State: State slips in academia, university presidents say

TAMPA -- Florida's university presidents told Gov. Jeb Bush on Monday that the state's national reputation for short-changing higher education is making it hard for them to recruit top faculty.

And Bush's proposed budget for next year will only make matters worse, they said. Florida's public universities could begin to lose faculty to other states with more generous spending.

"The word is out that Florida is not committed to higher education," said Modesto Maidique, president of Florida International University in Miami.

The presidents met with Bush at the University of South Florida in part to plead for more money in next year's budget.

The governor is proposing cuts of $148.8-million from university operating expenses while providing no money for increased student enrollment. He also would cut up to $30-million out of Bright Futures scholarships.

In all, his $2.4-billion higher education budget would produce a spending drop of about 5 percent from this year.

For the 260,000 students at Florida's 11 universities, that would mean fewer teachers and degrees, larger classes and more competition to get into schools because of enrollment caps.

"We're sending a message that it's not important," said T.K. Wetherell, president of Florida State University in Tallahassee. "Every (state) is facing reductions, but how people are handling them is different. ... It continues to be a perception issue."

USF president Judy Genshaft said perception was important.

"When we recruit people from all over the United States and internationally, the professors want to know the health of higher education in the state and whether or not our offers of longevity here are going to remain solid," she said.

Bush, who also met with student leaders Monday, has repeatedly blamed the cuts on the cost of a voter-approved constitutional amendment mandating a reduction of class sizes in public schools.

"It is early in the process," Bush told the presidents. "I understand what your challenges are."

Next year's proposed cuts would come on top of a $167.5-million drop this year and could leave Florida last in the nation in per capita spending on higher education. When inflation is factored in, the amount of state money allocated for each university student has dropped 15 percent in the past four years.

Gregory Paveza, president of the USF faculty senate, said faculty and administrators across the nation had heard about Florida's financial problems through journals and conferences.

"You can't take this Draconian of a hit and expect people not to take notice," Paveza said. "How can you recruit the best when the message is the state system is in trouble and you can't bet your job is going to be there?"

University officials say they have made their budgets as lean as possible in recent years but will now be forced to consider program cuts and hiring freezes.

Richard Briggs, a University of Florida professor and a member of the Board of Governors, the new statewide panel that oversees higher education in Florida, said the problems went back further here than in other states.

"It's the result of a mindset of political people in Tallahassee," Briggs said. "They don't understand the importance of higher education."

The presidents also suggested that the state study how many faculty members -- particularly in critical areas such as nursing and education -- are set to retire next summer as part of the state's Deferred Retirement Option Program, which enhanced their retirement benefits.

The Legislature already is considering a bill that would allow public school teachers to keep working past the June 30 deadline.

"It's coming up at the proper time," Bush said. "It's worth looking at."

Also Monday, Education Commissioner Jim Horne announced that Florida State University administrator Debra Austin would be the state's new colleges and universities chancellor.

Austin, an FSU assistant vice president for academic affairs, takes the job months after Daniel Papp, a senior vice chancellor of the University System of Georgia, backed out at the last minute.

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