It stated that the Joint College of Engineering Governance
Council passed a resolution on May 20, 2015 to shift the COE fiscal agent duties
from FAMU to FSU. The FAMU Board of Trustees has not taken a vote to approve
any changes to the current university policy stating that FAMU wants to serve
as the fiscal agent/budget manager of the College of Engineering.
FAMU Board Chairman Rufus Montgomery told WCTV-6 on July 8 that “a conversation about the College of Engineering and other
issues will be taken up by the board later this month as part of a broader discussion
of governance at FAMU.”
Rattler Nation continues to stand behind its statement that
FSU can make an extension of the “interim deanship” happen without FAMU’s
approval. The two universities must make a joint decision on the appointment of
a dean, so FSU could decline to let a new dean be selected.
The FAMU statement said that the deanship line will be
transferred to the university on August 1 after current Dean Yaw Yeboah steps
down. But it did not explain why a professor with tenure at FSU was chosen as
the interim dean when the tenure home of the dean was supposed to be rotating
to FAMU.
The full statement by FAMU that was posted on the WCTV-6
website is available below:
Frequently asked questions about the shift in the “fiscal
agent” responsibilities from FAMU to FSU and other related items. Provided by
FAMU
Q: When was the decision made to switch the “fiscal agent”
responsibilities for the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering (COE) from FAMU to
FSU?
A: On May 20, 2015, the Governance Council adopted a
resolution providing that:
-The fiscal agent responsibilities (operating and fixed
capital outlay) for the College would be transferred to FSU
-The faculty line for the dean of the College would be transferred
to FAMU at the point there is a vacancy in the position
-The transfer of fiscal agent responsibilities would occur
with the new fiscal year beginning July 1, 2015, except that FAMU will continue
with its existing contracts for the expenditure of fixed capital outlay funds
for the ongoing construction
Q: Does FSU have more say so than FAMU on the College’s
financial matters? What does it mean to be the “fiscal agent?
A: No, FSU doesn’t have more say so than FAMU on financial
issues.
As you can see from the resolution mentioned above, FSU
merely replaced FAMU as the “fiscal agent.” As the “fiscal agent,” FSU will
administer or process financial matters, but is not the sole decision-maker in
the financial process. Decisions on financial matters and such items as
expenditures on faculty, students, and staff are made jointly.
The State Legislature's role is to adopt the joint budget.
The budget for the College for 2015-2016 is $12.9 million. Over the past few
years, the budget has been about $11 million per year, with about $5.6 million
going to FSU and $5.2 million going to FAMU.
Q: What will be the role of the new Governance Council and
what is its makeup?
A: The Council is not new; previously there was a Joint
Management Council that consisted of the provosts, presidents, and CFOs of FAMU
and FSU. The Council did not regularly meet in recent years.
On March 23, 2015, a 12-member permanent Joint College of
Engineering Governance Council was established. The Council is comprised of the
Chancellor of the Board of Governors, presidents, provosts, CFOs, the vice
presidents for Research, the dean of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, and
two ex-officio non-voting student representatives appointed by their respective
Student Government Association presidents.
The policy-making structure remains unchanged, with the
exception of the Governance Council replacing the Joint Management Council. The
addition of the Chancellor to this body is designed to speed up the
decision-making process by having a “tie-breaker” on the Council. According to
the CBT Engineering study, “Many joint College faculty members contend that
issues were dealt with promptly when the Council included the ‘tie-break’ vote
of the Chancellor.”
Q: What does it mean for FAMU to have oversight of the
deanship?
A: The deanship of the COE is now an FAMU line item upon
vacancy. A vacancy was recently created by the resignation of Professor Yaw
Yeboah. The line will be moved to FAMU by August 1, 2015, giving FAMU
management over filling the position. FAMU and FSU agreed to the appointment of
the "interim dean" to ensure continuity, which is paramount given the
upcoming ABET accreditation visit this fall.
The dean reports directly to the provosts of FAMU and FSU.
Thus, FSU cannot unilaterally decide that an extension of the “interim”
deanship is needed as has been reported in some publications and online. Nor
can FSU pick the date that the new dean starts receiving a paycheck since this
is a FAMU line item. Therefore, the dean will be paid by FAMU and reimbursed
from the joint budget.
Since 2004-2005, there has been a tremendous shift in the
makeup of the College. The number of FAMU students declined from 638 to 345, a
46 percent decline. During the same period, FSU's student body increased by
almost 32 percent.
Arresting the decline in FAMU's student body means hiring
new faculty, which is an important factor in attracting students. The dean has
the responsibility of approving vacant and new line items. Gaining the
responsibility of selecting the dean will help to address this issue.
Shifting the dean line item to FAMU is not a panacea. Hiring
new start up faculty is costly. It can cost upwards of $2 million to hire a new
engineering professor. During the last regular legislative session we asked for
$30 million for new faculty, salary increases, scholarships, et al. Getting
additional funding is essential if we are to close the gap between the number
of FSU and FAMU students and between the number of FSU and FAMU faculty
members.