Clark says small number of alumni on FAMU Board of Trustees unacceptable

At both the University of Florida and Florida State University, alumni have ten of the 11 appointed seats on the respective Boards of Trustees. But FAMU alumni only have three of the 11 appointed seats on their alma mater’s Board of Trustees (BOT), down from six last year.

Lt. Col. Gregory L. Clark, the newly elected president of the Florida A&M University National Alumni Association (NAA), is speaking out against that different treatment of FAMU. According to WCTV-6, Clark “says the lower number of alumni on the board does not mirror other universities in the state system.”

“We have a lot of talented graduates from FAMU,” Clark said in an interview with the TV station. “I think we should take a hard look and tap into some of the talent that is out there. All we’re asking for is a fair shot at looking at some of our graduates out there to serve on the board of trustees.”

The NAA stated that it has “been getting calls of concerns about the low number of alumni on the board. They say there should be more.” Clark said he will take this issue to the Governor's Office and Florida Board of Governors, which are responsible for BOT appointments.

The WCTV-6 report explained that: “A 2010 survey from the Association of Governing Boards shows that among public institutions, approximately half the members (5.9, on average) of public governing boards were alumni of the institution they served. The average number of alumni serving on a governing board varied by type of institution: 1.4 for associate’s, 2.9 for baccalaureate, 5.2 for master’s, 7.5 for doctoral and research, and 7.3 for systems.”

FAMU is in the “R2: Doctoral Universities – Higher research activity” category in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. Its three appointed alumni trustees stands far below the national average of 7.5 alumni trustees cited in the Association of Governing Boards survey.