Buried in a 52 page bill awaiting action in the Legislature is a proposal that would abolish the independent accreditation of USF St. Petersburg.
If adopted, the bill would end the independence that the St. Petersburg campus won from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 2006.
The bill, HB 423, is sponsored by House Majority Leader Ray Rodrigues of Estero in Lee County. The Post-Secondary Education Subcommittee is scheduled to address the bill at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
The bill caught at least one senior faculty member by surprise.
It may be well intentioned but “springing this on us, without a full hearing, is pretty outrageous,” said Ray Arsenault, professor of Southern history, who has been a faculty member for 37 years. Arsenault said he was not aware of the proposal until he was contacted by The Crow’s Nest.
After checking with an administrator, Arsenault told the newspaper that the bill is apparently the work of Rep. Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, who is trying to fix a problem with the reporting of graduation rates.
So-called retention rates—the percentage of students who graduate within four or six years—are considered crucial “metrics” in measuring the success of a university.
The St. Petersburg campus has lagged behind the Tampa campus in retention rates because some students who begin college in St. Petersburg transfer to Tampa to complete their degrees.
Arsenault and others on the St. Petersburg campus have worked for years to put distance between their small campus and the main campus in Tampa.
Separate accreditation followed their efforts, which ended 43 years under the direct control of the Tampa campus.
When St. Petersburg earned its separate accreditation in 2006, it was considered a key milestone for the campus.
Separate accreditation, which is considered prestigious in academic governance, meant the St. Petersburg campus got more control over hiring, curriculum and student admissions.
The accreditation was renewed in 2011 and is scheduled for another renewal in 2021.
The Sarasota-Manatee campus earned its separate accreditation in 2011. That campus also would lose its independence if the proposed language is adopted.
Even with separate accreditation, the St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee campuses still fall under the ultimate control of USF system President Judy Genshaft and the system’s 13-member Board of Trustees.
That arrangement has remained a cause of friction between the St. Petersburg and Tampa campuses. In September, Genshaft ousted St. Petersburg’s popular chancellor, Sophia Wisniewska—a move that dismayed many on USFSP’s campus.
Arsenault called Wisniewska’s ouster “an execution, not a resignation.”
The language that would dissolve St. Petersburg’s independence appears in a lengthy bill that addresses several planning, administrative and reporting requirements in the state university system.
The paragraph that would end separate accreditation for St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee is on page 51 of the 52 page bill.
Rodrigues, 47, the bill’s sponsor, is a budget manager at Florida Gulf Coast University, according to his profile on a legislative website.
USFSP’s interim Regional Chancellor Martin Tadlock referred all questions to Lara Wade, USF’s spokeswoman.
“If this bill becomes a law, minimizing the impact on our students, faculty and staff would be the number one priority,” wrote Wade. “Regardless of the outcome, we intend for each USF System campus to continue achieving higher levels of student success and scholarly activity, and as a result we will provide all students with the world-class education they came here to earn. We will remain focused on reaching our strategic goals, serving the entire Tampa Bay region and maintaining the strong partnerships we have built in each community.”
Read Wade’s complete statement below:
“The Florida House of Representatives has proposed a bill that would result in a consolidation of the current USF System. If the bill is passed by the state legislature and signed into law by the governor, our institutions in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee would be statutorily required to operate under a single, unified accreditation.
If this bill becomes a law, minimizing the impact on our students, faculty and staff would be the number one priority. Under the current form of the bill, the USF Board of Trustees would have until January 15, 2019 to submit an implementation plan to the Florida Board of Governors and separate accreditation would need to be phased out by June 30, 2020. We would work with leadership at all three USF System institutions, our Board of Trustees, the Board of Governors, elected officials and community leaders to develop a transition plan that will advance the university’s mission and vision.
Regardless of the outcome, we intend for each USF System campus to continue achieving higher levels of student success and scholarly activity, and as a result we will provide all students with the world-class education they came here to earn. We will remain focused on reaching our strategic goals, serving the entire Tampa Bay region and maintaining the strong partnerships we have built in each community.
The values of the USF System include unity, loyalty and the recognition that we are stronger when we work together. We intend to use those principles to help guide us through this process.”
Header photo courtesy of USFSP
