 STATE SEN. KEN PRUITT ON HAND AS HARBOR BRANCH, FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY ANNOUNCE PARTNERSHIP FORT PIERCE, FLA., Jan. 26 2001 - Calling it a chance "to keep the best and brightest young minds on the Treasure Coast", State Senator Ken Pruitt will be on hand as Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution and Florida Atlantic University formalize their partnership in Marine Science education during a news conference on Monday, Jan. 29th, at 11am on the Harbor Branch campus. FAU and Harbor Branch are already testing the feasibility of the program with the "Semester by the Sea" initiative, a one-semester pilot program designed for undergraduates, offering four courses and 15 college credits with the emphasis on marine science. The Semester by the Sea program began January 8th with 12 students already enrolled and it's hoped the program will be expanded to include "Summer by the Sea" during the summer of 2002. Eventually, the program could expand to the "2-plus-2" concept, in which a student would attend classes at a junior college for two years, then transfer to Harbor Branch for an additional two years of study, eventually obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Marine Science from FAU. Dr. Dennis Hanisak, Director of the Division of Marine Science at Harbor Branch, said "this partnership in education provides an extraordinary combination of scientific talent, institutional capabilities, facilities and location to make it truly unique." FAU officials point out this type of program exists nowhere else in the state. "The opportunities for 'immersion learning' along the Indian River Lagoon and coastal Florida as well as at the beautifully-equipped Harbor Branch campus are unmet anywhere else in Florida," said Dr. Jeanette Wyneken of FAU's Department of Biological Sciences. Dr. John Wiesenfeld, Dean of the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science at FAU, said the initial success of Semester by the Sea "will move us even more toward integrating the work of the faculties of Harbor Branch and Florida Atlantic University to further marine science education and research." Each course is team-taught by Harbor Branch faculty with an interdisciplinary approach. There are two lecture classes and two laboratory classes. Sen. Pruitt, who is Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, said he was excited by the possibilities of the new program. "It continues the dream and expands the vision to provide even more opportunities for our best and brightest minds," Sen. Pruitt said. Dr. Hanisak said the partnership will have a long-term impact on the Treasure Coast. "We foresee in the long term that there would be undergraduate and graduate degree programs that have never before been available on the Treasure Coast, and judging from the response we had in the short time we put together the Semester by the Sea program, there is undeniably a need for this type of academic opportunity," Hanisak said. The news conference begins promptly at 11am, and following brief remarks from invited guests, Harbor Branch and FAU officials will be available for interviews. Students in the Semester by the Sea program will be conducting a lab class in an adjacent room, and will be available for interviews. Media representatives, reporters, photographers and videographers will be invited into the laboratory to take any video or photographs they need as lab work is being done. For more information please call HARBOR BRANCH, Oceanographic Institution, at 772.465.2400. More information on the Semester by the Sea program can be obtained at www.hboi.edu. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution, Inc. is one of the world's leading nonprofit oceanographic research organizations dedicated to the exploration of the earth's oceans, estuaries and coastal regions for the benefit of mankind. |