Strategic Plan Steering Committee

College Deans and School Directors:  

• Dr. Diana Cheshire – Dean, College of Education 
• Dr. Tracy Elliott – Dean, Bradshaw Library 
• Dr. Shawn Felton - Interim Dean, Marieb College of Health and & Human Services 
• Dr. Huzefa Kagdi – Dean, U.A. Whitaker College of Engineering 
• Dr. Minh Nguyen – Interim Dean, the Honors College  
• Dr. Bruce Teague - Interim Director, Daveler & Kauanui School of Entrepreneurship 
• Dr. Greg Tolley - Executive Director, The Water School 
• Dr. Chris Westley – Dean, Lutgert College of Business 

Board of Trustee liaison: Trustee Michael Wynn 

Faculty Senate Delegate:  Tunde Szecsi – Professor, College of Education  

Staff Advisory Council: Jena Padilla – SAC President, Assistant Director of Business Operations, Lutgert College of Business. 

Student Government:  Barjon Kadi – SG Treasurer  

Alumni:  Michael Nachef – Vice President of Government Relations, Lee Health 

Community:  Lizbeth Benacquisto  

Broad functional representation: 

• Dr. Christopher Blakely – Assistant Vice President, Dean of Students 
• Dr. Sherdene Brown-Simpson – Program Director, LMHC 
• Lauren Leister – Deputy Athletics Director, Chief Operating Officer 
• Heather MacQueen – Director, Human Resources & Business Partnerships  
• Aimee McLaughlin – Director, University Relations 
• Dr. Lirio Negroni – Professor of Social Work  
• Dr. Sandra Pavelka – Professor of Political Science 
• Dr. Eric Tack – Associate Vice President, Academic Engagement  
• Alice Wheelwright – Associate Vice President, Marketing & Communications 

Students-at-Large 

• Gustavo Hernandez - History Major 
• Isabella Viquez – Vice President for Latin American Students Organization 

Co-Chairs

• Dr. Clay Motley - Dean, College of Arts & Sciences
• Jorge Lopez - Associate Vice President of Student Financial Enrollment and Business Services

Ex-Officio

• Dr. Eileen DeLuca, Interim Chief Strategy and Program Innovation Officer

Florida Gulf Coast University, a comprehensive institution of higher education, offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs of strategic importance to Southwest Florida and beyond. FGCU seeks academic excellence in the development of selected programs and centers of distinction in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, health professions, business, and marine and environmental sciences. Outstanding faculty and staff supported by a strong community of advisors prepare students for gainful employment and successful lives as responsible, productive and engaged citizens. FGCU emphasizes innovative, student-centered teaching and learning, promotes and practices environmental sustainability, embraces diversity, nurtures community partnerships, values public service, encourages civic responsibility, and cultivates habits of lifelong learning and the discovery of new knowledge.

Approved by the FGCU Board of Trustees May 10, 2016.

Florida Gulf Coast University will achieve national prominence in offering exceptional value in high-quality educational programs that address regional and statewide needs. Our programs, firmly grounded in the liberal arts and sciences, will employ emerging instructional technologies. Possessing an entrepreneurial spirit, graduates will be well prepared for productive lives as civically engaged and environmentally conscious citizens with successful careers, ready to pursue further education.

Approved by the FGCU Board of Trustees September 8, 2015.

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. As a 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 time to 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 practiced in 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.

Approved by the Deans Council June 18, 1996

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The history of Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) is a visionary one built on support for providing higher education opportunities in Southwest Florida. Area citizens began the initiative to bring a state university to this part of Florida, and their early requests were quickly supported by elected officials at the local and state levels.

SW Florida gets a state university
The former Florida Board of Regents formally recommended in January 1991 the development of Florida’s 10th state university to be located in Southwest Florida, and, in May 1991, then Governor Lawton Chiles signed the legislation authorizing the new university. Southwest Florida’s support for a university was never more evident than during the next year, when private landowners offered more than 20 gift sites for the university campus. In early 1992, the Board of Regents selected the site offered by Ben Hill Griffin III and Alico, Inc. of 760 acres of land located just east of Interstate 75 between Alico and Corkscrew Roads.

