'Margaret Soltan, an English professor at George Washington University whose blog, "University Diaries," can be found at www.insidehighered.com, suggested Harvard start giving grants with all that money. She specifically mentioned Florida Southern College, the Lakeland school that has the largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings, some of which have fallen into disrepair.

So we wondered: What would our local schools do with even a chunk of Harvard's loose change?

Their responses reflect a sense of what officials value at Bethune-Cookman University, Daytona Beach Community College, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and Stetson University.

Bethune-Cookman University has four priorities, the first being residential housing, said Catherine Kershaw, assistant vice president and director of public relations. An upcoming capital campaign -- on the heels of a 40 percent boost in the school's endowment in the past four years -- will include housing and a new dining hall. The others: a new library and technology center; a new science building with updated labs; and a student union. (Bethune-Cookman University has $43 million in endowments as of May.)

Frank Lombardo, vice president of academic affairs at DBCC, wants to have professors spend more time working one-on-one with students in the Academic Support Center. "If we reduced the teaching load of the faculty by two courses per academic year, the impact on the budget would be about $3.5 million per year . . . That would result in higher retention and more student success." (Daytona Beach Community College has $26 million in endowments as of August.)

Embry-Riddle would start spending Harvard's money by providing $50 million per year in student opportunity scholarships, said Dan Montplaisir, vice president for institutional advancement. The school would also like to get its hands on several $2 million "very light jets," or VLJs, for teaching tools. Montplaisir would continue by building world-class aviation research parks both in Daytona Beach and at the Prescott, Ariz., campus, at $200 million apiece. He would also spend $130 million in new buildings, including classrooms, residence and dining halls and the Worldwide Campus headquarters. Not to be outdone, President John Johnson added four more dream projects: creation of 10 endowed faculty chairs (at $40 million); increasing faculty and staff salaries by 10 percent ($12 million); building a local aviation magnet high school ($25 million); and constructing $12 million worth of science and engineering labs. (Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has $60 million in endowments as of June 30.)

Stetson University spokeswoman Cindi Brownfield said the school would settle for $25 million to complete construction of the Sage Hall Science Center addition and renovation. It could also use a "dream endowment" to improve scholarship support and compensation for faculty and staff. (Stetson University has $138.6 million in endowments as of May 31.)'