Engage Locally

Students, faculty and staff enthusiastically embrace FIU's commitment to local engagement. Collaborations with local communities on a wide range of initiatives spanning the width and breadth of university expertise facilitate a mutually beneficial exchange between residents and students and faculty that has transformed South Florida into a living laboratory for our students and faculty.

Efforts to improve public education, public health, quality of life and the environmental landscape of South Florida, as well as novel initiatives to promote sustainable and equitable economic growth, are creating ripple effects throughout the region that will continue to improve the quality of life for our region's residents for generations to come.

Below you'll find a sampling of just a few of the university's many local initiatives.

 

Economic Development

Community links helping more FIU students engage in jobs

- Excerpt from Miami today Article
"Through Florida International University's engagement department, the school is working with new businesses, schools and other community groups, earning it in January a spot among 100 universities recognized by the carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching for its high level of community outreach. The university enlisted Divina Grossman a year and a half ago as vice president for engagement, asking her to build from the ground up a department that focuses on engaging the community."

To read the complete article from Miami Today Article click here. (PDF)

 

FIU Research Adopted by Miami Dade County Leads to
National Achievement Award

The research of Dr. Shu-Ching Chen, Professor, School of Computing and Information Sciences and the Business Continuity Information Network (BCIN) he developed in collaboration with Steve Luis, FIU's Director of Technology and Business Development, was adopted by Miami Dade County's Emergency Management Department as part of their Business Recovery Program. The Department won a 2011 Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties (NACo), which recognizes effective and innovative county government programs. County Manager Alina T. Hudak congratulated the Emergency Management Department for "exploring new opportunities to maximize resources" such as those represented by FIU, referring to the "progressive thinking" behind the innovative program.

To see a complete list of Counties and Award-Winning programs: http://www.naco.org/programs/recognition/Pages/AchievementAwards.aspx

 

FIU and the Food Network South Beach Wine & Festival

• The festival has created an economic boon for South Florida
• In its nine years, the event has raised more than $10 million for programs and scholarships in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management

The annual Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival is a star-studded, four-day event that showcases the talents of the world’s most renowned chefs, culinary personalities and wine and spirits producers.

A hot-ticket celebration, the festival benefits the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management Teaching Restaurant and the Southern Wine & Spirits Beverage Management Center and engages hundreds of FIU students. To date, the event, which turns 10 in 2011, has raised more than $10 million for programs at the school.

The 2009 and 2008 editions each attracted close to 50,000 guests over four days and garnered an unprecedented amount of media coverage. The 2010 festival surpassed that number, bringing to Miami and South Beach food and wine lovers from all over the country and the world who patronized local businesses such as hotels and restaurants, providing a boon to the area.

Read more on the Food Network South Beach Wine & Food Festival.

 

FIU - FPL Student partnership program

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2010 Florida International University established a unique partnership with the Florida Power & Light company (FPL) and the FPL Customer Care Center was created. The center, located at the Modesto A. Maidique Campus, serves as a site of customer service operations and is staffed with FIU students hired by FPL as part-time employees. The diverse group of 21 student employees ranges from freshmen to seniors and they provide customer service in English, Spanish and Creole. All employees undergo a rigorous hiring process that consists of interviews and week – long trainings. The Office of Engagement is proud to announce that since the program’s development, FPL has hired 12 FIU students as permanent employees!

 

Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX) partnership

• Provides options to reduce traffic bottlenecks in Miami-Dade County
• Funds from MDX allowed for the creation of FIU’s Lehman Center for Transportation Research, which focuses on studying intelligent highway systems

Miami-Dade County consistently ranks as one of the most traffic-congested counties in the United States. In 2009, FIU signed a partnership with the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority (MDX) to provide options to reduce traffic bottlenecks.

FIU’s Lehman Center for Transportation Research, funded with up to $500,000 from MDX, focuses on the development of an advanced bus rapid transit system along State Road 836. Research includes how to build various Advanced Transit Oriented Developments where Advanced Transit Stops can be located, including adjacent to FIU’s Modesto A. Maidique Campus, the FIU Engineering Center and the Miami International Airport/Miami Intermodal Center.

The center operates one of the most sophisticated labs in the nation, FIU’s Integrated Intelligent Transportation System Laboratory. The lab is equipped with a video wall, central software, servers and operator workstations that duplicate, on a smaller scale, those that are used at FDOT traffic management centers. Students and researchers are able to observe and analyze live traffic conditions along FDOT roadways, including the Palmetto Expressway and Interstate 95, to develop plans to improve traffic congestion and safety.

Read more about the MDX partnership.

Arts and Culture

Creative Visions

• Talented young artists participate in juried exhibition at Frost Art Museum
• Popular event draws hundreds from the community to university museum

Since 2004, talented elementary, middle and high school artists have exhibited their work at The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum’s “Creative Visions” annual juried student art exhibition. Hosted by Miami-Dade County Commissioner Joe A. Martinez (District 11) and The Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the exhibition features the work of talented artists from District 11 Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS), including elementary, middle and high school students.

This annual exhibit is the product of a partnership between the museum, Martinez, M-DCPS and the Miami-Dade Department of Cultural Affairs Division of Life Skills-Art Education Program.

Read more and check out a related video about Creative Visions.

 

Evening with the arts in sweetwater

The 2nd Annual Sweetwater Evening with the Arts event featured an art exhibition and musical performances by students from Sweetwater Elementary and FIU Honors College. The event was organized by students from Professor Cecile Houry's First Year Honors College Leadership course. The event was held at the Jorge Mas Canosa Youth Center in the City of Sweetwater on April 20, 2011.

