‘They're going after everything:' UNF faculty express concerns over DOGE funding targets
New documents have been released detailing Florida DOGE's efforts to audit spending at the University of North Florida, and UNF's response to those inquiries.
'We were to submit years of research, six years of resource publications, grants, awards, etc.,' explained Madeline Atenasi, UNF's United Faculty of Florida president on Monday.
UNF President Dr. Moaz Limayem recently told Action News Jax the university has readily complied with those inquiries.
'If there is a room for us to be even more efficient, more effective, we are not afraid of that,' Limayem told Action News Jax Emily Turner in a sit-down interview. 'And again, we have been very transparent for every request we receive from DOGE.'
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However, officials from the UNF United Faculty of Florida branch expressed concerns to Action News Jax about the possible motivations behind the state's efforts.
'They're going after everything that's DEI, after everything they consider wasteful or ineffective, and it just feels like it's a continuous attempt from the state to defund education,' Atenasi expressed.
Christopher Trice – the vice president for UNF's United Faculty of Florida branch, and a current professor at UNF – pointed to concerns particularly about the request for research funding, as well as requests for any university publications covering that research.
'When the government gets involved in defining what is valid research and what can and cannot be researched, well, there's room for … well, frankly, there's room for personal opinion to start driving those kinds of decisions rather than the legitimate pursuit of knowledge,' argued Trice.
Action News Jax also reached out to the university system's board of governors for an interview or statement on these efforts, but have yet to hear back.
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