MELBOURNE, FLA. — Florida Tech President John Nicklow told hundreds of faculty and staff gathered for his fall State of the University address that the Office of Sponsored Research, a critical hub for university research, will benefit from a series of new programs, tools and leadership.
Research expenditures at Florida Tech have hovered around $15 million annually for the past three years. Strengthening the research office is expected to help grow that bottom line.
Hamid Rassoul will serve as senior associate provost for research and direct the research office, Nicklow said at his address, his third State of the University presentation since starting as president in July 2023. A renowned expert in lightning, Rassoul is Distinguished University Professor in physics and space sciences and is past dean of Florida Tech’s College of Science.
Rassoul will have a host of new programs, information and improvements to work with, Nicklow said. Those enhancements target both the mechanics of office operations and its personnel:
- Benchmarking with peer and aspirational institutions and conducting reciprocal visits with other university research offices. This will help identify best practices for process improvements at Florida Tech.
- Streamlining submission and proposal processes to improve efficiency and reduce response times. The cornerstone of this effort is a $200,000 research administration system that helps alleviate the burden of time-consuming proposal preparation and electronic submission on faculty and staff over the course of the research project.
- Adding new development programs for research office staff and prioritizing salary adjustments, training, professional growth opportunities and more.
- Improving communication protocols and establishing regular updates for university leadership on submitted research proposals and awarded grants.
- Promoting transparency and data-driven decision-making to guide strategic choices on sustainable research initiatives.
“We’re headed in the right direction with these enhancements and look forward to growing our research,” Nicklow said. “Onward and upward!”
Other topics addressed at the State of the University presentation:
Enrollment: Fall 2024 total enrollment of 9,863 is up 2.1%, or 207 students, from fall 2023, Nicklow said. The record number of First Time in College (FTIC) students rose to 957 from 914 in fall 2023, an increase of nearly 5%. “This bucks the national trend,” Nicklow said, which show first-year undergraduate enrollment is down by more than 5% nationally.
President’s Ambassadors: Nicklow launched a President’s Ambassadors program during his first year to provide participating students with unique, leadership-building experiences, and he announced at his address the first cohort of 15 ambassadors. Many were on site for the address, assisting guests. “These students are leaders among leaders,” Nicklow said. They were selected for this one-year experience from 63 qualified applicants because of their “leadership experience, dedication to Florida Tech, passion for promoting change, desire to learn and grow, campus experiences and involvement, and ability to mentor or inspire others,” he said.
A few quick hits from the address:
>> The university endowment is up 20% year-over-year to $112 million. Growing it remains a top priority, Nicklow said.
>> Work on the master plan continues. Collaborating with an outside firm, Florida Tech has completed four town halls that generated input from well over 100 students, faculty and staff. The community input process is nearly completed, and the project is scheduled to wrap up in early Spring.
>> Nicklow has approved a Space Utilization Committee to develop policies on and review requests for space on campus, the first time such a committee has been utilized. “We are aligning decisions with our strategic planning and future master plan,” he said.