Education

HONDURAN STUDENTS ENGAGE IN AGROSCIENCE FOR A WEEK AT FIU

Forty-five undergraduate Honduran students from Universidad Nacional de Agricultura (UNA) in Catacamas, Honduras were introduced to Florida International University's (FIU) Agroecology Program and project directors Dr. Krish Jayachandran and Dr. Mahadev Bhat on October 17, 2011. In addition, the students were greeted by the Vice President for Engagement Dr. Divina Grossman, College of Arts and Sciences Dean Dr. Ken Furton, and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education Hilarion "Lari" Martinez.

The UNA students visited FIU to learn about agricultural practices in the United States through lectures, hands-on training, and tours of farms. The students visited local farms, the FIU Library, Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden, University of Florida Tropical Research and Education Center, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Sub-Tropical Horticultural Research Station in South Miami and the Applied Research Center in the FIU College of Engineering, where former U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management, Dr. Ines Triay conducted a tour and presented to the students.

"South Florida is the perfect location to study ecological agriculture. The university's location and resources offer access to the Everglades and to our very diverse, natural and urban ecosystems," said Dr. Krish Jayachandran, Graduate Program Director of Environmental Studies. "We have a strong, multi-disciplinary Agroecology Program and FIU is the right place to attend for educational purposes and to do well in the agroecology field."

The Agroecology Program at FIU is an innovative curricular program under the Department of Earth and Environment in the College of Arts and Sciences designed to provide students with an opportunity to focus on issues in agriculture and food production both at the farm and regional landscape levels. Students can increase their understanding of not only the function and productivity of on-farm agricultural systems, but also increase their scientific knowledge of broad spatial agricultural issues including:

• Regional water allocation conflicts
• Urban-rural conflicts
• Community-supported agriculture
• Geo-spatial analysis of agricultural resources and ecosystem impacts

The Agroecology Program aspires to expand its program where FIU students and faculty can travel to UNA and other foreign universities to do research and field work on agriculture ecosystems. "This is a great opportunity for FIU students to interact with students from different countries. The Agroecology Program will expand internationally as well as locally," said Dr. Mahadev Bhat, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies. The Agroecology Program is the recipient of 9 grants totaling over $5 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to support the Agroecology Program.

 

Project Panther Life

Students with intellectual disabilities are attending FIU classes through a new program in South Florida called Project Panther LIFE (Learning is for Everyone). Intellectual disability is a term used to describe a person that has certain limitations in mental functioning and in abilities such as communicating and social skills.

Project Panther LIFE is in partnership with Miami-Dade County Public Schools and Parent to Parent of Miami, Inc. FIU has invited the students to attend assessment classes and receive a true college experience. FIU will provide students with opportunities to develop academically and socially. Panther LIFE has brought together several FIU departments to ensure that the students gain the necessary skills to allow them to become independent and productive adults.

Watch full coverage on Project Panther LIFE produced by Despierta America click here

Watch full coverage on Project Panther LIFE produced by WSVN 7 News click here

 

The Education Effect: A University-Community Partnership to Support Educational Achievement in Liberty City.

Supported by a three-year, $1 million-dollar grant from the JP Morgan Chase Foundation, Florida International University (FIU) and Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) have established The Education Effect, a university-community partnership to support educational achievement in Liberty City. Aligning university expertise, resources and research-based intervention programs focused on youth, parents, teachers, and community groups, the partnership will address the pressing educational and social needs of students at Miami Northwestern Senior High (MNW) and its feeder schools, Charles Drew Middle and Holmes Elementary. The Education Effect will engage stakeholders throughout Liberty City, advancing FIU's vision to serve as a catalyst for transformational change.

Seed funding from JPMorgan Chase will unite a multidisciplinary FIU team, enabling the community to benefit from the University's vast intellectual and research expertise for years to come. In addition to enhancing the community of Liberty City, the initiative will provide FIU students unique opportunities for service learning, instilling in participants the significance of community engagement and increased awareness of the University's role as an anchor public institution in South Florida.

Ultimately The Education Effect seeks to improve the graduation rate of the MNW student body, increasing students' college preparedness and ability to enroll and succeed in post-secondary education. Through the power of higher education, the partnership aims to transform the Liberty City community as MNW students receive the knowledge, skills and support needed to realize their academic and professional dreams.

 

FIU PRESIDENT DR. MARK B. ROSENBERG'S MEETING WITH STUDENTS AND PARENTS

On November 21, 2011, Florida International University (FIU) President Dr. Mark. B. Rosenberg met with students and parents at Miami Northwestern Senior High School (MNWSHS) to discuss the various opportunities offered at FIU. For example, through the dual enrollment program, MNWSHS students are allowed to enroll in FIU courses and receive both high school and college credit. MNWSHS Principal Wallace Aristide announced to the President there are numerous initiatives with FIU that are helping to change the school culture. "With the support of FIU, MNWSHS students are taking advantage of the various FIU opportunities while getting a head start in their college education," stated Aristide. President Rosenberg was pleased MNWSHS students are exploring programs at FIU that inspire their interest.

To view photos from the event click here.

 

F.I.U., Miami Northwestern Senior High School and J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation Partner to Create College Futures for Local Students

LINK: http://images.burrellesluce.com/image/9219NX/9219NX_29998

 

I Have A Dream (Overtown) Summer Institute at Florida International University

Called “dreamers” in recognition of their status as part of a class of students “adopted” through the I Have a Dream Foundation of Miami, students from the 2004 class of Phyllis Wheatley Elementary participated in the Foundation's month-long 2011 Summer Institute at Florida International University. The Institute concluded with "Engineering Day" sponsored by the College of Engineering and Computing and led by doctoral student, Dharam Persaud. The program included experiments in design and construction and culminated with a bridge-building competition. Teams of students used basic engineering theory and design principles taught by the College’s graduate students and faculty to construct bridges made of popsicle sticks, which were then tested for their load-bearing abilities. Student teams had to present their designs and explain their decisions to the judges; their peers; I Have a Dream - Miami program sponsors, Margie and Mark Buchbinder; and faculty mentors, including FIU's Office of Engagement Task Force member, Dr. Paul Fiegenbaum.

