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.
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.
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!!
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.
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.
Now here is something to blog about, FKCC is going to share in 2.24 million of a special appropriation for Instrumented Underwater Training Systems (IUTS). Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle worked with a team of people on this project: Bill Chalfant, Dive and Aquatics Director at FKCC, Dr. Patrick Rice, and Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Landesberg-Boyle credits the strong leadership and dedication of Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen in the success obtaining funding for this very important Defense Appropriations Bill.
This is a very big deal for FKCC and really highlights the special talent and skills that FKCC dive’s program has. To quote Bill Chalfant, “It’s an unprecedented amount for a small community college”.
Read more about this on Dr. Landesberg-Boyle’s Blog.
Quote from William B. Chalfant, Director, School of Diving, Florida Keys Community College:
“Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle was instrumental in establishing the School of Diving by facilitating a one million dollar private donation to this department. In addition, Dr. Landesberg-Boyle’s legislative efforts though her relationship with Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen have produced a Department of Defense appropriation of 2.8 million dollars and an additional $200,000 appropriation of a hyperbaric facility upgrade.”
