Back in July of 2012, a number of FAMU trustees were told
that Parker, then a member of the Florida Board of Governors (BOG), was
interested in becoming the university’s interim president. There were also
attempts to pressure them with claims that Gov. Rick Scott would welcome Parker’s
selection, but would but unhappy if then-Provost Larry Robinson were selected
for the position.
Even after FAMU trustees bucked political pressure and
appointed Robinson to the interim presidency, there was still lobbying aimed at
gathering support for Parker as a permanent FAMU president. Those efforts
temporarily calmed when she was tapped to become the chief operating officer of Florida
Polytechnic University, one of Scott’s pet projects, back in November of 2012. But
word has spread that she’s anxious to nab a higher paying job in the SUS.
Parker currently makes more than $200,000 at Florida Polytech. The SUS
chancellorship, which she declined to apply for after months of speculation, is
expected to pay at least $357,000 (the amount that ex-Chancellor Frank Brogan
made). FAMU paid its previous president a base salary of $341,000.
If anyone lacks the leadership skills to be the president of FAMU,
it’s Ava Parker.
Attack on Tenure
Under Parker, Florida Polytech has decided against offering tenure to its professors. This policy, approved by a Board of Trustees stuffed
with Scott appointees, appears to be consistent with the governor’s broader
attack against tenure in Florida’s public education system. Back in March of
2011, Scott signed tenure-killing “merit pay” legislation for the state’s K-12
schools. There’s a growing fear that Scott now wants to begin to crush tenure
at individual SUS research universities.
If FAMU has a president who doesn’t support tenure, then the
university can say goodbye to most of the professors who bring in multi-million
dollar research grants. That is especially true when it comes to the top
grant-raisers in the College of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences. Once
tenure is gone, they’ll quickly pack their bags and head to the pharmacy
colleges at schools such as the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill,
University of Texas-Austin, University of Southern California, and University
of Florida.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Parker previously
declined to use her seat on the BOG to defend the FAMU pharmacy school from
Castell Bryant and Rick Scott’s attacks. Back when she was a BOG member, she also failed to ensure accountability within the BOG’s own inspector general’s office.
Parker isn’t remotely qualified to lead FAMU. FAMU trustees
shouldn’t taint the presidential search process by giving her name any serious
consideration.