The I Have a Dream Foundation is founded on the idea that, given proper support, young student “dreamers” can go on to achieve far more than their families’ economic circumstances might predict. Entire classes of students are adopted by the Foundation and receive on-going, long term tutoring, mentoring, pregnancy and drug prevention programs, college prep instruction and counseling, as well as cultural, social, and recreational activities, throughout their entire educational years; elementary, middle and high school. This continuous motivation and support at an early stage in their lives remains consistent through high school giving them the stability and proper tools that children need and deserve to reach their academic success. A proven success, the I Have a Dream Foundation’s “dreamers” go on to graduate college in record numbers, beating the statistical odds.

 

FIU is One of Seven U.S. Schools Chosen to Host Summer “CampUS” program for Teens

During the week of July 1-5, 2011, FIU played host to 55 pre-high school students from the South Florida After School All Stars. During the school year, the national academic enrichment program is designed provide a positive, safe environment and occupy teens during the potentially troublesome after school hours of 3-6pm.  The summer “CampUS”  program is intended to prepare and motivate soon-to-be high school students and plant the seeds of a college future.  Organizers called their first year at FIU “a huge success.” The recent eighth grade graduates spent the week learning about different careers and all that college – and FIU in particular - has to offer. While at FIU they lived in the residence halls, ate in the cafeteria, toured the School of Architecture’s Digital Design studio, participated in a mock trial at the College of Law, watched a weather simulation in the Department of Earth & Environment’s Atmospheric Lab, heard FIU faculty talk about their own educational journeys, and gave back to FIU by helping plant trees and remove invasive species from the Nature Preserve.  Everyone who participated this year came away inspired to make next year’s program bigger and better.

http://news.fiu.edu/2011/07/campus-hosts-high-school-freshmen/29129?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=campus-hosts-high-school-freshmen

 

ACCESS - Achieving Community Collaboration in Education and Student Success

FIU and the Miami-Dade County Public Schools System have established ACCESS - Achieving Community Collaboration in Education and Student Success - an achievement-oriented partnership that is firmly focused on improving student learning. Even with major or minor reform of education, most elementary and secondary school students in the Miami community will be dependent on public schools. Access to high quality public education will be critical to their success in the competitive 21st Century workplace.  To achieve the goal of providing every Miami Dade County Public School student with a high-quality public education, a number of programs and partnerships have been created.  Three of them are highlighted in the video.

The Creating Latino Access to a Valuable Education (CLAVE) program provides support for the education of minorities seeking doctoral and master’s degrees in the area of education. A group of teachers from low performing schools (grade of C or D) were accepted into the College of Education’s Urban Education program, which aims at enhancing the effectiveness of teachers serving in diverse urban settings. The teachers who were accepted into the program all come from schools where more than 50 percent of the student population is Hispanic and less than half of the faculty holds Master’s degrees. The CLAVE program serves as a way to increase the professional development level of those practitioners working in challenging academic environments and ultimately enhance the performance of the students they serve.

Initiated in 2009, FIU’s Academy for Advanced Academics offers an all-day university/high school experience at FIU for nearly 200 MDCPS student from five senior high schools. Students at the Academy for Advanced Academics take all of their classes at the Modesto A. Maidique Campus and build class schedules based on their academic interests. In the morning, the high school students attend college classes taught by FIU professors alongside FIU undergraduate students. They stay on campus in the afternoon for their Advanced Placement classes – college-level courses taught by high-school teachers. By the time the teens graduate from high school, they may have completed up to two full years of college. The Academy for Advanced Academics has a counselor on staff and a mentoring program to provide support to students. In this nurturing environment, teachers, counselors and administrators get to know the students well and understand their needs. To be considered for admission into the program, students must have a GPA of at least 3.0 and top scores on the PSAT.

The Liberty City Project, a partnership between FIU, MDCPS and the Chase Foundation, is one of the partnership’s newest initiatives that has been established to serve students and families from Miami Northwestern Senior High School and its feeder schools: Holmes Elementary School and Drew Middle School. The project seeks to establish an evidence-based Neighborhood School Partnership in Liberty City to align university expertise and resources in a community engagement strategy to address pressing educational, social and economic needs of the underserved community.

 

FIU Offers Math and Law Camp for Kids

Twenty 3rd, 4th and 5th graders opted to trade some of their play time this summer for days full of math and an introduction to the law.  Designed to plant the seeds of a college future for the students, the camp concept was created by FIU and is part of "The Young People's Project," which is modeled on the highly successful "Algebra Project" (a national program designed to create sustainable, student-centered models of education with an emphasis on math and technology). Led by FIU alum Antonio Caldwell (2006), who once attended the program himself, the camp utilizes the help of students from FIU and local high schools to provide math tutoring and in a fun, high-energy environment.  In addition, students spend time in the College of Law's mock courtrooms, getting a hands-on lesson in civics.

Supporting Link: http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Kids-Add-Skills-At-Free-Math-Camp-124596714.html

 

Dual Enrollment

• Eligible high school students can simultaneously earn credits toward high school completion and a career certificate or an associate or bachelor’s degree one of Florida’s public, post-secondary institutions
• Program is offered at 39 public and private high schools

Since 2007 eligible students at private and public high schools in Miami-Dade County have had the option of earning credits toward a career certificate, associate or bachelor’s degree while still in high school. The program is at the heart of a partnership forged by the president of FIU, the president of Miami Dade College and the superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools.