University and president named
Roy McTarnaghan was named founding university president in April 1993. Initial staff was hired that summer, and the university’s academic and campus planning began in earnest. Plans for the first phase of campus construction were unveiled in February 1994, and shortly thereafter, the Florida Legislature named the institution as “Florida Gulf Coast University.” The vision for the university was one that would address emerging higher education needs for the 21st century, including the use of technology in the learning/teaching process and multi-year contracts as an alternative to faculty tenure. The Board of Regents approved an agreement in May 1995 with the United Faculty of Florida allowing FGCU to offer a contract system for faculty.

2 years from groundbreaking to opening
Campus groundbreaking was held on November 28, 1995, with more than 600 people participating in the celebratory event for Southwest Florida. With aggressive academic program and campus development schedules slated to culminate in an opening day of August 25, 1997, the early staff and faculty were busy meeting deadlines every month. Inaugural degree programs were approved by the Board of Regents in March 1996. The FGCU Foundation, a private fundraising arm of the university, gained extraordinary financial support for an institution that at the time could only be seen on a drawing board. Faculty members throughout the country were attracted to FGCU for the opportunity to offer higher education in new and innovative ways.

81 graduate in 1st commencement
The first FGCU student, Mariana Coto, was admitted in January 1997, and she participated in the historic ribbon cutting on the university’s August 25, 1997 opening day. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) awarded FGCU accreditation candidacy later that year, and a comprehensive self-study was launched. The first commencement was held in May 1998, with 81 FGCU graduates. In August 1998, the first phase of student housing opened.

Accreditation and the 2nd president
In September 1998, Founding President McTarnaghan announced his intention to retire as President on May 1, 1999. The Board of Regents launched a national search for FGCU’s second president held during the spring and summer, and the university received official notification in June 1999 that it had achieved, in record time, accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. In July 1999, the Board of Regents named William C. Merwin as FGCU’s second president. President Merwin arrived on campus for his first day on September 16, 1999. He initiated a highly participatory strategic planning process for students, faculty, and staff to carry the young institution to its next stage of development.

University gets own Board of Trustees
The Florida Legislature established governing boards of trustees for state universities in 2001, and 13 members were appointed to the Florida Gulf Coast University Board of Trustees. This governing board continues to provide leadership that is strategic, forward focused, community based, and responsive to the region and state. In January 2007, FGCU President Bill Merwin retired, and Dean of the Lutgert College of Business Richard Pegnetter was named Interim President by the FGCU Board of Trustees. A highly competitive national search for FGCU’s third president was launched.

3rd president selected on 10th anniversary
On the university’s 10th anniversary of its opening day — August 25, 2007 — the FGCU Board of Trustees selected Wilson G. Bradshaw to serve as the institution’s third president. President Bradshaw led FGCU through its second decade of development and service as a comprehensive university offering access to quality higher education in Southwest Florida. Student enrollment grew 60% from 2007 to 2016, and new undergraduate and graduate degree programs continued to be added, along with academic buildings and student housing. FGCU Athletics achieved NCAA Division I status emerged as national powerhouse in 2013 when "Dunk City" became the first #15 seed to advance to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA DI Men's Basketball Championship.

Nearing 20th year, FGCU selects 4th president
As FGCU approached its 20th anniversary in August 2017, the FGCU Foundation exceeded a $100 million fundraising campaign to fuel continued development of scholarships, athletics and programs that contribute to student success. Graduates grew to more than 25,000, spurring the launch of 10 Alumni Association chapters across the country. President Wilson G. Bradshaw announced he would retire at the end of the 2016-17 academic year after a decade of leadership, and the Board of Trustees in February 2017 selected Michael Martin to succeed him.

Fifth president takes office

After 52 years in higher education, Dr. Martin retired on June 30, 2023. He was succeeded by Dr. Aysegul Timur, an economist who previously served as Vice President and Vice Provost for Strategy and Program Innovation at FGCU.

President Timur was selected to become Florida Gulf Coast University's fifth president on May 4, 2023, following a unanimous endorsement from the FGCU Board of Trustees. Her presidency was confirmed by the Florida Board of Governors on June 22, 2023.

What started historically as land and a grand plan has evolved today into The FGCU Effect — 26 years of meaningful, far-reaching impact.

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• Aysegul Timur: Milestone Presentation
• Mitch Cordova: Accountability Plan
• Demographics and Workforce in SWFL