According to the Tallahassee Democrat, the joint E-College’s
budget of $10.9M (which FAMU controls) pays for 23 FAMU professors and 27 FSU
professors. Another 36 FSU professors are paid through an FSU-only engineering recurring
appropriation of $5M.
Rattler Nation previously reported that FSU controls the funds
that pay for the majority of the E-College’s faculty. This was a result of the way that “Florida Has a Right to Know,” a state-run website that publishes the salaries of public
personnel, lists the funding sources of the E-College faculty’s compensation. Every
year, FAMU transfers the money that pays for 27 FSU faculty positions from the
joint budget to FSU’s payroll. “Florida Has a Right to Know” does not
differentiate those faculty members from the other 36 who are paid
through the FSU-only recurring appropriation of $5M.
This blog apologizes for that mistake and has made appropriate corrections (that are indicated with editorial notes) throughout the site.
FAMU President Elmira Mangum has correctly explained that FAMU would need an additional amount of almost $5M on
top of the current $10.9M in annual recurring funds in order to secure an
adequate number of professors for an independent E-College.
The fact remains that if FAMU does not receive the money to
replace all of the 36 FSU faculty who are paid through the FSU-only
appropriation, then it might prevent the university from maintaining all of the six
bachelor’s, seven master’s, and six Ph.D. programs that are offered by the
current FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. The lack of all the funds that are necessary for faculty
replacement hiring could also jeopardize the university’s ability to meet the
accreditation requirements of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and
Technology.