“The Research Foundation is needed to assist the University
in mitigating potential risk associated with emerging opportunities involving
cannabis,” said an action item that Interim Provost Rodner Wright presented to
the Academic and Student Affairs Committee of the Board of Trustees (BOT) on September 5.
“The foundation will allow FAMU to engage members of this market sector while
managing risks to the University.”
Members of the full BOT approved the proposal during a meeting on September 15.
Members of the full BOT approved the proposal during a meeting on September 15.
The decision to reestablish the foundation follows the signing of SB 1726, “Industrial Hemp Pilot Projects” by Gov. Rick Scott on June 16. The new law, which was introduced by state Sen. Bill Montford, says that: “The [Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services] shall authorize and oversee the development of industrial hemp pilot projects for the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences at the University of Florida, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, and any land grant university in the state that has a college of agriculture…The purpose of the pilot projects is to cultivate, process, test, research, create, and market safe and effective commercial applications for industrial hemp in the agricultural sector in this state.”
The FAMU Research Foundation will help the university meet
the goals set in that law. One of its purposes will be “the promotion and
encouragement of, and assistance to, the research and training activities of
faculty, staff and students of Florida A&M University…through income from
contracts, grants and other sources, including, but not limited to, income
derived from or related to the development and commercialization of University
work products.”