BOT Report

"Good morning fellow trustees. My name is Kimberly Diaz and I am from Celebration, FL. I am a senior at FGCU pursuing a degree in Communication and will be graduating in the spring.

I would like to take a few minutes to discuss some of the initiatives Student Government has been working on over the past few months.

First of which, being a bill recently passed in student senate for the extension of the hours of operation for the library. This will be the second consecutive year that A&S fees will fund an additional 15 and a half hours for the library, assisting in the facilitation of learning for FGCU students. We are also in conversation to extend Starbucks’ hours during finals week, a time when the library sees an excessive amount of traffic. Another successful initiative being continued this year will be the addition of $2.50 to every registered student’s ID card for printing purposes. It currently costs 5 cents per black and white page printed, and 25 cents for color copies. We feel that this money will be an aid that many students will take advantage of. Although this bill has yet to be passed in senate, we feel strongly that our senators will see the inherent value of such an investment.

We’re also very excited about the renewed sense of Eagle Pride on campus. To help cultivate this school spirit, several initiatives have been implemented including the display of the FGCU Fight Song on campus, the distribution of Eagle car magnets, pennants, and backpacks, and a T-Shirt Exchange Program, in which student’s trade in a shirt from another university for an Eagle athletics shirt.

Next, campus recreation saw the fruition of an SG initiative with the purchase of brand new equipment in the Alico gym. The outdated machines previously occupying the gym were in disrepair and in dire need of replacement. A total of $150,000 from Student Government funded state of the art treadmills and free weights to better accommodate students’ needs.

Although this purchase greatly reduced the strain on the fitness area, it has become increasingly obvious that our campus has outgrown the current facility in terms of sheer space available. The baseball team is now training at LA Fitness, lines to use equipment have become a regular site, and the overall functionality of the gym is all but non-existent. So we have before us the opportunity to fix this problem. For several weeks, we have been in discussion with University Administration on the possible addition of a campus recreation fee to fund the construction of a 50,000 square- foot recreation facility. A facility of this size will cost approximately $10 million, and if we act efficiently, could be operational in a couple years. The next time we meet I hope to present more concrete plans, and a more detailed description of this proposed fee and its affect on students.

Thank you for your time and GO EAGLES!"