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UCF, FIU reject 'state college' plan

The Board of Governors hears resistance to an idea that some schools focus on undergraduates.

By SHANNON COLAVECCHIO-VAN SICKLER
Published January 25, 2007

BOCA RATON - State university leaders are a long way from deciding whether to establish a separate group of colleges dedicated solely to undergraduate education.

But the presidents of two of Florida's fastest growing and most ambitious schools made it clear Wednesday that if such a group is ever created, they have no interest in being members.

The presidents of the University of Central Florida and Florida International University dismissed the notion they would abandon their research ambitions and graduate programs.

"It doesn't matter how big the carrot is, we don't want to opt in," FIU president Mitch Maidique said at a meeting of the Board of Governors, which oversees Florida's 11 public universities.

"As we try to recruit at least one member of the National Academy in the weeks ahead, having it suggested that our status be altered is not helpful," said UCF president John Hitt. "It's not helpful to have this hanging over us."

The recommendation to create a so-called "state college" system is just one of several suggested fixes outlined by Pappas Consulting Group Inc., hired by the board last year to give a blunt assessment of the system.

And it's not a new idea. In the late 1990s, then-Chancellor Adam Herbert tried and failed to establish a three-tier system of universities, with the University of South Florida, Florida State University and the University of Florida at the top. FIU and UCF were in the middle tier.

But Pappas' state college idea may be more controversial, mainly due to the growing competition among Florida universities.

UF is the state's flagship, the only one in the invitation-only Association of American Universities.

FSU and USF are vying to get in, and UCF and FIU last year got Board of Governors' approval to build medical schools likely to boost their national profiles and the research money they pull in.

Pappas, to Hitt's dismay, cited UCF as one of six colleges that could be included in a system to award only bachelor's degrees.

But Pappas vice president Stephen Portch stressed Wednesday that there would have to be an "opt-in" system, where existing institutions get financial incentives for changing their focus.

He agreed that the "carrot" needed to pull in an ambitious school like UCF, already a leader in research areas like optics and photonics, may be too expensive and impractical at this point.

More practical, Portch and Pappas CEO Alceste T. Pappas suggested, would be to turn large branch campuses and community colleges into undergraduate institutions. Even private independent universities could be part of it, they said.

The Board made no decisions Wednesday, and cautioned university leaders not to get upset or lose sight of the state's needs.

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The board that oversees Florida's 11 universities is seeking public input on a consultant's recent evaluation of the state's higher education system. There will be a public workshop Feb. 27 at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Also, the chancellor's office has set up a Web site that includes copies of the report, as well as a blog and opinion survey the Board of Governors will use as it creates a master plan for the state university system's future. Go to www.flbog.org/ForwardByDesign/

[Last modified January 25, 2007, 00:37:13]