FAMU currently receives the annual $10.9M legislative appropriation
that pays for the maintenance needs and plant operations of the College of
Engineering in its general revenue funds. That money also pays the salaries of
23 FAMU professors and 27 Florida State University professors. FSU receives a
separate appropriation of $5M in its general revenue budget that pays for
another 36 professors. A report by the Capital News Service stated that the Florida
Board of Governors (BOG) wants to change this so that “funding from lawmakers
will go directly to the school instead of both universities.”
On Thursday, February 19, the BOG voted to approve a
proposal entitled “Commitment to Guiding Principles and a Plan of Action for
the FAMU-FSU Joint College of Engineering.” It states that: “The creation of a
new budget entity for the Joint College will be pursued during the 2015
legislative session, to include all operating funds for the Joint College,
including the appropriate amount of plant operation and maintenance funds.”
Title XIV, Chapter 216 of the Florida Statues gives the following definition for the term “budget entity”: “a unit or function at the lowest level to which funds are specifically appropriated in the appropriations act.”
Back in 1987, FAMU President Frederick S. Humphries and FSU
President Bernie Sliger agreed that FAMU would permanently manage the operations
budget of the E-College. They also recommended “separate budget entity status” for the program.
According to the book Now is the Time: A History of the
FAMU/FSU College of Engineering: “It was agreed that the College budget would
be included permanently within the FAMU overall budget rather than moving from
one institution to another, although it was strongly recommended that the
[State University System of Florida] seek formal separate budget entity status
for the College.”
If the 1987 agreement between FAMU and FSU continues to be
honored, FAMU would still manage the budget of the E-College even if a
separate budget entity is created. But the problem is that FSU no longer has a
president like Sliger who can be trusted on FAMU-related issues.
Back in 2007, FSU President T.K. Wetherell came up short in
his attempt to get the Florida Legislature to shift the E-College’s then-$10.4M
in operating funds into FSU’s legislative appropriation, rather than FAMU’s.
Last year, then-state Sen. Thrasher led an unsuccessful effort to convince
the legislature to split the joint E-College without bothering to tell FAMU
ahead of time. He also refused to offer FAMU the money that would be necessary to
replace all of the FSU faculty who would leave or construct a brand new engineering college on
the university’s main campus.
The process of moving the $10.9M in operating funds from
FAMU’s general revenue appropriation to a new budget entity could give Thrasher
another chance to use under-the-table lobbying tactics to get control of the
money. If that happens, FSU might end up in charge of the entire operating
budget and administration for the college.
It would be fine to move forward with creating a new budget
entity for the College of Engineering if Bernie Sliger or Eric Barron was still
the president of FSU. But John Thrasher has shown that he is another president
like T.K. who can’t be trusted to stop using the legislative process to attack
FAMU. The FAMU Board of Trustees should make sure to ask the Florida Legislature
to continue placing the $10.9M operating budget into FAMU’s general revenue
appropriations in order to defend against more shadiness from Thrasher.
Note (October 19, 2015): An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that: "The two presidents also agreed that FSU would be the permanent tenure home of the dean of the college."
Note (October 19, 2015): An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that: "The two presidents also agreed that FSU would be the permanent tenure home of the dean of the college."