Office of the President

Hello, Panthers!

I have four words for you: It’s time to shine!

The new academic year is here, and we are so glad to have everyone back. Like me I know you are looking forward to exciting things to come.

It was a great pleasure welcoming our new students as well as our returners over the past several days. As media accounts of our move-in noted, there was an impressive and friendly array of volunteer hands helping everyone get settled in their residence halls and ready for the Fall semester.

It was wonderful to meet so many supportive parents and other family members, as well.

There are lots of new things to see and do this year! One of the biggest, literally, is our new Crimson Crossing residence complex rising out of the ground at the main campus entrance. This 500-plus bed, state-of-the-art facility should be complete in time for next academic year. I am sure everyone is going to love it!

And speaking of campus improvements, have you noticed our beautification project has taken…root? New landscaping, dazzling with its vibrant colors, is in full bloom from one side of Florida Tech to the other, a wonderful addition that all can enjoy.

As we proceed into our first week, here’s a piece of advice for our students: get involved. Find new friends and new interests in student organizations; explore your curiosity with research; participate in athletics and intramurals; or find other opportunities. I promise there are many.

This is not just a great way to expand your social circle and get the most out of your college experience. Engaged students stay in school and earn better grades, studies have found. We want that for you!

So again, welcome back everyone. Let’s make this academic year one for the books! Good luck and I’ll see you around campus.

Go Panthers!

Sincerely,

John Nicklow, Ph.D.
President

Hello, Panthers!

Another amazing academic year is drawing to a close, and we’ve undertaken some tremendous accomplishments—and we still have one or two things on our to-do list.

Among highlights this month, we hosted our SACSCOC reaffirmation on-site review, and the accreditation visit could not have gone better. It was a fantastic visit. We are optimistic about a very favorable outcome.

Also in April, we broke ground on our six-story, 556-bed residence hall at the entrance to the university. This state-of-the-art facility with give Panthers a comfortable, modern living/learning community for many years to come. The groundbreaking was a time of great celebration, and we can’t wait for the complex to be completed later next year.

Our busy April rolls on with the annual Northrop Grumman Engineering and Science Student Design Showcase Friday. I encourage you to stop by the Clemente Center and check out the creativity and ingenuity of our talented students.

And there’s one more milestone celebration in store: Spring Commencement is set for Saturday, May 10.

We’ll award degrees across three ceremonies and are honored to have Florida Tech alumnus and Virgin Galactic executive Mike Moses as our keynote speaker. If you don’t have tickets, dial up the webcast. It’s going to be a stellar day!

Thanks again for making it a great academic year—a reminder that there’s nothing we cannot accomplish, together.

We’ll talk again soon. Until then, go Panthers!

Sincerely,

John Nicklow, Ph.D.
President

Hello, Panthers!

I want to highlight for you a critical program that is helping our students reach their maximum potential.

Why? Because I’d like for everyone to familiarize themselves with our Quality Enhancement Plan. The QEP reflects Florida Tech’s continuous improvement efforts and is part of SACSCOC accreditation.

Titled “Steps to Success Through Transformative Advising,” our QEP follows best practices in student success by shifting the undergraduate advising model from faculty advisors to professional staff advisors.

The QEP formally launched in Fall 2024, and we have seen many advantages the change in advising models has spurred. Among them:

• Professional staff advisors can offer more consistent and dedicated time to students, while faculty advisors need to balance teaching, research, and service commitments.
• Professional staff advisors will get specialized training in advising and academic coaching that faculty advisors may not.
• Having the consistent presence of a single advisor throughout a student’s academic career can help build stronger relationships and provide better continuity of care, leading to more successful academic outcomes.

We’re hiring and training additional professional staff advisors to bolster this program and enhancing the functionality of HUB and Canvas to give all advisors access to more data to better advise students.

We are also expanding Florida Tech’s early alert system to sooner identify students who may be struggling.

And look for the development of a new, dedicated Student Advising Center coming to Evans Library in Fall 2025!

The “Steps to Success” QEP will help ensure our students have the tools they need to realize their educational aspirations. It’s a great “step” into a fantastic future!

We’ll talk again soon. Until then, go Panthers!

Sincerely,

John Nicklow, Ph.D.
President