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Florida International University (FIU) is an urban, multicampus, doctoral-granting institution located in Miami, Florida's largest population center, with campuses at University Park and North Miami, selected programs offered in Davie and Fort Lauderdale, and off-campus continuing education programs. The mission of this state University is to serve the people of Southeast Florida, the state, the nation and the international community by imparting knowledge through excellent teaching, creating new knowledge through research, and fostering creativity and its expression.
Chartered by the Florida Legislature in 1965, the University opened its doors in 1972 to the largest entering class in United States collegiate history. With strong undergraduate programs centered around a rigorous liberal arts core curriculum, FIU now offers more than 200 baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral degree programs through its many Colleges and Schools: Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Urban and Public Affairs, Education, Engineering and Design, Health, Hospitality Management, Journalism and Mass Communication, and Nursing. The University's increasingly prominent art museum, its libraries, and specialized centers and institutes enhance these programs. The University continues to balance its programs for full- and part-time degree-seeking students and to address the special needs of lifelong learners, traditionally and through distance learning. Campus life fosters a sense of community which provides for the intellectual, aesthetic, social, emotional, physical and moral development of students while providing opportunities for leadership training, awareness of cultural diversity, and a sensitivity to social issues and concerns.
Southeast Florida and FIU are alike in their explosive growth, rich ethnic and cultural diversity, and quest for excellence. FIU is a leading institution in one of the most dynamic, artistically expressive, and cosmopolitan cities in the United States, the gateway for Latin America and the Caribbean. The continued globalization of the world's economic, social and political systems adds to the importance of FIU's mission, and combines with our subtropical environment, and our strategic location to strengthen Southeast Florida's role as an information and transportation center.
From this unique setting we have derived five key strategic themes that guide the University's development: International, Environmental, Urban, Health, and Information. We focus on these themes with a commitment to quality management and cultural diversity. To summarize the University priorities: first, to graduate a well educated, ethnically diverse student body by continuing to enhance our teaching and by broadening our graduate and professional programs; second, to promote research and creative activities by nurturing strategically selected disciplines which contribute to the social, artistic, cultural, economic, environmental and technological foundations for the 21st century; and third, to solve critical health, social, educational, and environmental problems through applied research and service. These strategic themes and priorities guide our pursuit of recognition as one of America's top 25 urban public research universities by the end of this century. (Approved by Florida Board of Regents, September 1993)
2. UNIVERSITY VISION
TOP: Recognized as one of the top 10% of the 250 urban public universities, the top half of the 43 Urban Public Research Universities, and a leading academic institution for programs that emphasize the five academic strategic themes.
PUBLIC: Known for its breadth of academic programs, publicly assisted, and offering affordable tuition. In partnership with local communities, industries, and governments.
URBAN: Addresses metropolitan and community problems. Student body, faculty and staff reflect the diversity of the urban region. Student body is predominantly non-residential and older than students at traditional Universities.
RESEARCH: Faculty recognized as contributing to the invention, reinterpretation or innovative application of knowledge and technique. Annually awards 50 or more doctoral degrees. Obtains more than $20 million in contracts and grants from the federal government focused in the areas of the five academic strategic themes.
UNIVERSITY: "Magistorum et scholarium:" dedicated to teaching and scholarship. Offers a full range of programs from bachelor's to doctorate, with professional schools, and programs for professional development and life-long learning.
The University envisions that in the first years of the 21st century it will be the principal educational, intellectual, and cultural institution in Southeast Florida, serving the people of the region, the state, the nation and the international community by imparting knowledge through excellent teaching, creating new knowledge and solving problems through research, and fostering creativity and its expression in a broad range of disciplines. Future trends are expected to impact upon our attainment of this vision, namely less state support per student, more competition, more accountability and continued student demand and enrollments. Added to these trends are our geographical and historical contexts: Miami and South Florida are in the throes of change. The concept of the university in a post-industrialized society is changing, and the very definition and meaning of knowledge itself is changing. Even though FIU is Miami's public University, and dedication to the local community must be stressed, the rapidly expanding telecommunications technology makes it possible for FIU to be a University without walls, thus capable of reaching distant students throughout the world.
Given our vision, and these external trends, by the Fall of the year 2000, some 250 baccalaureate, master's and doctoral programs will be offered through our many colleges and schools. These programs will address the needs of full- and part-time degree-seeking students and the special needs of lifelong learners, both in the traditional classroom and through distance learning. We will continue to provide strong undergraduate programs centered on a rigorous liberal arts curriculum, while also serving the needs of students in advanced professional and graduate programs. Our libraries, art museum, specialized centers and institutes, and student activities will foster a sense of community by providing for the intellectual, aesthetic, social, emotional, physical and moral development of students while affording opportunities for leadership training, awareness of cultural diversity, and a sensitivity to social issues. Our offices and personnel will be known for their effectiveness, user-friendly services, and humane and fair relations.
By the Fall of 2000, the University will reach 33,500 headcount enrollment, with 1,260 faculty. In that year, 250 baccalaureate, master's and doctoral programs will be offered, and FIU will award 6,000 baccalaureate, 1,250 master's, and 100 doctoral degrees. Grants and contracts will total $60 million annually, and the libraries will contain 1.5 million volumes. On-campus residence halls and apartments will be the home of 2,100 students.
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