Growing at the Speed of Flight
When Space Shuttle Atlantis touched down at Kennedy Space Center for the last time, many across the world believed they were witnessing the end of an era. Locally it was more than the potential loss of American aerospace leadership, but a diminishment in the role of east central Florida serving as the world’s premiere spaceport and a strategic location for continued exploration and development. Would Florida lose a vital industry? Would the country lose its strategic edge?
With the American government setting a new course for NASA, Florida working to remain relevant as a leader in aeronautics, private enterprise around the world launching a commercial billion dollar space industry and China’s newly crowned superpower status reaching for the stars – we stand at a critical crossroad in global aerospace history. As we watch it unfold, it’s likely that future history will be imagined, designed and engineered by a graduate of Daytona Beach based Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU).
Recognized as the world’s largest, fully accredited institution specializing in aviation and aerospace, the university has earned international respect and access to the highest levels of governments around the planet. The U.S. News & World Report has consistently ranked their undergraduate aerospace engineering program #1 in the nation for 12 years, complimenting more than 40 baccalaureate, master’s, and Ph.D. degree programs available. To date, over 100,000 alumni have been educated, one-third of NASA’s active astronauts are graduates, 20% of the nation’s professional airline pilots were educated here and as you read this, astronaut and alum Daniel C. Burbank is floating 220 miles above the earth completing a six month mission at the International Space Station. Even though ERAU is in our back yard, many are unaware of the university’s reach. “I’m going to get t-shirts made and they are going to say – WOW, I had no idea! That’s what I hear over and over again,” Johnson said.
The list of achievements, celebrated research and technological advancements connected to ERAU has already established the university’s prestigious international legacy. However its leadership sees its most compelling projects and global contributions in the decades ahead. With President Obama and NASA administration announcing their intent to help make the I-4 corridor into the “Silicon Valley of Space”, President Dr. John Johnson and the ERAU Board of Trustees have embarked on an aggressive strategic growth program that will not only propel the institution, it could provide the economic fuel our local economy and the State of Florida need.
More than 35,000 students are enrolled across residential campuses here, in Prescott, Arizona and through their innovative Worldwide Campus program, which offers more than 150 locations in the United States, Europe, Asia, Canada, and the Middle East. In 2011, modest increases in local enrollment were over shadowed by the launch of programs in Singapore, which according to Johnson are already operating at capacity. In October, agreements were signed with the University of Shanghai and Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics-Jincheng College in China, creating collaborative degree programs where top students will come to Daytona Beach to complete their studies with a bachelor degree from their home university and a Master of Science from ERAU.
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With their global stature at an all-time peak, the university is poised to bring the brightest young people from across the world to our area. Taking their world headquarters to the next level, a massive $178 million construction program is transforming the 185-acre campus into one of the most advanced education centers in the country. “We are continuing to expand both the size and quality of the facilities at the at our Daytona Beach campus. We have outstanding students and we want our facilities to match their quality,” Johnson said.
The new facilities include the already opened 2007 addition of state-of-the art Apollo Hall housing, the College of Business building and a seven building cluster that makes up the James Hagedorn Aviation Complex, adding 99,500 square-feet of instructional and operational space. Set to open next month, The Jim W. Henderson Administration and Welcome Center will serve as the centerpiece to the Daytona Beach campus. “We have been wanting to do community events here on campus for a long time, we feel that this new building will allow us to do that,” Johnson said. Designed as a space for the community, it will house a large banquet facility with moveable walls that can create smaller rooms for academic or other uses, an atrium for gatherings and display, an information desk, a board room, as well as centralize the administrative offices.
On schedule to begin construction in March is the new 140,000 square-foot College of Arts and Sciences, designed by renowned architect Leo A. Daly, which will be the largest building on the campus. With plans already completed, the $39 million 4-story facility will bring together the departments of humanities and social sciences, mathematics, and physical sciences under one roof. One of the most exciting components of this new facility is a plan to build the largest telescope in Florida, which according to Johnson will “dwarf any other in the state” and serve as a draw for the astronomy major being launched at the new college.
