TALLAHASSEE, FL—Keiser University kicked off its "Keiser Days at the Capitol" with a Wednesday morning press conference. Joined by Republican Rep. Randy Fine, the college's leaders discussed higher education, nursing shortages, and athletic success.
"My message is simply that we live in a great state," Belinda Keiser, the Vice Chancellor of the University, said, "If you look at the history of Keiser University, we started almost fifty years ago, and today we're 20,000 students, and we can attribute that to good leadership in the state of Florida, support from our communities, and amazing teams at 19 of our different campuses,"
Rep. Fine, the sponsor of the press conference, echoed her comments. He praised healthcare workers whilst condemning taxpayer money going to what he called "goofy" and "silly" majors.
"For so long, higher education has been focused on goofy things. A degree in Medieval French Literature is great if you want to teach Medieval French Literature, or work at Starbucks," He said. "We've lost sight of the fact that the purpose of higher education is not to create jobs for people who can't get jobs anywhere else, but it's to make a functioning workforce that can have value in society today,"
"We now face a time where we don't have enough healthcare workers in this state," Fine said, turning to the increasing nursing shortage faced by Florida. "Now we not only can't afford to have all these silly degrees because we're wasting the taxpayers' money on them, but now we don't have enough people to do that jobs that we actually need done,"
As of 2021, 92% of Florida nursing centers faced staffing issues. According to the Florida Hospital Association, the state is expected to have a shortage of 59,000 nurses by 2035.
Dr. Art Keiser, the University's Chancellor, addressed Keiser's nursing amelioration efforts in an exclusive interview with the Floridian.
"We are the second largest nursing program in the state, so we're continuing to grow our nursing program," He told us, citing a multitude of degree levels available at the college. "We're expanding the number of programs and the number of specialties to be able to meet the tremendous needs that Florida's going to be facing in the next couple decades,"
"We want to educate the members of both the House and the Senate with the things that our students are doing, give our students greater opportunities for their success, and more importantly, expand the workforce that we train in the state of Florida," He added.
The press conference also touched on Keiser University's surprising NAIA Football Championship win, a stunning accomplishment for a football program born just six years ago.
"Our focus is on developing leaders and helping kids to understand that winning is a byproduct of everything we do," Athletic Director Kris Swogger said, discussing Keiser's ability to attract and keep impressive athletes.
