Scott, governor’s race candidates remain quiet on small number of alumni on FAMU BOT

It’s been more than a year and a half since the Florida A&M University (FAMU) National Alumni Association (NAA) publicly spoke out about the small number of alumni on the school’s Board of Trustees (BOT).

At that time, alumni only held three of the 11 appointed seats on the BOT, down from six the previous year. Now, there are only two appointed alumni trustees at FAMU. But at both the University of Florida and Florida State University, alumni hold the majority of the 11 appointed seats.

“We have a lot of talented graduates from FAMU,” FAMU NAA President Gregory L. Clark said in a 2016 interview with WCTV-6. “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 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.”

For state university BOTs in Florida, the governor appoints six members and the Florida Board of Governors (BOG) appoints five.

Gov. Rick Scott has continued to remain silent on the issue. And no candidate in Florida gubernatorial race at this time has publicly promised to work to restore the alumni majority on the FAMU BOT, if elected.