Millions for engineering faculty remain in FSU general revenue instead of new FAMU-FSU budget entity

FSU President John Thrasher

Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Education (3/17/2015)

House Education Appropriations Subcommittee (3/16/2015)

On February 19, the Florida Board of Governors (BOG) approved a proposal to ask the legislature to create a new budget entity for the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. The plan said that the new budget entity would “include all operating funds for the Joint College, including the appropriate amount of plant operation and maintenance funds.”

But documents from the education appropriations subcommittees of the Florida House of Representatives and the Senate show that “all operating funds for the Joint College” are not in the new budget entity. The only funds that were moved into the new budget entity were the Education & General (E&G) dollars that were previously in the FAMU budget. Florida State University is still receiving millions for faculty at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering in its separate E&G budget.

Back in 2014, FAMU received a $10.9M appropriation for the College of Engineering in its general revenue (E&G) budget. That was the money for maintenance needs, plant operations, and the salaries of 23 FAMU professors and 27 FSU professors. FSU received a separate appropriation of $5M in its general revenue (E&G) budget that paid for another 36 FSU professors.

Both chambers of the legislature originally placed an increased amount of $12.9M for the College of Engineering in the FAMU general revenue budget at the start of the 2015 session. That followed the practice begun by a 1987 agreement signed by FAMU President Frederick S. Humphries and FSU President Bernie Sliger. The document said that FAMU would permanently manage the operations budget. The two presidents also agreed that FSU would be permanently in charge of selecting the dean of the college.

But on March 16, the Education Appropriations Subcommittee of the House moved the $12.9M from the FAMU general revenue budget to a new budget entity entitled: “FAMU/FSU College of Engineering.” The Appropriations Subcommittee on Education of the Senate made the same change on the next day.  

Neither the House nor the Senate has added any language that explicitly states that FAMU will be in charge of the money in the new budget entity. So even though millions for faculty at the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering are still in the FSU general revenue appropriation, it is no longer clear that FAMU will manage any operating money for the college in 2015-2016.