Alexander says BOG’s performance funding system unfair to FAMU, FGCU, NCF, UNF, UWF

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On December 12, 2017, state Rep. Ramon Alexander, D-Tallahassee, held a Virtual Town Hall Meeting on Facebook Live. He used to event to explain why he’s building support to change the system that provides performance-based funding (PBF) to the State University System schools in Florida.

“It’s not fair,” Alexander said. “And just like the criminal justice system is designed for our future to fail, the way our current State University System funding model is set up, it is designed for institutions like Florida A&M University to fail.”

Alexander is a former FAMU student body president and currently represents both FAMU and Florida State University in the legislature.

FAMU has only received new PBF money two times in the four years of the program. It received $11,509,132 for 2016-2017 based mainly on metrics from the previous year. FAMU maintained the same overall score on the metrics the next year, but received $0 in new PBF.

“Last year FAMU received a 65,” Alexander said. “We received a 65 again and we got penalized. Every time FAMU goes up, they change the game in the middle of the game. We have to push the reset button. And we have to figure out how to function. The system is designed for Florida A&M University to fail.”

The University of North Florida didn’t receive any new PBF money for the second consecutive year even though it improved from 56 to 58. Florida Gulf Coast University got $8,010,396 last year with 67 but received $0 this year after slipping down just one point to a 66.

Alexander said this problem comes from the BOG’s decision to change the metrics each year in ways that benefit many of the biggest universities and deny any new PBF funding to the “Bottom 3” no matter how much they improve. 

“This ‘Bottom 3’ concept within the Board of Governors is a flawed system,” he said. “It is a tiered system. And it is not in the best interests of all of our state universities.”

Alexander said that this is bad for FAMU, FGCU, New College of Florida, UNF, and the University of West Florida.

“So institutions like Florida A&M University, University of North Florida, University of West Florida, Florida Gulf Coast…they’re making the internal changes and the system is designed for them to lose,” he said. “And then when they make the adjustments and they improve their standing, and they get out of the ‘Bottom 3’ the policy changes and they have to hit the reset button in order to compete again. It makes no sense.”

The bigger research schools also get an extra advantage from the “Preeminent State Research Universities Program,” Alexander said. The University of Florida and FSU are classified as “Preeminent” and the University of South Florida and University of Central are classified as “Emerging Preeminent.” They all receive extra funding based on those statuses.

“Every year, with these funding disparities, they expect all these other institutions to compete at the same level with the Preeminent and the Emerging Preeminent institutions,” Alexander said.

He added: “It is completely asinine to think that the University of North Florida can compete with the University of Florida especially when you look at the disparities in funding.”

Alexander is reaching out across party lines to make changes to the PBF system.

“I think we’re getting great feedback,” he said. “I think there needs to be accountability in the system. But how we hold institutions accountable, there has to be a better way.”

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