Florida International University
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Florida International University (FIU) is a state-run university in Miami-Dade County, Florida, well-known for its creative writing, hospitality management, international business, and management information systems programs. It currently has more than 34,000 students, 1,100 full-time faculty, and 100,000 alumni, making it the largest public university in South Florida.
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History
Although state senator Ernest 'Cap' Graham, father of former Florida governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham, proposed a state university in Miami as early as 1943, the legislature did not approve the project until 1965. In July of 1969, the Florida Board of Regents appointed Charles "Chuck" Perry to be FIU's first University President. Perry was only 31 years old at the time, and was thus the youngest person in the country to hold such a position. The university's main campus, University Park, was built on the site of the old Tamiami Airport, and opened its doors in 1972.
The university's second president, Harold Crosby, served a three-year "interim" term from 1976-79. Crosby oversaw the opening of a second campus on Biscayne Bay in North Miami in 1977.
Gregory Baker Wolfe, a former United States diplomat and then-president of Portland State University became FIU's third president, from 1979-1986. After stepping down as president, Wolfe went on to teach in the university's International Relations department. The student union on the Biscayne Bay Campus is named in his honor.
In 1986, Dr. Modesto A. Maidique became President of FIU, which has since grown to become the largest university in the Miami region, with a budget of over $400 million. In 2002, FIU achieved two major milestones: fielding its first American football team, and opening the first public law school in South Florida, the Florida International University College of Law.
Academics
The University offers more than 190 baccalaureate, master's and doctoral degree programs in 19 colleges and schools:
- College of Architecture
- College of Arts and Sciences
- School of Computer Science
- School of Music
- College of Business Administration
- School of Accounting
- School of Hospitality and Tourism Management
- Chapman Graduate School of Business
- College of Continuing and Professional Studies
- College of Education
- College of Engineering
- College of Health and Urban Affairs
- School of Health
- School of Nursing
- School of Policy and Management
- School of Social Work
- Honors College
- College of Journalism and Mass Communication
- College of Law
Facilities
FIU has two major campuses and several minor campuses around South Florida. The largest campus, University Park (UP), encompasses 342 acres (1.4 km²) in the city of Miami, several miles southwest of Miami International Airport. Until recent years, aerial pictures of the campus clearly revealed the features of the airport which used to occupy the space. Construction has obliterated most of these features, however - and has caused some disconcertation among students. With several major buildings now under construction at any given time, already-stressed parking lots have been closed off from student use, serving instead as staging areas for construction equipment. Current construction on the University Park campus includes an independent art museum, new housing and parking facilities, and a College of Law building.
The Biscayne Bay Campus (BBC) in North Miami is about 200 acres (809,000 m²), directly on the bay and adjacent to the Oleta River State Park, with which FIU has a research partnership. Access to these resources has inspired the creation of a marine biology program on the BBC campus, for which a state-of-the-art facility is now in the late stages of construction. University buses run between the main campuses throughout the day on school days.[1] (http://www.fiu.edu/bus.html)
The main campuses contain all of the University's student housing facilities, with 1,900 beds distributed throughout various apartment buildings and smaller dormitory facilities on the University Park Campus, and another 300 in a single apartment building on the Biscayne Bay Campus. There is a main push for housing on the South Campus, with the opening of 2 new residence halls in the last 5 years and a third one currently under construction
The Campus Libraries combine to host over 1.5 million volumes.
Smaller campuses include:
- A 40 acre (162,000 m²)Center for Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS), which houses the College of Engineering, located within two miles of University Park. This campus is also serviced by University transportation.
- The FIU Broward site at the Pines Center in Pembroke Pines, Florida.
- A tower in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- A campus shared with several other universities and colleges in Davie, Florida
- A recently opened site in Homestead, Florida, which is at the southern end of Miami-Dade County.
Recognition
In 2000, FIU received the highest research university ranking conferred by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. That same year, FIU was awarded Phi Beta Kappa chapter, the country's oldest and most distinguished academic honor society. FIU is one of only 78 universities nationwide to hold both designations.
FIU has been ranked among the top 100 public national universities in the U.S. News & World Report annual guide to "America's Best Colleges." FIU was the youngest institution in the group. The magazine has reported that FIU students are among the least indebted college students in the nation and recognized the University as a "best buy" in higher education. In 1998, Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine ranked FIU as the country's 18th best value in public higher education. FIU was named one of the top 10 public commuter colleges in the U.S. in the 1995 edition of Money Guide, an annual report published by Money magazine, and has been cited in several other of the country's leading college guides.
The 1999 National CPA Examination Report noted that Accounting graduates from FIU ranked first in the nation in passing the CPA exam on the first try and are consistently (last 5 years) in the top 5 in their exam scores. In January 2001, the Academy of Management Journal ranked FIU's College of Business Administration (CBA) Management Information Systems (MIS) unit the 11th best in the U.S. The Creative Writing Program is ranked among the top ten in the country by "Who Runs American Literature?" in the Dictionary of Literary Biography. The School of Hospitality Management is recognized by industry leaders as one of the nation's top five hospitality management programs.
Athletics
FIU.jpg
FIU is a member of the NCAA, and the Sun Belt Conference. It joined in 2002. Their colors are dark blue and gold, and their nickname is the "Golden Panthers".
In addition to the recently initiated football program, FIU athletes compete in a wide range of sports, including baseball, basketball, soccer, volleyball, track and field, cross country running, tennis, and golf.
FIU's athletics department has produced several professional athletes, including current players in Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, and the National Basketball Association.
Activities
FIU has the typical array of student organizations, fraternities and sororities, and honor societies. Because of the sizable branch campus in North Miami, FIU has long had two separate student governments.
The current student newspaper is called The Beacon.
Other
The National Hurricane Center is located at the University Park campus.
Famous alumni
FIU now has over 100,000 alumni, including:
- Cecilia Altonaga, federal judge
- Carlos Alvarez, Mayor of Miami-Dade County
- Carlos Arroyo, NBA basketball player
- Liz Balmaseda, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner
- Raja Bell, NBA basketball player
- Stephanie A. Burns, CEO Dow Corning
- Manny Diaz, Mayor of the City of Miami
- Andy Garcia, actor
- Gerald Grant, vice president for AXA Advisors, LLC
- Tayna Lawrence, Olympic medalist
- Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River
- Mike Lowell, professional baseball player
- Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, member of the United States House of Representatives
External links
- Official site (http://www.fiu.edu)
- FIU Sports Center (http://www.fiusports.com)
- FIU Alumni Relations (http://fiualumni.com)
- FIU Quick Facts (http://www.fiu.edu/~opie/quickfacts.htm)
- Florida Panther, basis for mascot (http://www.nps.gov/ever/eco/panther.htm)
- The Beacon, student newspaper of FIU (http://www.beaconnewspaper.com/)