JACKSONVILLE, Fla – Florida State College at Jacksonville is celebrating new leadership with the official investiture of Dr. Cynthia A. Bioteau.
The college is also celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Bioteau has been at Florida State College at Jacksonville for the past year putting pieces back together.
She took over after the school was in the news for years, for all the wrong reasons. The U.S. Education Department determined FSCJ gave out millions of dollars in unauthorized Pell grants, which the school had to pay back.
There was also a grand jury investigation into the spending practices of the previous president. The panel found no provable wrongdoing, but recommended administrative and financial reforms.
Friday morning there was a formal ceremony to inaugurate Bioteau as the college's fifth president.
"My focus has shifted from triage and stopping the bleeding of the past to promise and planning for the future," Bioteau said.
She brings more than 35 years of experience in education, mental health and business, and community-based awards, recognitions and professional affiliations.
She said she's continuing to work with the community and building the trust back with the college.
Part of that started with the school cleaning house last year.
"We have reassigned and reevaluated and put a manager structure in place that I am very excited about and hopeful for, and we are in good shape there," Bioteau said.
After the ceremony, the school also unveiled the 50th anniversary logo.
Founded in 1965, FSCJ, then known as Florida Junior College, became the first integrated public, post-secondary institution in Duval or Nassau county.
Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford was a student in the 1970s.
"It was an amazing time and now to look and see how this college has grown, it's amazing," Rutherford said.
The college has had many changes over 50 years, including new campuses, new programs of study, new technologies and exponential growth.