Are virtual schools the next big change coming to education? It just might be…
The technology advances we have made recently with Internet access and rich multi-media capabilities are making virtual learning more an more accessible. Students can interact with the materials in ways that was not feasable even a few years ago. It is not unual for students to have only an on-line version of there text book with video and on-line tests for immediate feedback.
Now virtual schools are starting to take off meeting the needs of rural communites, communites that can not afford to offer advanced course. Stay Tuned….
I just learned about a a fairly drastic measure taken by the State Education Commissioner to fix one of the most poorly performing schools in Rhode Island. The Commissioner had 3 options at her disposal to address the issues at Central Falls: school closure, take over by a charter or school-management organization, transformation such as longer school hours, or “turnaround”. the Commissioner work for transformation changes first, but when she could not get agreement she executed the ”turnaround” option, which is the firing of all teachers and the ability to re-hire at most 50% of the staff. Fairly drastic move, but maybe this is what is needed????
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….
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.
Looking forward to seeing the whole family at Thanksgiving. Special guests all the way from key west: Dr. Jill Landesberg-Boyle and her family. See ya soon!
Some links on the work my sister-in-law Jill Landesberg-Boyle has done for the Florida Keys Community College.
Nice work Jill!