Additionally, plans for a new 80,000 square-foot $20 million student center are in the works and scheduled for construction in 2014 as well as a new Student Union which is slated to be completed in 2015. Featuring over 100,000 square-feet of space, it is designed to enhance student dining, entertainment and recreational programs. Expressing a desire to enhance the experience for students, Johnson believes the facilities will end the “Riddle run around” caused by current campus configurations.
With what seems to be an endless construction program of world-class facilities cleared for take-off, Johnson is quick to point out that the funding to make this vision a reality is not based on high levels of tax dollar dependency, but rather strong fiscal conservative policies. “We have always been very good stewards of budgets, as a non-profit organization we work and come to an agreement with our board of trustees to produce a certain margin at the end of each year. Over the time that I have been here, we have systematically increased that margin and the cash reserve has grown steadily.” he said. With private and corporate contributions adding to the bottom line, the entire construction plan is being funded with cash reserves. “We don’t take out credit lines, we don’t sell bonds – we handle it with cash on hand and that’s a nice position to be in.” Through their strong fiscal management, ERAU now stands as one of five universities in the entire country that has actually had their bond rating increased as the economy recovers from the recent recession.
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A key component in their growth has been the university’s capacity to leverage partnerships with governments and corporations from across the world. They are the lead partner with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the development of NextGen, a comprehensive overhaul of the aging National Airspace System to make air travel more convenient, dependable and safe. The evolution from a ground based air traffic system to a satellite based system is one that will increase efficiency, reduce delays, lower fuel consumption and reduce carbon emission by allowing aircraft and traffic patterns to flow more effectively. “We are developing it as a model here at Daytona; it will eventually be adopted nationwide,” Johnson explains. With $3 billion already invested by the US Government in more than two dozen projects that make up NextGen, it is one of the most important aerospace advancements of our time and being developed in our community.
Emerging as a leader in research and with a third PHD program in Aerospace be launched in the fall of 2013, ERAU has embarked on one of the most important initiatives for both the university and our community. In negotiations with Volusia County for an additional 65 acres adjacent to the airport, the university wants to begin infrastructure work on the Embry-Riddle Aerospace Research and Technology Park on 90-acres north of the campus. “Our research has increased substantially, we are becoming the place where the aerospace industry turns for solutions to real world problems,” Johnson said. With a $4.5 million grant in Governor Rick Scott’s budget and support from local legislators, the research park is one of the region’s most important groundbreaking initiatives with the potential to reinvent Volusia County as a high-tech hub, launch an entirely new economic engine and cement Florida’s future as the leader in aerospace innovation. “I’m excited to come to work every day. We have so many projects going on,” Johnson said.
As the university continues to grow physically, it is also taking an active role in ensuring student success by addressing the financial burdens of higher education. At a recent closed door meeting of college presidents and university chancellors, Johnson was invited by President Obama to participate in a candid conversation about how higher education can remove barriers “to college access, affordability, and success for students,” as the official invitation stated. Johnson, who has close ties and direct access to the White House, said simply that at the meeting, “things went well.”
ERAU sets aside $42 million from its revenue stream for institutionally funded student scholarships. Additionally, they are working to help students graduate within 4 years to reduce debts and financial burdens. Most important of all, Johnson points to the robust internship opportunities available to students. “We have about 1,000 students a year that are involved in doing internships with major aerospace companies,” he explains. Many of these internships are paid, provide extended opportunities for students to introduce themselves to potential employers in the work place and result in jobs. A recent report published by PayScale.com reveals that alumni of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University get a better payback from their tuition dollars than 84 percent of other college graduates, ranking it #177 of 1,052 colleges in the country.
With budgeted revenues in excess of $320 million, an economic impact of $431 million annually on Volusia County, and as one of the area’s largest employers – Embry-Riddle is one of our most important assets. Few communities anywhere in the world have the opportunity and the intellectual infrastructure to reinvent themselves on the scale that Embry-Riddle could provide for our region. It will take time, effort and investment from both public and private sectors to achieve its full potential, but the university has the capacity to propel our economy beyond the stratosphere.
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