The Pappas study was commissioned with the goal of helping the State University System of Florida deal with burgeoning student demand, Edmonds says. Over the past five years, the student population for Florida’s 11 state colleges and universities has increased by 50,000, boosting overall student numbers to 294,000.
Turning FAMU into a four-year degree school was one of many potential innovations proposed by the report. SUS is in the midst of a statewide circuit to get feedback on the State College System proposal, as well as other suggested innovations in the study.
A recent public meeting in Orlando “didn’t get a lot of public response,” says Edmonds. So SUS had planned a roundtable format for a meeting in Florida’s Panhandle region late last month.
The board of governors is not expected to make a decision on the proposal until the latter part of 2007 at the earliest, Edmonds says, with 2008 being more likely.
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