Fla. House speaker wants BOG review before engineering college split is considered

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State Sen. John E. Thrasher’s effort to break up the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering might die in the Florida Legislature’s budget conference negotiations.

According to the Associated Press, Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, “said he wants the Florida Board of Governors to weigh in on the proposal before taking any action.”

He told the Tampa Bay Times that: "I would say that both (Florida State University) and (Florida A&M University) have very good points to be made. I would also say that the Board of Governors has a role to play in this conversation. I don’t think the Florida House is in a rush to do anything."

Weatherford’s announcement comes one day after the Tampa Bay Times published an editorial that said any proposed split should be vetted by “the Board of Governors, trustees from both universities, students and the public.”

Back on April 8, FAMU President Elmira Mangum wrote Gov. Rick Scott and said she was uncomfortable with “the lack of involvement and input from the Board of Governors for the State University System.”

The following week, former FAMU Presidents Walter Smith, Frederick Humphries, Fred Ganious, James Ammons, and Larry Robinson released a joint letter that opposed the effort to divide the college “void of discussion and input from the current leadership of the two universities, the university Boards of Trustees and the Florida Board of Governors.”

Weatherford also added that: "My goal is that whatever takes place, whether it’s a conversation driven by the Board of Governors or the Legislature, that FAMU is unharmed, and that Florida State is unharmed. That there’s a way to do this that’s amicable, a way that both universities can flourish, in a way that both universities can provide high quality engineering degrees for their students."

The BOG does not plan to discuss the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering until its June meeting. If Weatherford continues to insist on a BOG review, then that could block the funding for the proposed split from making it into the final version of the budget that goes to the governor.

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