Board of Trustees Orientation
Academic Affairs
Academic Affairs
Contact Information
Dr. Brad Thiessen
Vice President and Provost
863-874-8409 | provost@floridapoly.edu
Academic Affairs promotes student success, faculty excellence, and academic quality at Florida Polytechnic University. As Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Brad Thiessen oversees all aspects of the university’s ongoing operations with curriculum and instruction, faculty recruitment and development, institutional effectiveness, registration and academic records, academic resources, research programs, and university institutes.
Academic Programs & Curriculum
As the state’s all-STEM public university, Florida Poly offers high-value, industry-aligned degree programs that integrate foundational STEM knowledge and skills with project-based, collaborative learning. To prepare students for immediate post-graduation success, students progress from rigorous STEM core courses to advanced topics courses in their chosen majors, a required internship, and a year-long industry-sponsored capstone project.
Florida Poly currently offers 14 bachelor’s degree programs and 5 master’s degree programs.
Accountability & Performance
Accountability Plans
In compliance with state statutory requirements and institutional accreditation standards, Florida Poly generates an annual Accountability Plan. These Accountability Plans outline the University’s top priorities, set short-term strategic directions, and report performance on key performance indicators in comparison to approved institutional and system goals. Data from the annual Accountability Plans are used to track performance on the State’s performance-based funding metrics.
Performance-Based Funding
Developed in 2014, the state allocates $645M to the State University System schools based on their performance on ten performance-based funding metrics:
(1) – Percent of bachelor’s graduates employed (earning $40k+) or continuing their education
(2) – Median wages of bachelor’s graduates employed full-time
(3) – Average cost to the student (net tuition and fees per 120 credit hours)
(4) – Four-year graduation rate
(5) – Academic Progress Rate (first-to-second year retention with a GPA above 20)
(6) – Percent of bachelor’s degrees awarded in Programs of Strategic Emphasis
(7) – University Access Rate (percent of undergraduates with a Pell grant)
(8) – Percent of graduate degrees awarded in Programs of Strategic Emphasis
(9a) – Three-year graduation rate for Florida College System AA degree transfer students
(9b) – Six-year graduation rate for students who are awarded a Pell grant in their first year
(10) – Board of Trustees choice metric
For Florida Poly, approximately $10M in funding each year depends on our performance on the PBF metrics. Note that some of these metrics will change as the State University System moves to a PBF 2.0 model in 2027.
Civil Discourse
In 2022, the Florida Board of Governors adopted a Statement of Free Expression to ensure a climate of free expression and civil discourse on each university campus. The leadership of each university board of trustees, faculty senate, and student government annually reviews and endorses the Board’s Statement of Free Expression and commits to the principles of civil discourse. Florida Poly endorses the Board of Governors Statement of Free Expression each year in its Accountability Plan.
Institutional Effectiveness
The Vice Provost for Academic Affairs leads institutional effectiveness efforts in three areas: accreditation, institutional research, and faculty development.
Accreditation
Florida Polytechnic University is currently accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees. The University is currently seeking accreditation from CPHE (Commission for Public Higher Education) and the HLC (Higher Learning Commission).
Additionally, several of Florida Poly bachelor’s degree programs are accredited by ABET, the global accreditor of college and university programs in applied and natural science, computing, engineering, and engineering technology.
Institutional Research & Effectiveness
The Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness (IRIE) serves as the official source of institutional information for the University, responding to external requests for information and supporting university decision-makers through data analysis, modeling, and forecasting. IRIE is staffed by a director and an analyst.
Faculty Development / Instructional Technology
Instructional Technology manages and supports the Canvas Learning Management System, the University’s SIM Lab (Simulation, Instruction, and Media), Educational Outreach, and other instructional and learning services and programs. Instructional Technology helps faculty develop into world-class educators by providing workshops to share the latest research-based best practices, and by guiding faculty in the development of courses and interactive course materials. Faculty instructional support is provided primarily through the faculty-led Center for Innovation and Teaching Excellence (CITE).
Registrar
The Office of the Registrar provides knowledgeable service to students, faculty, and staff through adherence to academic policy, and has responsibility for collecting, maintaining and safeguarding the enrollment and academic records for Florida Poly students. The Registrar’s Office manages academic records, coordinates academic advising, builds class schedules, deploys registration processes, builds the academic calendar, and maintains the Undergraduate and Graduate Catalogs.
Library
Florida Poly provides learning and information resources and services through an all-digital Library that students and faculty can access on- and off-campus. Florida Poly shares access to many of its electronic reserves through the Florida Academic Library Services Cooperative (FALSC).
University Institutes
FIPR (Florida Industrial & Phosphate Research) Institute
The Florida Industrial & Phosphate Research Institute (FIPR) was created by Florida Statute in 1978 and established as a university research institute within Florida Poly in 2012. The FIPR Institute has grown and developed into a research entity specializing in phosphate-related issues and industrial applied science and engineering. The FIPR Institute is focused on phosphate-related research, but since 2010 has also broadened its research program into non-phosphate topics such as energy and the mining and processing of minerals other than phosphate