Dual Enrollment faculty work closely with the curriculum specialists and principals of public and private high schools. In 2009 112 high school students attended classes on-campus at FIU. During the Spring 2010 semester, more than 1,100 students attended off-campus FIU courses at 39 private and public high schools.

Courses offered through the program include architecture, modern languages, psychology, mathematics, and educational leadership and policy studies.

 

PAC

• Program ensures participating students’ admission to FIU upon graduation from a Miami-Dade County public school
• Collaboration is designed to increase achievement of underrepresented minority students in mathematics and science
• Teachers in training gain valuable field experience and university faculty mentorship through their participation

Since 1994, FIU’s Partnership in Academic Communities (PAC) has offered high school students an opportunity to achieve academic success, build self esteem and make college a reality.
 
Working with Miami-Dade County Public Schools, PAC focuses on increasing achievement of underrepresented minority students in mathematics and science.  The program offers students from priority schools the opportunity to study in a low-risk, high-intensity environment on a university campus, utilizing the classrooms and labs associated with an institution of higher education. High school students who successfully graduate from the program are guaranteed admission to FIU.

The results are impressive: Since 2000 the program has graduated 135 PAC high school students. Approximately 90 percent of these individuals have gone on to attend college or junior college, and about 80 percent of these students have earned scholarships to FIU and other universities.

More than 150 FIU students, both undergraduate and graduate, and numerous faculty have worked, studied and volunteered for PAC. In 2003 the program was recognized by the National Council of the Great City Schools with an Excellence in Urban Education Award.

 

CLAVE

• New initiative seeks to increase number of graduate degrees awarded to Hispanic-American teachers and administrators by providing scholarships to complete master’s and doctoral degrees.
• Program targets low-performing urban schools within the Miami-Dade County Public School system

A collaboration between FIU’s College of Education and Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Creating Latino Access to a Valuable Education (CLAVE), aims to increase the number of graduate degrees awarded to Hispanic-American teachers and administrators by providing scholarships for them to complete master’s and doctoral degrees. By increasing the professional development of teachers and administrators who work in challenging academic environments, creators hope the program will enhance participants’ performance with their students.

The program evaluates the impact of the professional development of its teachers and administrators on the academic achievement of children and students in respective classrooms and schools in the district through pre/post tests.

With a $2.8 million, five-year budget funded by the U.S. Department of Education, CLAVE has provided the college with resources to enhance its mentoring support at the graduate level. Additionally, it has strengthened the college’s available resources in academic quality, student academic support services and technological infrastructure.

 

FLASH

• Program promotes the participation of family in a child’s education
• Creation of program was fueled by influx of immigrants into the United States in 1980

The College of Education has partnered with the nation’s fourth largest school district – Miami-Dade County Public Schools – for 30 years in Families Learning at School and Home (FLASH), an initiative that has touched thousands of families and now serves as a model for the entire country.

The program promotes the participation of linguistically and culturally diverse families in their children’s educational process. Pre- and post-test results show consistent improvement by participating parents in their English skills and show increased school involvement on the part of the parents in parent-teacher conferences, time spent helping their children with homework and involvement at PTA meetings.

While this project is a partnership between the College of Education and 35 Miami-Dade County Public Schools, participation with local businesses and social-service agencies is incorporated to meet the needs of participating families. Examples of community involvement include food contributions from local supermarkets, free books from publishers and discount coupons from retailers and food chains.

The FLASH program has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as an Academic Excellence project and has received funding to disseminate the model across the nation. To date, the program has served more than 3,500 families in more than 50 urban schools throughout the United States.

 

Academy for Advanced Academics

• Partnership with Miami-Dade County Public Schools allows top high school students to take classes at FIU
• Five senior high schools participating
• Students complete up to two full years of college by the time they graduate high school

The Office of Undergraduate Education and Miami-Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) created a partnership that lets top high school students take classes at FIU.

The Academy for Advanced Academics offers an all-day university/high school experience at Modesto A. Maidique Campus for 100 MDCPS students from five senior high schools. The program will grow eventually to 100 juniors and 100 seniors.

Students at the Academy for Advanced Academics take all of their classes at the Modesto A. Maidique Campus and build class schedules based on their academic interests.

In the morning, the high school students attend college classes taught by FIU professors alongside FIU undergraduates. They stay on campus in the afternoon for their Advanced Placement classes – college-level courses taught by high-school teachers.

By the time the teens graduate from high school, they’ll have completed up to two full years of college.

The Academy for Advanced Academics has a counselor on staff and a mentoring program to provide support to students. In this nurturing environment, teachers, counselors and administrators get to know the students well and understand their needs.

Read more about the Academy for Advanced Academics.

 

Principals Leadership Training Program

• Endowment from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation allowed for creation of program to prepare and improve the ability of school leaders to become effective advocates for their students
• Miami-Dade County Public School System looking forward to implementing program as a regular addition to the school system’s leadership initiative
• Participants rave about their experiences

All principals in the Miami-Dade County Public School System are required to take development courses each summer. In 2010, a group of 30 elementary, middle and high school principals were selected to attend the Principals Leadership Development Program (PLDP), a five-day, intensive training created for educators in the nation’s fourth largest school district by FIU’s Center for Leadership.

The program was developed through an endowment from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation for programs that prepare and improve the ability of school leaders to effectively build the positive school culture and climate required to increase teacher retention and improve student achievement in today’s urban schools.

Read more about the Principals Leadership Training Program.

