Top (left to right): Jonah Hinebaugh, Dylan Hart, Emily Wunderlich, Katlynn Mullins, MK Brittain Bottom (L to R): James Bennett III, Thomas Iacobucci, Carrie Pinkard.
Thomas Iacobucci | The Crow’s Nest
By Crow’s Nest Staff
It seems the backlash wasn’t clear enough when the Florida Legislature abolished USF St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee’s independent accreditations in 2018.
Now, lawmakers have set their sights on two more targets: New College of Florida in Sarasota, and Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland — both former satellite campuses of USF.
Under House Bill 7087, proposed on Feb. 10, both public institutions would become part of Florida State University and the University of Florida, respectively, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
The bill to strip their independence is sponsored by state Rep. Randy Fine, a Palm Bay Republican who is chairman of the House Higher Education Subcommittee. He says his proposal would reduce how much the state spends on higher education.
The measure was approved by the House Education Committee with a 12-6 vote on Feb. 12. It does not have a companion bill in the Senate.
The Education Dive website, which covers and analyzes education governance, says other states have adopted similar mergers in an attempt to blunt declining enrollments and reduce administrative costs.
At both campuses, leaders denounced the proposal and the way it was sprung on them.
“We respectfully and strongly oppose this unnecessary and unwarranted legislation,” Florida Polytechnic said in a statement.
“Dunderheaded ideas are blooming like early azaleas up in Tallahassee,” the Sarasota Herald-Tribune editorial board said.
As students at a university undergoing the consolidation process, we want to shed light on the glaring struggles and issues that riddle the process and, most likely, the final product.
When the initial phases of consolidation were underway, the university was considering a number of sweeping changes to USF St. Petersburg, including designating the campus as an “instructional site,” largely sapping it of its autonomy and identity.
It took dozens of stories in The Crow’s Nest to clear the fog around consolidation and the advocacy of longtime faculty to keep these changes from turning the campus into a shell of its former self. These are luxuries that other schools aren’t always able to afford.
The two smaller USF campuses have had to fight tooth and nail to remain anywhere near autonomous. And even when they think they’ve sprung a victory, the main university body still tries to sneakily ensure plans that benefit them (and them alone).
Such was the case only a few weeks ago, when The Crow’s Nest found charts showing the St. Petersburg campus regional chancellors having little to no authority, despite repeated promises from President Steve Currall.
Both universities will be falsely assured that a lot of the things that once made your campus thrive will stay in place.
University administration will see both campuses as little more than a number and will make sure that each school falls in line with whatever the bigger campus is doing, even if it doesn’t make sense — i.e. taking entire colleges from the USF St. Petersburg campus and placing them under the authority of Tampa.
Despite inactive or defunct student newspapers, the struggle must continue.
The Crow’s Nest commends both NCF and FPU students for organizing walkouts and being outraged at the news. In the case of USF, we will be left to wonder what difference it would’ve made if students acted out more against the merger –– whether it be organizing protests or signing the petition one student made.
This is a time for faculty, administration and students to stand united in a struggle against legislation that would effectively erode the progress made by each school. The path carved by them should not hastily be erased in favor of adding to two already monolithic schools.
Push your representatives to speak out. Educate your classmates. Hold accountable the ones who introduced the bill and are idle in the struggle against it.
Most importantly, do not fall so easily into aloofness and believe the freedom and authority enjoyed now will stay the same.
Thank you for this great article! I was New College’s student body president in 2008, when New College and USF Sarasota-Manatee were unwinding their relationship (and USF Sarasota-Manatee opened up its new campus north of the New College campus on Tamiami Trail), and I think both institutions benefited from greater autonomy. Universities and colleges are so much more than “instructional sites.” It’s really necessary to have locally present, locally invested administrators who care about creating a good environment for a college campus to function well.