Hiring of Florida university presidents would become public again under new bill

Yahoo

03-03-2025

Searches for public university and college presidents in Florida may soon return to the sunshine if recently-filed measures are passed this legislative session.
Two Republicans – Sen. Alexis Calatayud, R-Miami, and Rep. Michelle Salzman, R-Cantonment – filed the legislation (SB 1726/HB 1321) last week.
The identical bills make several changes to state law. Most notably, the legislation would remove the public records and open meetings exemption for those who apply to become a president of a Florida public institution of higher education.
Supporters of keeping searches in the dark have argued Florida's open records requirement dissuades many qualified candidates from applying because they don't want their employer at the time to find out. Open government advocates counter that the open process still results in high-quality leaders, using Florida State University President Richard McCullough as an example.
The exemptions now are under scrutiny just a few years after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a law making applications confidential. The only information the public gets is a list of finalists for an opening.
The move allowed for the University of Florida's search committee to name Ben Sasse, a Republican U.S. senator from Nebraska, as the sole finalist for the presidency in 2022, following a national search of more than 700 candidates.
After 17 months, Sasse, who said he resigned because of his wife's epilepsy diagnoses, was later investigated for his spending practices during his tenure.
More recently, the Florida International University Board of Trustees named Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nuñez its interim president after DeSantis' office contacted Board Chair Rogelio Tovar and asked him to consider her for the post.
This year's bill also would require members of the Board of Governors, which oversees the state's public universities, to comply with financial disclosure requirements and remove their ability to ultimately confirm the pick of a university president, transferring that power to the university itself.
It also would impose term limits on the Board of Governors' members, as well as require them to live in the state and add rules as to who can recommend a presidential candidate.
"The interim or permanent president selected by the (institution's) board of trustees must have been recommended by the presidential search committee," the bill states.
For the state college system, which is governed by the Florida Department of Education, the bill allows for the appointment, reappointment, suspension and extension of a president without departmental approval.
If passed and signed by DeSantis, the legislation takes effect July 1. As of Monday, the day before the start of the Legislature's yearly 60-day regular session, the bills had not been assigned to any committees in their respective chambers.
Ana Goñi-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at [e-mail].
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Bill would make Florida university president searches open to public