Did Governor Scott split USF Poly from USF?

[BullFan98]

According to NPR, he hasn't signed the USF Poly legislation. He has until Saturday to make a decision.

That's what I heard.

[IncrediBULL]

Look at the facts. Gov Scott met with JDA and a group of business leaders from Lakeland last week (all people who have a vested interest in a separate university that is locally controlled and operated, polk is about local businesses and lock out outsiders). Of course they supported it. He never went to the campus and asked opinions of students, student gov, faculty, etc all who are against it.

Anyway, JDA said it will focus on STEM. A key buzzword for Scott and his initiatives (and many politicians). STEM is Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (ie what a polytech would focus on).

Scott has now approved the budget which would allow for the new Poly. The only step left is approving the Senate Bill which willc reate a 12th state university, which will be either approved or vetoed in the next 3 days.

Look for him to rubber stamp this piece of crap. He won't be bold and kill it.

[Ghost]

what a travesty

[Ricky the Bull]

It's bad... but there's still hope...

Polytechnic nonsense

Editorial

By TBO.COM | Staff

Published: April 18, 2012

» 1 Comments | Post a Comment

At the same time Gov. Rick Scott signed a budget Tuesday slashing higher education by $300 million, he let slip through $33 million for Florida Polytechnic University, a school with no students, faculty or legitimate purpose.

The governor still can do the right thing — he has until Saturday to veto separate legislation (Senate Bill 1994) that actually creates the new university — but there is no reason for him to delay what should be an obvious decision.

This is no time for the revenue-pinched state to launch a 12th university — particularly one that has never gone through a feasibility study.

Consider: Since 2006, state funding for the University of South Florida has been cut by 40 percent. Other universities have experienced similar reductions.

Yet this scheme, bulldozed through the Legislature by powerful Polk Sen. JD Alexander, would create a new university scarcely 30 miles from USF and another major research university, the University of Central Florida.

This is a wise use of limited resources?

Arguments that Polytechnic's emphasis on STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — education is desperately needed to bolster the job market are absurd.

All state universities are putting greater emphasis on STEM. USF already has a renowned engineering department and is a national leader in robotics and other research.

Starting a university from scratch is the least efficient way to bolster the work force during austere times.

Indeed, Florida Polytechnic, as a new school, would not be accredited, which would take at least five years. It won't attract top students, faculty or research dollars during that time.

So much for needing to quickly meet employers' needs. If that is the priority, the state should beef up existing STEM programs.

Scott, who prides himself on being a hardnosed businessman, should also see that approving Polytechnic would permanently damage the state higher education system's ability to be deliberate and disciplined about academics and spending.

Alexander's legislative manipulations bypassed the state Board of Governors, the higher education oversight panel that had established enrollment, academic and other benchmarks for Polytechnic to achieve before becoming independent. It is now a USF branch campus.

If Scott goes along with Alexander, he would encourage other lawmakers to similarly treat the university system as a personal play toy, regardless of the impacts on taxpayers or students.

The Florida Council of 100, which represents business interests, recognized that Alexander's legislative ploy undermines the state university system and the economy it helps fuel.

In a letter to Scott, council chairman Steven T. Halverson, president of a Jacksonville design-build company, says the council believes the legislation violates the constitutional authority of the Board of Governors.

But more practically, Halverson stresses, "The state cannot afford to operate another new university in the same fiscal year that it cuts $300 million from the other 11 state universities and during a recession has resulted in close to $1 billion in total being cut from state universities."

Halverson points out that at the same time Florida cannot afford basic maintenance at existing universities, the plan for Polytechnic calls for "an additional $338 million in new facility construction in the next 10 years."

If Scott is as data-driven as he claimed to be when running for office, then he should readily see that a Florida Polytechnic at this time offers no benefits for taxpayers, students or the economy.

Halverson puts it well in his letter urging Scott to veto Senate Bill 1995:

"You have repeatedly and correctly stated that the decision to invest taxpayer dollars should be based on an objective analysis of the return on investment. Plainly, the case for Florida Polytechnic University has not been made."

The decision before Scott is clear. He can go along with the familiar Tallahassee power politics, or he can stand up for taxpayers and Florida's universities. He should veto Florida Polytechnic.

http://www2.tbo.com/news/opinion/2012/apr/18/naopino1-polytechnic-nonsense-ar-393573/?referer=None&shorturl=http%3A%2F%2Ftbo.ly%2FIWL4Nr

Edited April 18, 2012 by Ricky the Bull

[Oldsmobull]

I think Gov. Scott is going to veto the USF Poly split bill later this week. Scott kinda showed his cards yesterday after signing the budget bill when he bungled his answer and created a bunch of confusion about a 5% tuition increase. Scott in his answer deferred to the Board of Governors sorta saying they would make decision about tuition increases. I think Scott is going to use the same logic for vetoing USF Poly split bill--Scott is going to say it's the responsibility of the BOG making decision about opening a 12th state university--not the legislature, not the governor, and especially, not JD Alexander! The problem now is how to shuffle the funding back to USF after all the dealmaking with the pharmacy school, USF getting $10 million per yr forever, etc.

http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/content/scotts-suggestion-universities-limit-tuition-hikes-met-confusion

[GaUSFBull]

It just requires a suspension of disbelief to say you have to cut funding from all these schools (USF bearing the brunt notwithstanding) but you have to add a 12th state university.

Bottom line is no universities should be added if you have to keep slashing the budgets of the ones you have.

[Oldsmobull]

Too, I think Gov. Scott will sign the "Preeminent Universities Act" bill which will allow UF and FSU to charge market rate tuition above what other 9 state universites may charge. Scott's chief-of-staff, Steve MacNamara, is a tenured professor at FSU on a leave now to work for the governor. MacNamara is the real Florida governor making the decisions and calling the shots--Mac Namara will tell Scott to approve the bill allowing FSU, where MacNamara is a professor, to charge higher tuition.

[Cow Pie]

I don't know how to read Scott... he has been weak on some issues and has chosen to carry forward pointless crusades started by his ratarded predacessor... hopefully Scott vetos the split, we don't need another mouth to feed and in my opinion Scott needs to really focus on reigning in Florida's higher education mess.

Scott needs to form a special committee and force the BOG and BOR back into one unified higher education board... we don't need a BOG in charge of the States Universities and then a seperate higher education board (I think its called the BOR) competing with the BOG, who is in charge of all the States Community Colleges.

We are wasting BILLIONS of dollars by having Universities overlap with Community Colleges, and having both overlap with successful private colleges.

Since Florida can only afford to fully fund 5 Univerities then we should only have 5 Universities (UF, FSU, USF, ??, ??)... let the Community Colleges and the successful private colleges cover the rest of the State.

This is all madness...

Edited April 18, 2012 by Bubba Bull

[Triple B]

Penis head did it .... http://www2.tbo.com/news/breaking-news/2012/apr/20/gov-scott-signs-bill-form-independent-college-usf--ar-394820/?sc_cid=TBO-NEWS-Breaking

[cmhatter]

unreal...

whatever... puts more focus on the main campus...