Welcome back to Your University: The FGCU Podcast. In this episode, our host Katie Cribbs talks with Mark Bole, an instructor with the Daveler & Kauanui School of Entrepreneurship at FGCU and a faculty fellow for FGCU's Ain Technology & Design Hub.

Katie asks Mark about his past, finding out about his path from multinational corporate roles to the challenges of launching an investment firm in Luxembourg during the 2008 financial crisis. Mark explains his NIL concept (name, image, and likeness) and how he created an NIL class to help FGCU student-athletes build authentic personal brands, including social media sensation Brandon Dwyer.

Mark describes FGCU’s Technology and Design Hub, launched with a $2M donor gift, as a student-run agency delivering websites, digital marketing, and AI integration for local clients. For example, “Sanibel Solutions,” where students built an AI-enabled hurricane recovery dashboard and led island-wide AI workshops to help businesses and nonprofits survive and market their return. Mark outlines plans to expand this work across more of Lee County so that students can become “agents of change” for AI adoption.

Your University: The FGCU Podcast is produced by University FM.

Episode Guide:

• 01:06 Welcome and Background
• 02:45 Launching in Luxembourg
• 05:22 From CEO to Teaching
• 06:32 NIL and Athlete Branding
• 08:38 Brandon Dwyer Success
• 11:28 Tech and Design Hub
• 13:25 AI Ethics and Business
• 15:05 Sanibel Solutions Dashboard
• 17:12 Workshops and Expansion
• 20:43 Vision for Student Interns
• 22:29 Making AI Practical
• 24:48 Closing Advice and Involvement

Episode Quotes:

Going beyond what students get from textbook
18:36: That became a really personal thing for me. It's like we have to help them. Once you start meeting the people and talking to it, and students get to meet them, relationships develop, and you're all on the same mission. And you feel really connected to the island, and that's something that students don't get from a textbook or a classroom. And so, I think everybody wins in this situation.

On AI giving more opportunities for human connection

23:29: AI doesn't just take the current tasks that we're working on and make it automated. It gives you more opportunities to do things you never thought of, like build a dashboard for Sanibel recovery. I never would've been able to do that before. So, once you realize that, I think the students are starting to figure out that they can do anything with this, and that's the key.

On service learning and community impact

25:50: Our students become part of the solution. And that's what I want Southwest Florida to understand, is that we are not doing this just to do consulting and get some revenue. We're doing this to help Southwest Florida adapt to AI, and our students are going to be the answer.

Show Links:

• Mark Bole | LinkedIn
• Students Harness AI to Help Sanibel Businesses | FGCU360 Article
• Daveler & Kauanui School of Entrepreneurship | FGCU
• Ain Technology & Design Hub
• Brandon Dwyer featured on Good Morning America
• FGCU | Website
• FGCU | Your University

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Today, on Your University: The FGCU Podcast, host Katie Cribbs takes an audience with Dr. Krzysztof Biernacki, Director of the Bower School of Music & the Arts at FGCU.

Krzysztof shares his path from childhood singing in Poland to an international opera and recital career, immigration to Canada, university training and teaching, and leadership roles at UNF and FGCU. He describes Bower’s scale and momentum—planning 150–178 annual events across music, art, theater and the Wasmer Art Gallery—alongside strong community support and sold-out performances.

Katie asks about the 2026–27 addition of Digital Media Design (about 350–370 students and eight faculty), and Krzysztof highlights some recent student competition successes and details some exciting partnerships including the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation and Opera Naples International Voice Competition hosted partly on campus. He also spotlights outreach favorites like Joyful and Triumphant, the Naples Botanical Garden jazz series Rhythm and Blooms, growth in the accredited music therapy program, summer camps, America 250 programming, and Bower’s upcoming 20th anniversary season with alumni and guest artists.

Your University: The FGCU Podcast is produced by University FM.

