John's Blog

I was reading the local paper the other day and found an editorial that I’ve always thought, but never seen anyone write about.  The editorial was an argument to reevaluating the number of handicapped parking that should be set aside for shopping centers, workplaces, parks, etc.. The argument voices what I think we all thing as we drive up to our local shopping center and need to park a mile away only see a whole row of parking spaces by the door, unused.  Most people understand the need for handicapped parking and support it, we just want the requirements for what needs to be set aside to be more in line with it’s usage.

The editorial was calling for the government to do a reevaluation and come up with updated requirements….we’ll I’ll second that!

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Have you noticed how we heard very little about the Chilean quake in comparison to Haiti?  Has Chile fallen victim twice, once to the quake and now to tragedy overload?

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At FKCC, Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle needed to increase student enrollment and student retention.   Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle put a number of initiatives in place including a number of student services.

Students now have

• FKCC’s first Student Government Association
• Increasing instructional resources
• A new tutoring center
• New expert faculty with doctoral degrees and scholarly publications
• Improved access to classes
• A new marine technology building in the architectural stage
• Plans for a new Upper Keys Campus
• More robust classrooms with classmates now coming from as far away as California because of the programmatic changes that have been made
• Plans for FKCC’s first residence hall

Dr Jill Landesberg-Boyle is known as the student’s president, now you know why….

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I saw this comment on Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle, posted on the COA site and thought it was telling….

Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle has been an inspiration to a college that had previously been in decline for a number of years. Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle has not only been a change agent but one who has literally transformed this institution from a sleepy backwater school to one that is in the forefront of new and exciting ventures characterized significantly increases in enrollment, new programs, initiatives, buildings and a federal earmark that has brought this school into the big leagues.

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Created my first Google site today.   It took me a little bit to understand how to edit it and I did not find it nearly as intuitive as wordpress, but it much better than website tonight from GoDaddy.   Google does have some nice features that none of the other tools seem to have.  You can create forms that connect to Google docs and there are other formats that allow for featured listings.   I’m going to give Google sites a A-, they just need to work a little more on usability.

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Jill Landesberg-Boyle and Spero Canton

Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle was filmed for the Comcast Newsmakers show with host Spero Canton. Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle shared with Canton and future views the fantastic growth at FKCC and other accomplishments of her presidency.  Top among them is the fact that FKCC was the fastest growing college in Florida at the time of the filming.   Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle’s early strategic initiatives included re-branding, targeted recruitment efforts, crating a center of excellence in the Marine Sciences and solving the housing dilemma for students by building dorms at the main campus.

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Rhonda Linseman-Saunders talks how Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle was railroaded because she demoted the then mayor McPherson’s brother. The major used his influence to get his sister on the board. The major was not reelected, but the damage was already done.

Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle raised over $2 million for the college, instituted green initiatives that saved the college $100,000 a year.  Brought in partnerships with Raytheon, TSA, the Navy and other schools to offer 4 year degrees.  Attracted world class faculty and improved curriculum.  Dr Jill Landesberg-Boylethrough all of these efforts increased enrollment by 20%, last year it was the fastest growing college in the Florida state system.

The result was overwhelming community, student, and faculty support.  Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boylewill be missed by the community, but we are hopeful that the reinvigorated college will persist due to the hard work she put in.

Thank you Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle.

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Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle has participated in green initiatives in the past, such as it’s community action projects aimed at the campus with a focus on the environment.  Dr. Landesberg-Boyle commented “Not only will the public be treated to the benches and pavilion in a natural Florida Keys setting surrounded by natural beauty, it will be a lesson in green living.” 

More recently Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle’s energy saving inititives at FKCC are not only good for the environment, but they are saying the college $100K annually.  Wow!!!  

Dr Jill Landesberg-Boyle’s interest and commitment to conservation is commendable. 

Nice work Dr. Landesberg-Boyle!!

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This comment was taken from an article on Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle.  It speaks to the frustration of the residents on Key West that were seeing their college go from failing to phenomenal success.  Only to see that success threatened by a small group of politically connected individuals seeking to remove Jill from the college.

As a resident of KW and parent to children who were considering attending FKCC, I can tell you that many, many of us feel the departure of Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle is a huge loss. The changes she made at our college were beyond our expectations. But our island has a unique sense of being removed from the rest of the world and horrendous decisions are often made for reasons that have nothing to do with what’s good for our community. That’s what happened with Dr. Landesberg-Boyle and we are in shock. Many were considering actually sending our kids to FKCC–something nobody would seriously consider in the past 30 years–thus the plummeting enrollment. FKCC was a joke until Dr. Landesberg-Boyle came, and she was rewarded by essentially being pushed out by a small but politically powerful and entrenched group of people who resisted the change and the new direction. This happened despite a formal vote of confidence by the faculty and overwhelming student support because of they way she turned FKCC into a student centered environment (what a concept!)and despite the unprecidented flow of money and world class faculty she had somehow attracted to us. I am embarrassed that this happened, but your community may benefit from our loss. Our college was fast becoming something very special.  I hope we can keep up the path she set us on.

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People seemed to respond to the Chair Chat Story, especially the picture.   Here is another great picture of Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyleand her family.  It’s a story in Conch Color celebrating a remarkable 2 years at FKCC.   Key items featured is the enrollment increase of 20% and the new curriculum.  What you may not know is that the new curriculum was a big reason for the enrollment increase, take a look at Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle’s blog post, Recruitment and the Course Schedule.

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Somehow my blog is getting spammed on the comments side.  Most of it is blatant and ugly trying to get link backs to sketchy and sometimes down right offensive products.  However, there are some that are not so blatant, they say things like “You write good articles”, “Like your blog”, etc…   They always include a URL back to a product site or blog site.  

The good news is the spam filter on wordpress is very good and catches all of these.  So, I can just delete them with a click of a button.

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