FGCU Equal Opportunity & Diversity Affairs (text version)
| Equal Opportunity & Diversity
Affairs Home | FGCU Home
|
Guiding Principles
The founding of Florida Gulf Coast University at the advent of a new century
is a signal event. It comes at a moment in history when the conditions that
formed and sustained American higher education are fundamentally changing, and
at a time when rapid shifts wrought by technology and social complexities are
altering the very nature of work, knowledge, and human relationships. Asa public
institution, Florida Gulf Coast University eagerly accepts the leadership opportunity
and obligation to adapt to these changes and to meet the educational needs of
Southwest Florida. To do so, it will collaborate with its various constituencies,
listen to the calls for change, build on the intellectual heritage of the past,
plan its evolution systematically for the twenty-first century, and be guided
by the following principles:
Student success is at the center of all University endeavors. The University
is dedicated to the highest quality education that develops the whole person
for success in life and work. Learner needs, rather than institutional preferences,
determine priorities for academic planning, policies, and programs.
Acceleration methods and assessment of prior and current learning are used to
reduce the time it takes to earn a degree. Quality teaching is demanded, recognized,
and rewarded.
Academic freedom is the foundation for the transmission and advancement of knowledge.
The University vigorously protects freedom of inquiry and expression and categorically
expects civility and mutual respect to be practicedin all deliberations.
Diversity is a source of renewal and vitality. The University is committed to
developing capacities for living together in a democracy whose hallmark is individual,
social, cultural, and intellectual diversity. It fosters a climate and models
a condition of openness in which students, faculty, and staff engage multiplicity
and difference with tolerance and equity.
Informed and engaged citizens are essential to the creation of a civil and sustainable
society. The University values the development of the responsible self grounded
in honesty, courage, and compassion, and committed to advancing democratic ideals.
Through service learning requirements, the University engages students in community
involvement with time for formal reflection on their experiences. Integral to
the University's philosophy is instilling in students an environmental consciousness
that balances their economic and social aspirations with the imperative for
ecological
sustainability.
Service to Southwest Florida, including access to the University, is a public
trust. The University is committed to forging partnerships and being responsive
to its region. It strives to make available its knowledge resources, services,
and educational offerings at times, places, in forms and by methods that will
meet the needs of all its constituents. Access means not only admittance to
buildings and programs, but also entrance into the spirit of intellectual and
cultural community that the University creates and nourishes.
Technology is a fundamental tool in achieving educational quality, efficiency,
and distribution. The University employs information technology in creative,
experimental, and practical ways for delivery of instruction, for administrative
and information management, and for student access and support. It promotes
and provides distance- and time-free learning. It requires and cultivates technological
literacy in its students and employees.
Connected knowing and collaborative learning are basic to being well educated.
The University structures interdisciplinary learning experiences throughout
the curriculum to endow students with the ability to think in whole systems
and to understand the interrelatedness of knowledge across disciplines.
Emphasis is placed on the development of teamwork skills through collaborative
opportunities. Overall, the University practices the art of collective learning
and collaboration in governance, operations, and planning.
Assessment of all functions is necessary for improvement and continual renewal.
The University is committed to accounting for its effectiveness through the
use of comprehensive and systematic assessment. Tradition is challenged; the
status quo is questioned; change is implemented.
| Equal Opportunity & Diversity
Affairs Home | FGCU Home
|
©FGCU
2001. This is an official FGCU Web page.
Florida Gulf Coast University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution.
10501 FGCU Blvd. South, Fort Myers, FL 33965-6565
webmaster@fgcu.edu
Florida Gulf Coast University is accredited by the Commission on Colleges of
the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (1866 Southern Lane, Decatur,
Georgia 30033-4097: Telephone number 404-679-4501) to award associate, baccalaureate,
and master's degrees.