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A test for the Board of Governors

The board's selection for its new chancellor will reveal how serious it is about elevating the stature of Florida's universities.

The university oversight board that Florida voters created three years ago is about to enter graduate school. After giving notice to lawmakers and university presidents that it would establish goals and program and budget priorities, the Board of Governors now has the chance to hire its own chancellor. That selection will reveal how serious the board is about elevating the stature of Florida's universities.

The opportunity presents itself because Debra Austin, who was selected as chancellor by former education commissioner Jim Horne, announced last week she is becoming provost at Florida A&M University. At the same time, the Legislature has given the board its own budget, transferring 62 staff positions and $6.1-million out of the Department of Education. So now the board can hire its own chief to lead that staff and the university system.

There are many models to consider. Charlie Reed, one of Florida's most successful chancellors, had a political heritage. He was then-Gov. Bob Graham's chief of staff, but he went on to serve as chancellor for more than 12 years through Democratic and Republican administrations and established himself as one of the nation's top higher education leaders (he now leads the California state university system). Adam Herbert, Reed's successor, was the University of North Florida president and had a mostly academic background.

Filling a position of this stature requires a national search, and academic credentials are all but essential. But there are certainly capable candidates in Florida. Given the friction that could easily develop between the constitutionally based board and the Legislature, board chairwoman Carolyn Roberts also makes a fair point about one of the qualifications she will seek.

"Our most critical need right now is our relationship with the Legislature," Roberts said. "We know the value of a national search and also know the value of having someone who knows our university system and the people in power in this state."

The Board of Governors, which has been devising measures to hold universities accountable for learning, is about to be tested itself. Florida needs a chancellor who can lead.

[Last modified August 11, 2005, 00:42:17]