EFSC Accomplishments 2016 | Page 33

DR. JIM RICHEY, PRESIDENT | 2012 LEADERSHIP HIGHLIGHTS August 2012 • Led an extensive community-wide and college-wide outreach effort to gather information on perceptions about the College and solicit ideas for a new College name as part of BCC’s transformation into a state college. (Student Enrollment, Public Awareness, Community Relations, Trustee Relations) • Successfully hosted Florida Gov. Rick Scott, Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos and leading state aerospace officials at the Simpkins Center on the Cocoa Campus for a roundtable discussion on Florida’s defense industry. (Public Awareness, Community Relations, Trustee Relations) • Met with Gov. Scott prior to the roundtable to discuss BCC and higher education issues in Florida. (Public Awareness, Trustee Relations) • B  egan a series on major infrastructure improvements to sports facilities that continued throughout the year and included a new basketball court floor, new baseball clubhouse and new soccer field. Also unveiled the new “Mr. Titan” mascot for athletic programs. (Student Enrollment, Financial Management) September 2012 • Successfully hosted a series of six televised candidate forums in partnership with Florida Today that focused on Brevard County races at the Simpkins Center on the Cocoa campus and Palm Bay Campus that draw large audiences. (Public Awareness, Community Relations) • Successfully managed a difficult local, state and national news media story that could have led to extensive negative publicity to the college, with effort continuing into 2013. (Public Awareness, Community Relations) October 2012 • The college received clean audit reports for FY 2011-12 from the State of Florida Auditor General, finding no deficiencies in financial statements, internal control over financial reporting or instances of noncompliance. (Financial Management) •  Chronicle of Higher Education analysis of U.S. colleges and universities showed BCC has the second highest graduation rate in the Florida College System at 44.6 percent, and ranks third in Florida for the number of graduates per Full Time Enrollment (FTE). (Student Enrollment, Public Awareness) •  Chronicle of Higher Education analysis also placed BCC’s graduation rate in the 93rd percentile nationally. (Student Enrollment, Public Awareness) •  Chronicle of Higher Education analysis further showed the number of BCC graduates per FTE is 10 percent higher than at the 27 remaining FCS institutions, and 35 percent higher than the U.S. average for similar two-year public colleges. (Student Enrollment, Public Awareness) • Led initiative that resulted in a 100 percent increase in grant funding this year, an increase of more than $2 million. The initiative is ongoing. (Financial Management)