 

Honors College reaches out into Sweetwater

• FIU and City of Sweetwater partnership provides opportunities for resident life enrichment
• The first Honors College-Sweetwater Elementary Artistic Evening showcased art by students from both institutions

Art and music combined beautifully on an April evening last spring as students from the Honors College shared the stage with talented children from Sweetwater Elementary for the first Honors College-Sweetwater Elementary Artistic Evening.

Students from FIU professor Cecile Houry’s leadership class, as well as art and music teachers at Sweetwater Elementary, produced the event at the Jorge Mas Canosa Youth Center located a few minutes away from Modesto A. Maidique Campus. The evening was the result of a partnership between the Honors College and the City of Sweetwater that provides FIU students with an opportunity to engage in a variety of projects to help improve the quality of life for Sweetwater residents.

The event showcased art exhibitions and musical performances from both Honors students and the school’s students, as well as a few words from Sweetwater Mayor Manuel L. Maroño; Janet Olivera, the school’s principal; and Honors College Interim Dean Lesley Northup.

Read more and watch a related video on the Honors College-Sweetwater Elementary Artistic Evening.

 

GEAR UP

• Ongoing program promotes the developing of human potential among disadvantaged and underrepresented South Dade students and families
• Completion of the project is expected to create educational system reform

GEAR UP is a program overseen by the Center for Diversity in Engineering & Computing at the College of Engineering and Computing at FIU. It is designed to increase the personal, academic and emotional development of students and their families in the Homestead and Florida City areas.

GEAR UP, which stands for Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, was established in September 1999 and will conclude in August 2012. It initially created a cohort of students from three middle schools who are in the pipeline to the same high school. Approximately 1,400 students (sophomore or juniors) comprise the cohort at South Dade Senior High School.

The program’s principal objective is to help provide students with the essential skills in science, technology, mathematics, language arts and reading required for a successful post-secondary education and subsequent professional careers.

Read more on the GEAR UP program.

 

ENLACE

• Collaboration with Miami-Dade Public Schools aims to prepare Hispanics for a college education
• The program serves more than 200 local students
• More than 90 percent of participants who are college age are attending college

A collaborative, community-wide partnership, ENLACE (Engaging Latino Communities for Education) focuses on increasing the representation of Hispanics in the higher education pipeline. The program targets Hispanic students in grades K-12 from local schools, including Charles R. Hadley, Coral Park, E.W.F Stirrup, Kendale, and Sweetwater Elementary.

To prepare children and youth to pursue a college degree, ENLACE applies a multidisciplinary approach. Students participate in a reading intervention program using READ 180 software with school site computers and small group reading instruction by a M-DCPS certified teacher and a university student tutor. Ninety-nine percent of participants have passed the FCAT.

The Fit Kids Youth Strength Conditioning program provides comprehensive fitness activities such as strength training, sports games and nutritional education.

Students also participate in the Tiger Woods Foundation: Start Something Social Skills Curriculum that to improve self-esteem and attitudes toward school and achievement. Parents are brought into the fold in monthly informational meetings held at FIU.

 

Environment

Everglades Restoration

• Helping to create more effective environmental management and restoration/rehabilitation programs
• Outreach program involves more than 500 students in K-12

The Florida Coastal Everglades (FCE) Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Program is part of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network. The FCE-LTER Program, which was created in 2000, is based at FIU and includes 72 senior scientists and 59 students from the university. These researchers work with 31 institutions, including state agencies, non-government organizations, federal agencies and private companies.

The team studies how hydrology, climate and human activities affect ecosystem patterns in the regions where freshwater and saltwater mix in the Florida Coastal Everglades. The FCE-LTER team links FCE science with Everglades restoration, contributing to the development of more effective environmental management and restoration/rehabilitation programs.

Participating faculty created a robust educational outreach program. Their coastal education program “Coastlines,” for K-12 students and undergraduate and teacher mentoring, supports four Miami-Dade County teachers who outreach to more than 500 K-12 students with a fully developed science curriculum focused on the Everglades. The effort also fully engages eight high school students in field and laboratory experiences at FIU.

The NSF recently awarded the FCE-LTER $300,000 to develop a program of long-term research in urban Miami. The project involves determining how the urban area of Miami and its socio-economic drivers will interact in the presence of global climate change (sea level rise, loss of freshwater resources).
Florida Coastal Everglades (FCE) is part of a larger national LTER of more than 1,800 scientists and students from 26 different sites across the United States. In May 2010 it was included in the National Science Foundation’s “60 Sensational Milestones”.

 

Mangrove Restoration Project

• Joining forces with a neighboring high school to boost South Florida’s imperiled ecosystem
•   Replanting 1,200 mangrove propagules in state’s largest urban park
• Next up: a similar project with Miami-Dade County’s Department of Environmental Resources Management

A year-long mangrove restoration project being led by FIU’s Biscayne Bay Campus is joining faculty and students from the university and a neighboring high school with officials from the state’s largest urban park in a win-win collaboration that is equal parts education, research and community outreach.

Read more and check out a related video about the mangrove restoration.

 

Agroecology Workshop for High School Teachers

• Educating teachers in agroecology and sustainable agriculture
• Cultivate an understanding and appreciation of the earth in South Florida students

In 2006, FIU’s Agroecology Program received a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture to begin conducting a biennial workshop for teachers to learn about agroecology ideas and techniques that could be implemented at their own schools.
The workshop has grown from 13 participants in 2006 to 23 in 2010, and welcomes teachers from public, private and charter schools across the county. Participants attend in-house guest lectures and take tours to various community gardens, the highlight being a student-led tour of the FIU Organic Garden. 
In July 2010, FIU Agroecology students took teachers throughout the garden and explained various experiments and techniques being implemented. Participants asked questions and took back new concepts and initiatives that would help introduce agroecology to their students and establish a pipeline between the schools and the university.

