During the Florida Board of Governors’ Strategic Planning Retreat last month, FAMU President James H. Ammons stood his ground on the need for a College of Dental Medicine at Florida’s only public historically black university.BOG member Charles B. Edwards, a University of Florida alumnus and former chairman of the Board of Regents, asked a number of not-so-friendly questions about the proposed program.
While admitting that he suspects that a new public dental school “is definitely needed,” Edwards asked if FAMU was using differential tuition dollars to plan the program after university officials had said they would use differential tuition revenue to repair the damage from budget cuts.
“I think I read in the paper or one of the news clips where you were proposing spending $1.5 million to study the need for a dental school,” Edwards stated. “And it hadn’t even been approved yet. And I can tell ya in this economic condition it ain’t gonna be approved for anybody for a number of years.”
“How can you spend $1.5 million on a study when it would have to be coming out of the $1.9 million you’re getting from the differential increase?”
Ammons responded coolly: “Well we asked for $1.5 million (from the legislature). We didn’t get it.”
Edwards did not give up. “I thought I read where you were gonna use other university funds to do that,” he asked.
“Well we’re not going to use $1.5 million to do it from university funds,” Ammons said. “What we were talking about was a study that would go over a number of years. It’s not $1.5 million in one year.”
Edwards did not say anything about the fact that the Florida’s ongoing budget problems didn’t stop the BOG from approving an expensive new doctor of pharmacy program at the University of South Florida designed with the explicit intent of competing against FAMU’s own College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. He also failed to speak about the fact that the BOG recently approved a new College of Medicine for Florida Atlantic University.
J. Stanley Marshall, a former president of Florida State University and former chairman of the Bethune-Cookman University Board of Trustees, spoke favorably about the possibility of a FAMU dental school.
“Where better than Florida A&M?,” Marshall asked. “It seems to me to be a logical place to put it.”
“I’ve felt a measure of local pride for some years now in the growth and quality of the graduate programs at Florida A&M,” he added.
BOG chairwoman Ava Parker asked Ammons about the “fiscal soundness of the university to take on this type of professional program.”
Ammons responded that: “There is a tremendous cost to this nation and to this state not to do it.”
“Addressing health disparities is a critical concern to this state and nation,” Ammons explained.
The president ended his statement by noting that a dental school would make the university eligible for more federal research money and help attract more private industry dollars.
Stand your ground, Dr. Ammons. FAMU, the State, & the Nation need a Dental School at FAMU. We won't back down on this one.
ReplyDeleteDENTAL SCHOOL FOR FAMU NOW!!!
The state definitely needs a new dental school, and FAMU has proven that it produces outstanding graduates in the health care professions. My only concern is whether we can afford this new school at this time. I read in a recent TDO article our mosquito research center will be closing its doors, and I understand they do much needed research. Also, there may be more layoffs in the coming year, all due to the current budget crises. Given the budget concerns on our campus, actually on all college campuses statewide, is now the time to add this new school?
ReplyDeleteHow do you propose to spend 1.5 million on a dental school proposal when you have not provided a raise for your faculty and staff for five years; keep shifting your executives around providing them with more money; and are eliminating jobs as we speak!!!!
ReplyDeleteSounds like foolishness to me. But we do have the only President in the SUS who took the bonus last year and just recently gave the administrator of an “F” school a place in the College of Education.
That is REAL excellence with caring!!!@@!!!@@
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Kepp focused on the Dental school Dr. Ammons. A Dental school would be a tremendous resource for the entire University.
ReplyDeleteYes Sir Mista Ammons!!!
ReplyDeleteKeep your eye on the prize. I am sure those people in Panama City, Graduate Studies, and General Studies would rather have a Dental School than their jobs!!!!
Go ahead with a dental school. Some of you anonymous people on here are just priceless.
ReplyDeleteokay....What's your name ?
ReplyDeleteAmmons will have to demonstrate his wiliness to make a blood sacrifice to the legislature in order to get the dental school. He will have to give up some programs in order to get the funds for the new dental school which means he will have to lay off some faculty and staff and transfer those resources to the dental school. Because after all there is no department willing to shut down just so FAMU can have a dental school.
ReplyDeleteMay be a "blood sacrifice" is a good thing. Maybe refusing to lay off faculty and staff and end programs which are not working or are no longer appropriate for the times is a good thing. Maybe this is the way FAMU will grow in the future. What are you willing to give up for FAMU to be great?
