FGCU’s new president on changes coming to campus

Even if you’ve never been to the campus, you know Florida Gulf Coast University is growing, if only because it’s in Southwest Florida and everything is growing here, but with a new president, that growth may look different.

Dr. Aysegul Timur, FGCU’s new president, said there is much work to be done.

“We need to grow,” Timur said. “It’s a kind of planning process. I’m not just talking about the business and, you know, employer partnerships. I’m talking about our economic development agency partnerships, chamber of commerce partnerships, so we are getting all these inputs. I’m talking to superintendents, I’m talking to school districts, so we decide what is next all together.”

She is determined to keep graduates in the area and make FGCU essential to Southwest Florida.

“We have a lot of conversations going on, so I cannot tell you just one thing; there will be a lot of things,” Timur said.

Topics under consideration:

• How AI in the classroom will affect students’ curricula
• Critical thinking skills, getting students to “see the big picture”
• Preparing students for the direction of the fast-moving business world

But building more classrooms, even in impressive buildings like the new Water School, is just part of the growth.

“We are talking to our students, faculty, staff here internally but externally, with our employers, legislative members, you know, in terms of the growth of the region, where are the areas that we need to invest?”

Timur gave WINK a glimpse into the future, speaking about the next building to go up.

“The next one is academic building 10. That’s going to be all about expanding our health sciences,” Timur said, “and with our aging population, that’s what I see … how we’re going to respond.”

She admitted the location of the building hasn’t been decided yet, but Timur said a plan for the next phases of FGCU and how it integrates with the community is in the works and should be done in around 90 days.