FGCU opts for internship metric as its Performance-Based Funding choice; trustee raises scoring concerns

Provost Debbie Thorne and President Aysegul Timur recommended that FGCU select as its Performance-Based Funding (PBF) metric #10 the percentage of bachelor's degree recipients who participated in an internship, saying the choice aligns with FGCU's emphasis on experiential and work-based learning. "FGCU's distinction was experiential learning, work-based learning and high-impact practices," President Timur said, arguing the internship metric reflected institutional priorities.

Trustee Joseph Fogg pressed administration on whether the internship metric gave FGCU as much chance to score maximum PBF points as an alternative metric based on professional licensure and certification exam pass rates (for which FGCU's Nursing program recently posted a 100 percent pass rate). Provost Thorne acknowledged concerns about "layup metrics" and said the internship metric uses the prior year as a baseline with incremental improvements needed to increase scores; she also said the metric was chosen because it could broadly impact students across many programs. Trustee Derek Lura supported the internship selection as consistent with an improvement-focused PBF model. After discussion Trustee Lura moved, Trustee Gianna Ihuoma seconded, and the Committee voted unanimously to recommend the internship metric to the full Board; Trustee Fogg recorded that he was "not happy with the discussion" and sought further discussion at the Board meeting.