McKnight fired, trustees had asked him to look into shift of $12.9M COE budget to FSU

Yesterday FAMU alumna Lynn Hatter, a reporter for WFSU, broke the news that FAMU General Counsel Avery McKnight had been fired.

McKnight’s termination came months after the then-chairman and vice-chairman of the FAMU Board of Trustees (BOT) had asked him to look into the shift of the $12,996,539 core operating budget of the College of Engineering (COE) from FAMU to Florida State University.

Back at an August 5 BOT committee meeting, Chairman Rufus Montgomery and Vice-Chairman Kelvin Lawson challenged President Elmira Mangum’s claim that the money shift made by a vote of the Joint College of Engineering Governance Council on May 20 was a “management decision.”

Lawson said that “Section 3: Comprehensive Standards” of the SACS rules could give the BOT a way to challenge what the Joint Council did.  “Section 3” includes a rule that says the policy-making job of the board of a school must remain distinct from the job of the administration to oversee the execution of policies.

The chairman and vice-chairman asked a number of FAMU offices, including the Office of the General Counsel, to look into the issue. They made the request just minutes after the Special Committee on Governance (which includes all the members of the board) approved a proposal to have the general counsel report to the BOT in addition to the president.

At that meeting, Rufus said that Vice-President for Finance and Administration Dale Cassidy had called him and asked him to consider a potential deal to replace McKnight with a new general counsel. According to the Tallahassee Democrat, the chairman claimed “he was told the call came at the request of Mangum.”

Mangum refused to give a “yes or no” answer when the chairman and vice-chairman asked her if she had any knowledge about the alleged call. That public conversation ended without a clear answer on whether there are moves underway in the university administration to replace McKnight for political reasons.

Rufus later followed up with an email that he sent to Mangum and copied to McKnight on August 12. He said the following about the issue:

"1. Employment status of FAMU general counsel Avery McKnight

"Your CFO (and member of your senior leadership team) contacted me regarding potential termination of the university general counsel and clearly stated verbally and in writing that it was on your behalf.

"Did you authorize this conversation? When did you first know about this conversation?"

Back on August 19, Rattler Nation wrote that: “If [McKnight] comes to the conclusion that the Board of Trustees chairman and vice-chairman are right about the COE operating budget shift being a policy decision, then that might have a negative effect on his future in the Mangum administration.”

McKnight had also told the BOT at an emergency conference call on October 22 that Mangum’s contract had been violated.

The employment agreement between Mangum and the BOT states that: “Dr. Mangum shall obtain prior approval from the Board (or its designee) for any capital improvements or repairs to the home or its grounds which have a project cost over $10,000.”

McKnight said that four capital improvement projects above $10,000, including the construction of a garage, took place at the President’s House after the start date Mangum’s contract without being presented to the BOT for its approval.