FAMU trustees being urged to consider Ava Parker for presidency

The FAMU Board of Trustees hasn't officially started receiving applications in the search for the 11th university president. But that hasn’t stopped the efforts of some to make sure that the next FAMU leader is an individual who won’t show any backbone against Gov. Rick Scott or Chancellor Frank Brogan.

Rattler Nation has learned that several FAMU trustees have been asked to appoint Ava Parker as FAMU’s top administrator. Her name was circulated as a potential interim president and is still being promoted for the permanent presidency.

The argument in favor of Parker claims that she would be able to mend fences between the governor’s office and the Florida Board of Governors (BOG).

FAMU has been through this before with individuals such as ex-BOG member Castell Bryant and ex-Chancellor Debra Austin. Back when Castell was the interim president and Austin was the interim provost their administration began to cripple key research programs at the university, particularly within the College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. But despite that fact, they continued to receive strong support from their friends on the BOG.

Parker hasn’t given any indication that she would treat important programs such as the FAMU pharmacy school any differently from Castell or Austin. She did not use her seat on the BOG to try and hold Castell and Austin accountable for putting the pharmacy school’s accreditation in jeopardy and failing to spend the planning money for Pharmacy Phase II in a timely manner (which led former Gov. Charlie Crist to veto a $7.5M follow-up line item for the college).

The Crestview satellite campus of FAMU pharmacy has also received a cold shoulder from Parker. She has yet to speak out about Scott’s decision to veto its 2012-2013 operating funds.

Parker, just like Castell before her, had plenty of chances to use her BOG seat to aid FAMU’s research ambitions but simply refused to do so. She does not represent the type of leadership that FAMU deserves.