ReplyDeleteFAMU is the perfect university for a Dental School. It would compliment our very successful Nursing & Pharmacy Programs. We must not give up on this program and must stand with Dr. Ammons on this one. That redneck Edwards will not control us or stop our progress, period!!
ReplyDeleteThe below article was by RN back on May 23rd. Question RN, if Ammons is not going to pay for it from University funds, where is he going to find the $$$$$? In your piece it did not state they would not use university funds.
ReplyDelete"Despite FAMU’s high hopes this legislative session, its pursuit of a dental school came short of the finish line.
The companion bills to authorize a FAMU College of Dental Medicine, filed by Sen. Al Lawson and Rep. Alan Williams, both died in committee.
FAMU did receive good news in its budget that will help it kick the dental school planning process into high gear.
Lawson netted a special $6M line item for FAMU outreach projects. He said the money could go to help FAMU rescue a Jacksonville dental clinic that the University of Florida plans to close on June 30, 2010.
Moving into the Jacksonville building would significantly reduce the start-up costs associated with opening a FAMU dental school. FAMU could begin its program in Jacksonville until it acquires a facility in Tallahassee. After that, the Jacksonville clinic could become a residency site.
Additionally, FAMU received new general revenue and educational enhancement dollars that will help it fund some of the personnel positions that were being paid out of federal stimulus money. That means the university now has great flexibility to pay for the estimated $1.5M in planning costs associated with the dental school."
Excuse me, May 5th not May 23rd.
ReplyDelete@10:23,
ReplyDeleteAfter looking in your mouth, I think you could use a FAMU Dentist!
Bring on that dental school and use some of that trying on the folks poor folks around these parts who can't afford to see a dentist! Yes sir, we can all benefit from this new school.
OT: According to 10:55 AM, General Studies and Graduate Studies are being eliminated. RN, is that true? What have your sources indicated about those schools? Both seem to serve important functions and can probably be better utilized. Has the university identified the units that will be eliminated in the next year or two?
ReplyDeleteRN, where will this money come from if not from University funds? What about this flexibility?
ReplyDelete10:23a please don't think employees of FAMU are the only people in the state of Florida who are not getting raises.
ReplyDeleteLast month, Rattler Nation broke the story about how General Studies and the Mulrennan lab are marked for severe layoffs after the stimulus money runs out.
ReplyDeletehttp://rattlernation.blogspot.com/2010/06/general-studies-mulrennan-lab-marked.html
And what about graduate studies? Is there some truth to this rumor?
ReplyDeleteBig Rattler, do you know where the money will come from to fund a Dental School Study?
ReplyDeletePresident Ammons has not cited a specific funding source for the dental school study.
ReplyDeleteThe rumors about big cuts in the School of Graduate Studies are inconsistent with the Strategic Plan FAMU has adopted. It calls for steady growth in graduate enrollment and the addition of new graduate programs.
Don't universities have to come up with their own mony before the legislature will set aside funds to set up new programs? FAMU is not liquid with funds, so what are they going to do.
ReplyDelete1:27, I have no issue with disclosing who I am if I have to slam someone and sell wolf tickets on Rattler Nation. Otherwise, I'm just a member of RN. Once you go to dropping other people's names and claiming they are doing something wrong,you should man up and not hide. Unless of course you fear retaliation or need whistle-blower protection, obviously. How is it we look for conflict and run from resolution? Go ahead with the Dental School and get started through certifications from the COPPS.
ReplyDeleteIf we paid more attention to University oversight bodies, we'd know how they treat FAMU vs other State and Non-State institutions. We have to remain vigilant for FAMU and all State schools for that matter. That BOG is one of the first places we should be pressuring to do right or face major undesirable consequences.
ReplyDeleteIf anyone has access to today's Tallahassee Democrat article regarding FAMU's payroll issue, please post it. I refuse to pay to read a biased newspaper that treats FAMU like some chewed up gum.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think the dental school is a great idea. But here's what I don't understand: If you’re pitching a new program based on need, why do you need to spend almost $2 million to "study" the need? Does it exist or not? I'm sure it's a complicated process, but that disconnect really leaped out at me, and I'm sure it won't be lost on people who are FAMU-indifferent.
ReplyDeleteThe rumor about the graduate school? What happened? Do tell.
ReplyDeletePrinceton Capital Group lends residential and commercial hard money throughout the state of Florida.
ReplyDeleteFlorida Hard Money
Ammons is not crazy. He will never let the Grad School go. Maybe this is about getting rid of the graduate dean so they can somebody else's husband or baby daddy here.
ReplyDelete