Read more and check out a related video about the agroecology workshop.    

 

FIU and the Solar Decathlon 2011

• Team FIU is one of 20 invited to participate in the event in Washington, D.C.
• The competition challenges teams to design, build and operate solar-powered houses that are affordable, energy efficient and attractive

Team FIU – a group of FIU architects, landscape architects, interior designers, civil/environmental engineers, mechanical engineers, construction managers and journalists – will participate in the Solar Decathlon 2011 competition in Washington, D.C.
The U.S. Department of Energy has challenged 20 collegiate teams to design, build and operate solar-powered houses that are affordable, energy efficient and attractive. The team that wins the competition will best blend cost effectiveness, consumer appeal and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency.
FIU’s submission, PerFORM[D]ance, is a solar-powered house that performs in real time by sensing and responding to the generation and acquisition of energy “dances” in response to the external conditions of its environment and the internal conditions of its use.

Read more about FIU’s PerFORM[D]ance entry in the Solar Decathlon 2011.

 

Looking to the Stars

• FIU professor James Webb is the director of SARA-North, a shared-telescope program that gives universities access to the stars
• Webb hosts on-campus Star Parties for the local community

Astronomy professor James Webb is the director the Southeastern Association for Research in Astronomy- (SARA) North, which “studies interesting objects that cannot be seen from northern hemisphere observatories, including the galactic center.”
SARA, a consortium of 10 universities in the United States and Chile, recently launched a refurbished, automated telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory on a remote peak in the Andes Mountains of Chile. Christened SARA-South, the new telescope allows SARA astronomers to explore parts of the sky that are not visible from telescopes in the United States. Since 1993, the consortium has operated SARA-North, a telescope located at Kitt Peak National Observatory in Arizona. Each SARA institution is entitled to three nights a month on the telescope, which affords the FIU and South Florida physics communities unprecedented access.
Closer to home, every semester Webb hosts on-campus programs that are free and open to the public These Star Parties are held once a month and serve as an opportunity for astronomy enthusiasts to gather, enjoy light drinks and snacks, Jimmy Buffett music (which Webb performs) and an evening of star-gazing.

Read more on the SARA-North.

 

Oil spill response

• Educating the public about the possible implications of the oil spill in regard to our environment and public policy issues

• Working to characterize the chemical composition of the oil to track its movements
• Studying the effects of oil on the South Florida ecosystem

The BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico continues to travel closer to Florida’s coastline and could have devastating environmental, economic and public health consequences for coastal states. FIU scientists, environmentalists and scholars mobilized immediately after the spill to help officials face these major challenges and minimize the spill’s impact on rich, diverse habitats where many imperiled birds and animals live.

The university planned a multi-pronged response, including a public education initiative. FIU held teach-in, organized by the School of Environment, Arts and Society (SEAS), to bring together a panel of experts from across the university who could provide an overview of the causes of the spill and its potential impact on the habitats and wildlife of South Florida.

FIU scientists are working with the Southeast Coastal Ocean Observing Regional Association and Florida’s Oil Spill Academic Task Force to coordinate responses of Florida’s universities and ensure that the best experts in the state are brought to bear on the issue. Researchers in SEAS are working to characterize the chemical composition of the oil to track its movements, studying the effects of oil and dispersants on organisms and surveying the ecosystems of South Florida.

An array of faculty members with relevant expertise from FIU academic units and centers – the Southeast Environmental Research Center, SEAS, the Department of Earth and Environment, the Department of Chemistry, the Department of Biological Sciences, the College of Engineering, and the College of Business – serve as media experts and speak about various issues related to the oil spill.

Read more about FIU’s response to the oil spill.

 

Health

FOREIGN-EDUCATED PHYSICIAN TO NURSING PROGRAM

1. Educating under-employed, foreign-educated physicians into RNs
2. More than 470 graduates providing health care to culturally diverse patients

In 2001, FIU’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences established the Foreign Educated Physician to Nursing Program (FEP-BSN), a specialized, five-semester curriculum that transforms foreign-educated doctors into nurses in the United States.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projected that by 2014, there would be a shortage of 1.6 million registered nurses throughout the country. Working with health care leaders in the community to ameliorate this critical shortage, FIU’s College of Nursing and Health Sciences created this unique solution to the nursing shortage in South Florida.
Today the program has educated more than 445 professional nursing graduates, half of whom have graduated from or are now students in graduate nursing programs to become Advanced Practice Nurses. Ninety-one percent of the program’s students are recent immigrants who were unemployed or under-employed.
FEP-BSN is the first program of its kind in the nation. It received an award from the U.S. Department of Labor in 2006 as a 21st Century Innovation and received a Florida Board of Nursing Commendation in 2009.
Through live videoconferencing, the program was expanded to the Tampa Bay area in January 2007, with the first students graduating in August 2008.

 

CRUSADA

• Dedicated to eliminating health disparities in substance abuse and HIV/AIDS that affect Latino minorities in the United States
• Partnering with treatment agencies, law enforcement agencies and Miami-Dade County Health Department
• Developing community outreach programs

The Center for Research on U.S. Latino AIDS/HIV and Drug Abuse (CRUSADA) conducts multi-disciplinary research, education and community outreach in its efforts to eliminate health disparities in substance abuse and HIV/AIDS that affect the Latino minorities in the United States.

The center addresses the many origins of substance abuse with an interdisciplinary approach, bringing together researchers from a variety of disciplines such as social work, public health, nursing, criminal justice, health services administration, psychology, sociology/anthropology, and public administration. These researchers partner with substance abuse and HIV/AIDS treatment agencies, law enforcement agencies and the Miami-Dade Health Department, among other entities.

