May 29, 2008

In our efforts to communicate the latest budget developments here and in Tallahassee in a timely manner, the university is disseminating weekly budget updates from President Modesto A. Maidique. These communiques are sent to our students, faculty and staff, alumni, donors, FIU Board of Trustees, Foundation Board of Directors, President's Council, select media, elected officials and other interested parties. We believe that timely information on a topic of such critical importance will benefit the entire university community and help to continue the university's forward momentum.
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In This Issue:

Dear members of the university community:

As a counterpoint to the sobering news we shared last week, this week brings us welcome developments on a number of fronts:

Yesterday, we accepted the largest cash donation in FIU history: $10 million eligible for a $10 million match from the State of Florida. The Leon Medical Centers founder Benjamin Leon, Jr. made the donation to our College of Medicine to establish the Benjamin Leon Jr. and Family Center for Geriatric Research and Education in addition to the Leon Medical Centers Eminent Scholars Chair in Geriatrics.

A donation of this magnitude has a positive impact on the entire institution, not just the College of Medicine, because in building that program we are strengthening our entire university for the benefit of the South Florida community. It is important to note that while still in its infancy, the College of Medicine has already attracted several multi-million dollar gifts. To read more about the Leon gift visit http://wordpress.fiu.edu/news/2008/05/28/fiu-college-of-medicine-receives-major-gift-to-establish-the-benjamin-leon-jr-family-center-for-geriatric-research-and-education/

It is my earnest hope that this generous philanthropic act will inspire and motivate others to step forward and invest in other areas of our university. Our success going forward rests on our ability to build partnerships like the one we launched this week with the Leon family.

Board of Directors

Also this week, the Board of Directors of the FIU Foundation met to elect new officers and approve the Foundation’s budget for the coming year, which, notwithstanding the downshift in the 2007 stock market, includes a 3.5 percent distribution to endowment programs, in addition to the one-time multi-million disbursements that the Foundation has already pledged to the university. This one-time disbursement will go toward making us more competitive in faculty recruitment and will help us improve our advancement infrastructure so that we are better able to go after gifts such as the one we secured this week. We are pleased that even in these tough economic times, the Foundation Board of Directors has exercised great leadership and a strong commitment to and support of the university.

The members of our Board of Directors are the community leaders that help us identify partnership and fundraising opportunities, which continue to gain importance as our state support continues to diminish. Most importantly, they are responsible for guiding the investment strategy of our endowment, which currently surpasses the $100 million mark. Our appreciation goes to Chairman Larry Kahn for leading the way for the past two years.

The Foundation’s new leadership for 2008 is as follows:

• Chair: Joseph L. Caruncho, '81, President, Preferred Care Partners
• Vice Chair: T. Gene Prescott, President, The Biltmore Hotel
• Treasurer: Noel Guillama-Alvarez, President and CEO, Quantum Group, Inc.
• Secretary: Dany Garcia, President and CEO, JDM Financial Services Corp.

Speech pathology closing rescinded

Also, as you may have learned from a recent email from Executive Vice President and Provost Ronald Berkman, through a renewed partnership and some creative thinking we are going to be able to continue supporting the speech pathology program. Like many of you, we were struck by the responsible and well-articulated arguments that we heard at last week’s Town Hall meeting in support of continuing that program. Additional work and conversations led us to a four-prong strategy that includes increasing fees for students in the program, increasing enrollment, shifting some costs to non- E&G funding, and re-affirming our relationship with the Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Superintendent Rudy Crew’s commitment to continue supporting our program despite the public school system’s own challenges, served to further convince us that, more than an academic program, speech pathology is a community resource. I am pleased to say that this program no longer is on the list of programs we will be recommending for closure to our Board of Trustees next month.

Board of Trustees meeting June 12

Judging by the outpouring of ideas we saw at the Town Hall meeting and at last Friday’s USPS Senate meeting, we anticipate some of you will want to address the Board of Trustees when it meets on June 12 to make final decisions regarding our 2008-2009 budget. In order to facilitate participation, the Chair of the board will limit the number of individuals and the length of time each person will speak on a given topic. I’d like to direct your attention to the established operating procedures of our Board of Trustees, which stipulate that anyone wishing to address the board must make the request in writing seven working days before the meeting. For more information on this point, please refer to page 7 of the Board’s operating procedures http://bot.fiu.edu/pdf/2008/022908_Operating_Procedures_BOT.pdf

As we have said numerous times, we are undergoing a three-year process. Our plans will continue to evolve as conditions change and new ideas emerge. Please continue sharing your thoughts with us by sending your email to me at presmail@fiu.edu.

I would like to thank every member of the FIU team -- students, faculty and staff -- who has worked so hard these past several months to find solutions to our budget issues and also to close the Leon gift. Your participation and your dedication are appreciated. While we all wish the economy, and particularly Florida’s tax receipts were better, I know these challenges make us grow personally and as a team. Thank you for all you do for Florida International University.

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