Mangum: FAMU would need $100M for new E-College building and $15M in recurring funds

The design for the Phase III building of the current FAMU-FSU College of Engineering

Back when T.K. Wetherell tried to push FAMU out of the joint College of Engineering in 2008, then-Sen. Al Lawson estimated that it would take around $100M to provide FAMU with an independent engineering school that’s comparable to the one in Innovation Park. That estimate did not include the recurring revenue that would be required to hire new faculty members, since the majority of the current E-College’s professors are on Florida State University’s payroll.

New FAMU President Elmira Mangum reminded the State of Florida of that price tag on Wednesday in a letter that she sent to Gov. Rick Scott.

She began the letter by explaining that FAMU opposes the legislative proposal to split the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. That proposed change was introduced into the Florida Senate budget by Sen. John E. Thrasher.  

Thrasher wants to give FSU its own independent College of Engineering. He says that FAMU can keep the current facility in Innovation Park and the annual operational budget of $10.9M.

FSU is in charge of a special $5M recurring appropriation that pays for 36 members of the joint E-College’s faculty. Thrasher hasn’t proposed any funds to permit FAMU to hire professors to replace those that FSU will take away. If FAMU doesn’t receive the money to replace all of the FSU faculty members who leave during the split, then it might not be able to meet the Accreditation Board for Engineering Technology accreditation requirements for all of the current degree programs. Thrasher hasn’t proposed one cent to permit FAMU to conduct any faculty replacement hiring.

Mangum explained that FAMU would need an additional amount of almost $5M on top of the current $10.9M in annual recurring funds in order to secure an adequate amount of personnel for an independent E-College.

FAMU would also need $100M in nonrecurring funds to create a new engineering building on its main campus.  According to the Associated Press, FAMU officials have said that “the current location [in Innovation Park] is inconvenient for students, especially those who do not have a car. They also said the current buildings are badly in need of repair.”

Mangum also informed Scott that Thrasher’s current proposal, which doesn’t include any money for faculty replacement hiring at FAMU, “appears to be at odds with the current Partnership Agreement between the State of Florida and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.”

Editor's note: This post contains corrections made on April 20, 2014.