USF moves to keep branch in the fold

By BARRY KLEIN and SHELBY OPPEL

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 19, 2000

In an attempt to derail efforts to spin off its St. Petersburg campus from the University of South Florida, interim President Richard Peck promised Tuesday to give the St. Petersburg dean a direct say in how the university spends its budget.

Peck also announced he will start spending one day a week working on the St. Petersburg campus, and said he has asked the USF athletic department to play several home baseball games there, probably at nearby Florida Power Park.

"I'm confident these steps will enhance our relationship with Pinellas County and create a model for closer ties with our other branch campuses," Peck said in a statement released by the university.

But USF officials were careful to note that Judy Genshaft, the school's incoming president, is not obligated by any of Peck's promises, which are good only until he leaves office in July.

And Peck's assistant warned against interpreting the changes as a move toward greater autonomy for the St. Petersburg campus.

That is precisely the goal of state lawmakers who have filed bills that would make the branch an independent university. It also is the aim of prominent local residents who would prefer the campus remain a part of USF, but only if the university takes numerous steps to give it greater control over its growth and development.

"This is a step in the right direction, but it doesn't go nearly far enough," said Michael Van Butsel, chairman of the Campus Advisory Board for USF-St. Petersburg.

"I'm concerned that this could be a very short-lived commitment," said Pinellas County Commissioner Robert Stewart, another member of the advisory board.

While intended to placate local supporters, Peck's concessions are clearly being driven by a legislative attempt to wrest control of the St. Petersburg campus from USF.

State Sen. Don Sullivan, R-Seminole, says the university has moved too slowly to accommodate Pinellas residents who want to earn baccalaureate degrees but can't commute to the main Tampa campus to complete their course work.

His solution is a bill that would create an independent school with a local board of trustees. The measure also would spin off USF's Sarasota campus and the Davie branch of Florida Atlantic University in Broward County.

The proposal took a hit Tuesday in the Legislature. By a 5-4 vote, the House Committee on Colleges and Universities approved an amendment to put off the plan for another year.

But it isn't dead. The bill's House sponsor, Rep. Debby Sanderson, R-Fort Lauderdale, will have another chance next week to restore the bill to its original form before it heads to a full vote in that chamber.

All of this maneuvering is occurring at a time of significant frustration in Pinellas County over the development of its USF branch, which now enrolls only 3,400 students though it has room for as many as 10,000.

In his statement, Peck noted that campus funding has risen 10 percent since 1998 and that the branch recently enrolled its first freshman class in more than three decades.

He said the elevation of St. Petersburg Dean Bill Heller to acting vice president means Heller will report directly to the president rather than through the provost, a Tampa-based official whose job is to represent the university's interests, not the St. Petersburg campus.

Heller also will be a member of the Executive Council, a change that gives the St. Petersburg campus a seat at the table when USF's budget is being carved up.

"That's where the real decisions get made," said Heller, who added he was excited about Peck's promise to spend one day a week working at USF's largest branch.

"(Former President) Betty Castor used to always compliment me on the view from my office," Heller said. "I used to tell her she could have it if she would just come over here."

The long-standing tensions between the St. Petersburg branch and its Tampa parent are hardly unique. Regional campuses often view themselves as neglected stepchildren.

The source of that resentment tends to be cumulative, the result of a steady series of perceived slights.

Heller, for example, only learned about his promotion to vice president when a reporter called to inquire about its meaning.

"That certainly tells you something," said Van Butsel, the advisory board chairman.

At a meeting last week, the advisory board approved a "position statement" regarding its view of the future of the St. Petersburg branch. The board listed 17 specific changes it wants to see made, all of which are designed to increase campus autonomy.

They include a separate budget for the academic and business affairs of the campus, authority over promotion and tenure decisions, authorization to provide student housing and dispensation to create an independent fundraising arm.

"Should the administration of USF not move toward more autonomy for the St. Petersburg campus by January 2001, then the Campus Advisory Board will seek conversion of USF-St. Petersburg to a separate state university," the statement said.

Patrick Riordan, a special assistant to Peck, said that stance is completely unrealistic.

The board wants "all the benefits of being part of USF with none of the downside," he said.

Peck said he is still trying to figure out where the advisory board derived the authority to demand independence.

"The Board of Regents doesn't have that authority," he said.

© St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.