CRUSADA works with interested community groups to develop community outreach programs in Latino communities. Partners include the Miami-Dade County Health Department and Spectrum Programs, a major provider of substance abuse and mental health treatment services in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. 

A two-year American Recovery and Reinvestment Act supplement from the National Institutes of Health is helping CRUSADA establish a community-based participatory-based research (CBPR) education program targeting migrant workers. With the grant CRUSADA hopes to create a network of lay health advisors to address HIV testing and prevention among Hispanic migrant workers in South Florida and create a permanent research facility in the community.

 

Grow Our Own Nurse Faculty

• Initiative trains nursing students to become nursing faculty
• Participants who meet criteria are eligible for generous loan forgiveness program

In response to the critical shortage of nursing faculty, FIU has teamed with Miami-Dade College (MDC), Broward College (BC) and the Health Foundation of South Florida to create a program, Grow Our Own Nurse Faculty (GOONF), that is putting trained nursing faculty in the classrooms.

GOONF trains graduate nursing students to become nursing faculty at MDC and BC for at least two years after graduation. Since its inception in 2006, the program has produced 22 graduates. Currently, it includes 91 students.  

This program has enabled FIU to increase enrollment and graduation in the Nurse Practitioner track and fostered the creation and implementation of the Culturally Competent Nurse Educator program and post-MSN certificates.

Through the Nurse Faculty Loan Program Grant, students who become faculty and teach for four years have 85 percent of their loans forgiven.

 

Dance Marathon

• 25-hour event raises funds for the Miami Children’s Hospital Foundation and Children’s Miracle Network
• More than 160 dancers and 20 teams participated in 2010 event

Students, faculty/staff, alumni, friends and family stay on their feet for 25 hours as part of Dance Marathon to raise funds for children whose families can’t pay for their medical treatment. Dance Marathon has raised more than $600,000 since it was established at FIU in 1998. Today it is the university’s largest student-run philanthropic effort.

Students who participate work year-round to put on the initiative. Not only do they plan meticulously for the actual event, they plan and execute fundraisers throughout the year, with those proceeds going toward the Dance Marathon total. The 2010 event raised $160,000 – a record.

Read more and check out a related video about Dance Marathon.

 

NeighborhoodHELP™

• College of Medicine program takes students into their community to make a difference in uninsured and underinsured residents’ lives
•   Teams of students will collaborate patients’ health care providers to implement and refine care plans

NeighborhoodHELP™ is an innovative program from the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine in which FIU medical students work with medically underserved families.

A core, real-learning component of the college’s curriculum, NeighborhoodHELP™ (Health Education Learning Program), sends interdisciplinary teams of FIU students into local communities of need to track and monitor the families’ health throughout the students’ education. Each team works with one-two households for six weeks and includes a medical student and his or her counterpart in social work, nursing and public health. Eventually, the teams will also include students studying business and law.

Survey takers visited 2,200 homes in Miami Gardens, Opa Locka and unincorporated North Miami-Dade, the areas where medical students are assigned families as part of the program.

Read more on NeighborhoodHELP™.

 

School of Hospitality, Common Threads partner
to provide healthy-foods education

• A new 12-week after-school program teaches elementary school kids how to cook healthy, international cuisine
• The program is a partnership between FIU and a non-profit organization founded by Art Smith, Oprah’s former personal chef

In the fall of 2009, 32 bright, energetic students from W.J. Bryan Elementary and North Miami Elementary learned how to cook in the kitchen of the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Biscayne Bay Campus under the watchful eye of FIU students and alumni and Miami chef Michelle Bernstein.

The kids learned about teamwork and the ins and outs of the kitchen, as well as how to prepare healthy meals and about the culture of the country of the week. They were involved in every step from the prep work to the cleanup. Every week, they capped their time at FIU with a review of the day’s lesson and a hearty meal they prepared themselves.

The elementary school teachers were “impressed by how good the FIU students [were] with the kids” and said the program was a great experience for them.

Read more and watch a related video on the Hospitality/Common Threads partnership.

 

FIU Relay for Life

• Overnight event has raised $380,000 for the American Cancer Society
• FIU’s Relay for Life is one of the biggest university relays in the country

Teams of students, faculty/staff, alumni, friends and family come together for an overnight celebration of life and hope that one day a cure for cancer will be discovered. The 2010 Relay for Life event raised $65,000 for the American Cancer Society. Counting this year’s efforts, the FIU event has raised $380,000 for the organization.

Cancer survivors are among the hundreds participants. “It’s mind boggling that so many people are here. Events like this give people like me hope that others will never have to go through the monster that is cancer,” said Marrero-Vega, who finished her last chemotherapy treatment Dec. 23, 2009. “Cancer takes everything away from you that defines you. You have to find yourself again, push forward and be as strong as you can be because if not, it will kill you.”

The event opens with a “survivor lap,” as cancer survivors walk around the Palm Avenue loop at the 8th Street entrance to Modesto A. Maidique Campus. A “luminaria ceremony” honors those who have lost their lives to cancer. They light candles in paper bags labeled with the names of loved ones no longer here.

Read more and check out a related video about Relay for Life.

 

Law

College of Law Community Service Programs

• Law students provide essential legal services to the underserved residents in South Florida
• Each year, students provide an average of 5,000 hours of uncompensated community service

Since 2003, more than 600 College of Law (COL) students have participated in the college’s Community Service Program. COL students work with more than 30 non-profit, public interest and governmental agencies, including legal aid/legal services societies, children’s advocacy agencies, immigrant advocacy and protection groups, public defenders, homeless advocacy groups and family law advocacy groups.

