The “wish list” of items that FAU would like to see approved by Gov. Jeb Bush hit his desk on May 20; since then he has approved over $17 million.
Bush approved $400,000 for FAU’s Center for Autism and Related Disabilities. Up until now Tom Barlow, the director of intergovernmental relations, described the center at FAU as being an offshoot of the University of Miami’s Autism Center.
Before the new designation, FAU’s CARD center only served Palm Beach County. Now it will also serve Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River and Okeechobee counties, which have been previously served by the University of South Florida’s CARD center.
The CARD provides information, technical assistance, workshops, parent-support groups and lecture series to the community. Fifty percent of the services they provide are off-campus at schools and in people’s homes.
Jack Scott, the Director of the CARD, is pleased that Frank Brogan, the President of FAU, took notice of their center and pushed for it at the state level. Even so, Scott was hoping for funding to be about $700,000 a year. He believes that even with the funding increase, CARD is still “poorly funded.”
Scott is still grateful and hopeful that the center will receive steady increases in the years to come. According to him no other CARD in the state received an increase this year.
The Memory and Wellness Clinic at FAU has also been approved for statewide designation. This designation would allow the clinic to network and coordinate with the other fifteen statewide clinics in Florida.
The assistant director of the Memory and Wellness Center, Denise Sparks, said it would also allow for more funding as well as being able to provide more services to their patients. One of the new services they would like to provide is community education.
Currently the clinic is only able to provide a comprehensive evaluation for patients that are covered by Medicare. The statewide designation would allow them to provide care for other patients, even those without insurance. The clinic provides services for patients that are suffering from Alzheimer’s, Dementia and other related illnesses.
Also in the wish list is $6.8 million for a new computer center at the Boca Raton campus that will be located somewhere near the library. $2 million has been set aside for a Scripps facility to be built on the Jupiter campus, which Brogan believes will “increase FAU’s reputation.”
$4.1 million will be used for infrastructure upgrades and repairs to FAU. $2 million has been approved to maintain FAU’s relationship with the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, located in Fort Pierce, which provides hands-on training to students interested in marine sciences. $2 million has been set aside for the medical expansion program with the University of Miami that will allow FAU to offer 3rd and 4th year training to students.
