certain cancers in mice, and researchers hope to offer human clinical trials within a few years. The research has been partially funded by the National Science Foundation, Neuroscience Centers of Florida Foundation, Department of Defense and National Institutes of Health.

Be WorldsAhead

FIU Theatre makes history FIU drama students hit the road during the spring semester with the Argentine dark comedy “La Nona.” The troupe was invited to perform at Georgia Southern University as part of the southeast regional Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. The production made history as the first Spanishlanguage play staged in the festival’s 49-year running.

Shows presented at each of the eight regional competitions vied for national awards, and FIU theater major Mario Alonso earned the top spot for set design, a prize he later received on stage at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Law dean joins Trump administration College of Law Dean R. Alexander Acosta was sworn in as the U.S. Secretary of Labor in April.

Acosta joined FIU in 2009 after serving as the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. Under his stewardship, the law school raised its national profile dramatically and earned a reputation for excellence and student success. The college ranks among the top 50 nationally for job placement, according to U.S. News & World Report.

A native of Miami and first-generation university graduate and lawyer, Acosta earned his undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard University.

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R1 54,000 9,700 161,000 196 $ 1.3B $ 9B $ 171M 96 11 18

Research 1 Carnegie Classification Doctoral University—Highest Research Activity

Enrollment

Employees (faculty, staff, administrators) Alumni who live and work in South Florida

Bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral programs Annual budget

Annual economic impact Total research expenditures in FY 2015-2016

Percent of faculty who hold doctoral degrees or highest degree attainable in their field

Colleges and schools including Medicine and Law

Division 1A sports teams

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