Episode Guide:

• 01:05 Early Singing Roots
• 02:21 Poland to Canada Training
• 03:07 Performing Career and UNF
• 06:16 Bower School Growth
• 07:19 Digital Media Design Expansion
• 09:53 Pavarotti Competition Partnership
• 15:13 Community Concert Series
• 18:09 Music Therapy Spotlight
• 19:44 Summer Camps and Outreach
• 20:32 America 250 Season Planning
• 23:06 AI and the Arts Future
• 24:35 Final Invitation and Wrap Up

Episode Quotes:

Southwest Florida is an arts destination
27:20: That's what's so special about Southwest Florida. This is the arts destination. And, you know, when I moved here in 2019, I couldn't believe that we're selling out events. You know, other universities across the nation do not have that problem.

The human touch will always matter

23:47: What we do as artists, as the creative types, will become that much more valuable, right? It will become the human touch. It will be the paint on the brush. It will be the student at the piano. It will be a dance movement. It will be human-generated content as opposed to machine-generated content.

Changing lives through the power of the arts

27:20: Attend as many events as you possibly can. There's so much to experience here, so much to learn and grow. We are changing lives through the power of the arts. We truly are. We are still a little bit of a well-kept secret in Southwest Florida.

Show Links:

• Krzysztof Biernacki | FGCU Profile
• Krzysztof Biernacki | LinkedIn
• Bower School of Music & the Arts | FGCU
• FGCU360: Music Therapy
• FGCU360 | America 250
• FGCU360| Pianist
• Luciano Pavarotti Foundation Opera Naples International Voice Competition
• Rhythm & Blooms | Naples Botanical Garden
• FGCU | Website
• FGCU | Your University

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Today on Your University: The FGCU Podcast, our host Katie Cribbs talks with Shawn Felton, Dean for the Marieb College of Health and Human Services at Florida Gulf Coast University.

They talk about Marieb College’s growth, community impacts, and emerging technology during Shawn’s tenure. Dr. Felton explains how textbook author Dr. Elaine Nicpon Marieb connected with FGCU, gave $5 million for scholarships in 2012 that led to Marieb Hall, and later a $10 million endowment in 2017 that renamed the college. Her legacy is honored annually through Marieb Day, featuring over 130 student pieces of medical illustration art and tied to a new medical illustration minor.

He discusses FGCU’s largest gift, $22 million from the Marieb Foundation, supporting emerging technology and naming the future AB 10 Marieb Hall South which will include a 22,000-square-foot interprofessional simulation center. Shawn also tells Katie about FGCU’s Disaster Day simulation, where they employed ‘moulage,’ and his athletic training and sports science research background.

Your University: The FGCU Podcast is produced by University FM.

Episode Guide:

• 02:21 How Marieb College Got Its Name
• 06:04 Record Gift and AB10
• 08:43 New Building Expansion
• 11:01 Community Clinical Partnerships
• 14:39 Labs and Simulation Growth
• 16:51 Holograms and New Immersive Tech
• 18:59 Disaster Day Simulation
• 23:09 Shawn’s Background in Sports Science
• 24:26 Final Takeaways and Visit

Episode Quotes:

Training the workforce Southwest Florida needs

12:11: We have built that relationship, but I think we've also listened. If you look at all of our programs that we offer, it is in what is needed in Southwest Florida to fulfill the workforce needs. You know, nursing is an obvious one, but physical therapy, occupational therapy…We have built the programs that is needed by the workforce here.

On FGCU’s growing regional and national impact

13:02: As a regional comprehensive institution, we serve our region, our five-county region. We're doing great things here, and now we're becoming more statewide known and nationally known for what we're doing. And, it's just a beautiful opportunity.

On growing together with the community

13:18: The relationship that this university has with its local community is one that, I don't think is paralleled anywhere. And, to your point, individuals knew we needed a higher education institution here, and we've grown together with our community, and it's been exciting to see that connection.

Show Links:

• Shawn Felton | FGCU Profile
• Shawn Felton | LinkedIn Profile
• Marieb College of Health & Human Services | FGCU
• ‘Road of Excellence’ | FGCU360 Article
• Marieb Hall South Groundbreaking | FGCU360 Article
• Disaster Day 2025 | FGCU Event Profile
• FGCU | Website
• FGCU | Your University

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