The president of the USF St. Petersburg Faculty Senate said the campus “is in real jeopardy at this point.”
Rep. Chris Spowls (left) and Sen. Jeff Brandes say that the USF system president should follow the laws they enacted on branch campuses.
Courtesy of Grace Cunningham and Wikimedia Commons
By Nancy McCann
Three Pinellas County legislators said Thursday they expect university leaders to follow both the letter and spirit of the law as the three campuses of USF are consolidated into one next year.
Laws enacted in 2018 and 2019 stipulate that St. Petersburg’s distinctive features should be preserved and that St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee should become full branch campuses with substantial authority over academics and student affairs.
“The Legislature has spoken on this issue” after hearing extensively from the community, said Rep. Chris Sprowls, a Palm Harbor Republican who is chairman of the powerful House Rules Committee.
“We passed a law that we felt encompassed the discussion about branch campuses,” he said. “We are concerned about the implementation of bills that we pass to make sure that they meet both the letter and the spirit of the law that was passed and we will continue to be engaged in that process.”
Sprowls’ comments, which came at a meeting of the Pinellas legislative delegation at St. Petersburg College, followed the release of a “preliminary blueprint” for consolidation that USF system President Steve Currall unveiled earlier this week.
That plan, which centralizes almost all academic authority on the Tampa campus, has drawn criticism from many in St. Petersburg who think their campus is being short-changed.
In their meeting and in comments to The Crow’s Nest afterward, the legislators indicated they are concerned as well.
“I am a big follower of Dr. Phil, and if you read Dr. Phil’s book, life lesson No. 1 is either you get it or you don’t,” Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, told USF St. Petersburg professor Ray Arsenault, who urged legislators to protect the St. Petersburg campus.
“I want you to know that the legislative delegation before you gets it as it relates to consolidation and where we stand on USF St. Petersburg being a branch campus,” Brandes said.
“We are going to continue to support the great faculty and team at USF St. Petersburg and the regional chancellor to ensure the legislative intent is followed as relates to branch campus status,” he said.
In an interview after the meeting, Brandes alluded to the $16 million shortfall in money needed to complete construction of USF’s new medical school facility in downtown Tampa.
“I think they (in Tampa) want windows in their medical school,” said Brandes. “And there’s always no shortage of asks by the university system and USF and we want to be supportive of those, but we also fully expect the legislative intent to be followed.”
Sprowls predicted after the meeting that Currall’s proposed plan will get more scrutiny and deliberation.
“When the draft becomes a final product,” he said, “I believe it will be consistent with the law we passed.”
Sprowls, the principal architect of the laws on consolidation, stands to become speaker of the House – with authority over numerous issues that are important to USF leaders – in two years.
Rep. Ben Diamond, a Democrat whose district includes most of St. Petersburg, told Arsenault during the legislative delegation meeting that the Currall plan greatly concerns him.
“I went back after this preliminary blueprint was released and read the language in Florida law that we passed under Chairman Sprowls’ leadership related to branch campuses,” he said.
“It talks about branch campuses having their own faculty and administrative and supervisory organizations and having their own budgetary and hiring authority,” Diamond said.
“The idea now that our (St. Petersburg) campus would only have control over non-academic budgets – I just don’t see how that squares with the requirement of Florida law when the mission of the university is academic.”
Arsenault, a history professor who is president of the St. Petersburg Faculty Senate, urged the legislators to “save the day” for the campus, which he called a “precious resource” for Pinellas County.
“We have been flourishing. We have an excellent faculty and a nurturing attitude for our students. It’s a wonderful place,” said Arsenault, speaking in a firm and measured tone.
But the campus is “in real jeopardy at this point,” Arsenault said.
“There’s a real despondency on campus right now with fear that all we have worked for will disappear.”
As Arsenault left the meeting later, he said he was “pleased and encouraged” by the legislators’ comments.
