Editorials are the opinion of The Palm Beach Post Editorial Board, not the Post’s newsroom.
The looming issue of presidential pay at Florida Atlantic University hasn’t caught up with the University of Florida’s, or the far-right fringe experiment at New College of Florida. But give it time. Paying vast sums to conservatives with scant experience at leading an institution of higher learning seems to be a thing in this state.
If the appointments of Richard Corcoran at New College of Florida and Ben Sasse at the University of Florida are any indication, political connections instead of academic considerations also will decide the selection of FAU’s next president.
More:How did Florida universities do in the new U.S. News rankings? Check out FAU
Sasse, a former Republican U.S. senator who has some academic experience, snagged one of the nation’s richest contracts, with a five-year deal that will pay nearly $10 million in salary and benefits.
Corcoran, a former Florida House speaker and education commissioner, didn’t do too badly either. He now leads Sarasota’-based’s New College. Never mind that the school only has 700 students, his compensation package totals $1.1 million annually for almost five years, including base salary, bonuses, and deferred compensation. That comes to nearly $1,600 per student per year.
The reality is, university presidencies are high-paying jobs, with at least 21 in the nation that pay more than $1 million, according to U.S. News & World Report. Still, it isn’t helping Florida higher education that the salaries here are paid to former pols who are politically connected. It’s bad enough that Florida recently passed laws and regulations that threaten faculty tenure, infringe on what can be taught and undermine universities’ efforts to diversify student bodies, faculty and programs.
Universities should be havens where facts and skills are learned, beliefs are challenged and expression is encouraged — overseen by men and women who appreciate education and have the background and experience to meet the rigors of running a university. Of late that simply hasn’t happened here in Florida.
Politics disrupts FAU presidential search
FAU is the next school up for DeSantis-sizing. FAU was well on its way to naming a new president when the chancellor of the State University System shut down the search for dubious concerns. Whatever the chancellor’s stated rationale, it appears the wrong candidate failed to make the cut: State Rep. Randy Fine, R-Palm Bay, a far-right lawmaker who had expressed interest to Gov. DeSantis about the job. It’s not known if Fine even applied for the job but what is known is that the lawmaker has one big fan on the FAU Board of Trustees — Vice Chairwoman Barbara Feingold.
Feingold and her late husband, Dr. Jeffrey Feingold,, have been longtime supporters of FAU. Since his death, she has taken up their cause of creating a dental college at FAU, an idea that’s been viewed by school administrators and some trustees as a distraction. Feingold has had one consistent supporter in Fine, though, a member of the House Appropriations Committee who helped obtain $40 million this spring for the dental school project. During the trustees’ August meeting, Feingold criticized the selection committee’s choices for finalists, citing unspecific ethical issues. She also castigated the board’s chairman Brad Levine for objecting to the state’s intrusion into the process, as The Palm Beach Post’s Andrew Marra reported this week.
Candidates who have deep academic experience and can draw a wide range of philanthropic donors, develop curricula and attract the academic talent to teach, need not apply. In Florida, political ideology and fealty seem to be the requisites for getting to lead a public college or university.
If Fine does get the Florida Atlantic job, he will join a growing list of state public university presidents whose political connections rather than academic experience were the priority, going back to the days when former House Speaker John Thrasher was named president of his alma mater, Florida State University. Thrasher actually turned out to be a good president. FAU can only hope for a similar outcome.
Meanwhile, three months and counting and FAU remains without a new president. You’d think we were selecting a Speaker of the House. At some point, that will change. But one thing we can count on: Whoever gets the job, the victorious candidate will be well paid — by you.
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