The program is comprised of several FIU legal clinics – Carlos A. Costa Immigration and Human Rights Clinic, Education Law Clinic, Community Development Clinic, Juvenile Justice Clinic, and Immigrant Children’s Justice Clinic – as well as two externship clinics, the Criminal Externship and the Judicial Clinic.

The synergy between these clinics and COL’s community partners allows the students to provide essential legal services to South Florida’s underserved residents and to fill gaps in existing networks of low-income legal providers. Through these interactions, our students are learning to become effective, ethical advocates and building the foundation for continued growth and involvement with the community after law school graduation.

 

Improving Diversity in the Legal Profession

• Collaboration with Hispanic National Bar Foundation aims to better educate and encourage students from diverse communities to consider law school and legal careers
• College of Law has largest percentage of Hispanic students of any law school in the country

Minority law student numbers are declining, but a new program in the College of Law seeks to reverse that trend. Project Access aims to provide further opportunity to minority and other traditionally underrepresented students in the field of law. The initiative aims to attract high school, college and law students from diverse communities to the legal profession by matching students with mentoring attorneys and judges and helping them explore the admissions procedures and requirements for college and law school and the real world of work as a lawyer.

FIU’s College of Law, a major-minority institution like the university, has the largest percentage of Hispanic students of any law school in the United States.

Read more about Project Access.

 

TPS for Haitians

• Law students help undocumented Haitians fill out proper paperwork for temporary protected status
• The FIU law clinic provided logistical support for visiting students who volunteered during spring break, including translator, training and coordination

Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, FIU’s College of Law partnered with two South Florida non-profit organizations to provide legal assistance to Haitians looking to file for temporary protected status (TPS).

Catholic Legal Services and the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center organized clinics—and FIU provided law students, faculty, staff and alumni–to help undocumented Haitians fill out the proper paperwork that would allow them to legally live and work in the United States on a temporary basis.

FIU Immigration Clinic offers training sessions for law students and faculty interested in helping Haitians fill out the TPS form. Volunteers are then sent to Catholic Legal Services, where they help review applications and ensure they have been filled out correctly before being filed with immigration authorities.

“The service we are providing here will help thousands of Haitians work for decent wages and begin the process of helping their family back in Haiti recover from this terrible disaster,” said Thomas Juliano, a third year FIU law student who has helped lead the law school’s training sessions.

Read more and check out a related video about TPS for Haitians.

 

Social Issues

South Florida News Service & Liberty City Link

• Forging innovations in journalism education
• Filling a critical need in local newsrooms
• Offering students real-world multi-media reporting opportunities

The School of Journalism and Mass Communication (SJMC) created a media partnership with local daily newspapers The Miami Herald, The South Florida Sun-Sentinel and The Palm Beach Post called the South Florida News Service (SFNS). Extreme personnel cuts in the newspapers' newsrooms had led these three fiercely competitive papers to start a content-sharing program in 2008. FIU's journalism school joined in partnership with the three papers in January 2009.

In its first four semesters of operation, students wrote and published approximately 135 stories for the newspapers and produced nearly two dozen print/video packages. In summer 2010, the SFNS started contributing stories in Spanish to the Spanish-language editions of the papers (El Sentinel and El Nuevo Herald).

Students gather information and write their articles while engaging in a direct back-and-forth with SJMC faculty and editors at the three papers. They receive $50 for their articles and up to $100 per video. Funding comes from a $30,000 McCormick Foundation grant and $10,000 contribution from each of the newspapers.  

SJMC subsequently launched the Liberty City Link, a media partnership between the school and The South Florida Times, the largest African-American newspaper in South Florida. Through this partnership, students now cover Liberty City, producing articles on a dedicated SJMC page within the newspaper.

 

FIU’s Infant Development Lab

• FIU professor Lorraine Bahrick’s research explores how babies learn and what they can understand
• More than 1,200 babies have participated in the lab’s studies since 1983

Since 1983, psychology professor Lorraine Bahrick, the director of the FIU Infant Development Lab, has conducted research that has helped parents understand the world and the minds of their infants.

Thanks to continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health, Bahrick has spent the last 30 years researching how babies learn to perceive and organize the world around them. In 2008, the lab expanded its research agenda to explore the development of autistic children, aiming to find better methods of diagnosing the social- and communications-skills-impairing developmental disorder.

The Infant Development Lab provides parents with insights and advice. To date, more than 1,200 babies have participated in the lab’s studies.

 

Martin Luther King, Jr. Annual Commemorative Celebration

• An FIU tradition for more 19 years
• A series of programs encompass the ideals and vision of Martin Luther King, Jr.
• Proceeds from the breakfast go to student scholarships

FIU’s Office of Multicultural Programs and Services commemorates the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. every year with a weeklong celebration inspired by King’s life and work. The program includes a Youth Forum, Peace Walk, Day of Service, Dinner and Movie night.

The MLK Commemorative Celebration is one of the most anticipated annual FIU events on campus, with more than 3,000 people participating during five days of events. One of the highlights is the traditional MLK commemorative breakfast.

Hundreds of guests – students, faculty/staff, alumni and community leaders - attend the breakfast. A community leader is invited to address the year’s theme. Michael Eric Dyson, one of the nation’s most influential and renowned public intellectuals, served as keynote speaker in 2010.

Proceeds from the event go toward the MLK Essay Awards. FIU freshmen have the opportunity to submit an essay with King serving as the inspiration, and compete for three prizes. The first place winner receives a $2,000 tuition scholarship; the second place winner receives a $1000 scholarship; and the third place winner a $500 scholarship to FIU.

Read more and check out a related video about the MLK breakfast.