(Pictured Above) State Sen. Jeff Brandes (left) and Ed Montanari, chair of the St. Petersburg City Council, both contend that USF leaders are violating the spirit of the law on consolidation.
Left Image Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Right Image Courtesy of City of St. Petersburg
By Nancy McCann
Perturbed at the way the USF administration and trustees are handling consolidation, Pinellas County legislators intend to intervene again.
State Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg, warned Monday that the Legislature may take action to replace some members of the 13-member Board of Trustees and amend the law – again – to ensure that the St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee campuses are protected.
In an interview with The Crow’s Nest, Brandes criticized the university’s leadership for violating the spirit of laws already on the books and said changes must come at the top.
“I would say we’re reviewing the entire structure of the current board (of trustees) to ensure it best reflects the community values and the leadership on that board (that is) needed to sustain the university,” he said.
Similar criticism came from Ed Montanari, the chair of the St. Petersburg City Council, who said recent declines in freshman enrollment in St. Petersburg are “frightening” and a directive to change the campus’ name is “insulting.”
“I don’t want USF St. Petersburg to just kind of wither away and die on the vine,” Montanari told the newspaper. “We need a strong, vibrant university that’s right here in our downtown, and I want the university to thrive.
“Just because they are thriving over in Tampa – that doesn’t cut it for me,” he said. “I’m not going to sit idly by and just allow this to happen.”
Advised of the elected officials’ comments, the university administration did not respond directly to the pointed criticism.
Instead, spokesperson Adam Freeman issued a statement that said USF is “deeply invested in the success of students and faculty on all of our campuses.”
As the university continues “to navigate the complexities of consolidating our three campuses, our focus is on balancing state law with the plan approved in June by our accrediting agency,” he said. “We remain committed to maintaining the unique identity of each USF campus.” (See full statement below).
When Pinellas legislators abruptly moved in 2018 to abolish the independence of the two smaller USF campuses, they drew loud criticism from USF St. Petersburg and its allies in the county’s political and business communities.
The lawmakers pushed ahead, but in 2018 and again in 2019 they took steps to ensure that St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee would become full branch campuses with their own budget and hiring authority and that their special identities would be preserved.
In recent months, however, USF leaders have seemed intent on taking steps that Brandes says violate both the letter and spirit of the law:
** They directed the smaller campuses to rename themselves the “USF St. Petersburg campus” and “USF Sarasota-Manatee campus” – even though the law says they should be called USF St. Petersburg and USF Sarasota-Manatee.
** They signaled that the university should have only one budget – even though the law directs the trustees to “publish and approve an annual operating budget for each campus.”
** They moved key personnel who reported to Regional Chancellor Martin Tadlock to supervisors in Tampa – even though the law specifies that St. Petersburg is a full branch campus.
Perhaps most alarming is the plunge in freshman enrollment in St. Petersburg after campus admission requirements were rapidly raised beginning in 2018 to meet USF’s aims under consolidation.
This fall, St. Petersburg has less than half of the first-time-in-college freshmen it had in 2016, with only one new black freshman.
Both Brandes and Montanari cited the enrollment numbers in their comments Monday.
Brandes said USF leaders “have lost focus” on the smaller campuses, and Montanari said the stunning decline is “just frightening … I don’t accept it.”
“One hundred percent, there’s not going to be (only) one budget,” Brandes said. “If they had a long track record of generous thought of the other (smaller) campuses, that would be one thing. But they don’t.”
The name change “drives me crazy,” said Montanari. “Our name is everything to us. We have taken so much pride and we’ve had so much effort into branding our city and putting St. Petersburg on the map and having the University of South Florida St. Petersburg right here in our downtown. It’s part of our DNA.”
Their comments came the same day The Crow’s Nest published an interview with St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman, who said recent consolidation developments are “exactly what we feared” would happen.
The principal architect of the move to abolish St. Petersburg’s accreditation and require the three USF campuses to seek a single accreditation was Rep. Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor.
As incoming speaker of the Florida House, Sprowls is one of the most powerful figures in state government.
But it is Brandes who has become the Pinellas delegation’s outspoken point person on consolidation.
In interviews Monday and two weeks ago, he has called out the trustees, suggested that administrators are not transparent and hinted that the Legislature might retaliate by cutting USF’s budget.
Brandes said he has not shared his concerns with President Steve Currall and Provost Ralph Wilcox, but he has spoken with Tadlock and “a couple of members” of the Board of Trustees.
“My belief is that this is a board-level conversation,” he said. “It’s honestly their job, the board’s job, to work with the president.”
He also said he, Sen. Darryl Rouson, D-St. Petersburg, and Rep. Ben Diamond, D-St. Petersburg, “are planning to sit down with (university) leadership in the coming weeks.”
Six members of the USF Board of Trustees are appointed by the governor and five are appointed by the state board that oversees the state’s 12 public universities and confirmed by the Florida Senate. The presidents of the USF Faculty Senate and USF Student Government are also trustees.
“This is not what we had hoped, obviously, when we entered into consolidation talks,” Brandes said. “It’s an area we believe we must step into and address as a legislative body.”
‘Navigate the complexities of consolidating’
USF spokesperson Adam Freeman provided this response to the comments of Brandes and Montanari:
The University of South Florida is deeply invested in the success of students and faculty on all of our campuses.
In fact, through consolidation USF students are already benefitting from a wide range of new opportunities as they pursue a degree from a preeminent state research university and researchers are collaborating in ways they never have before to the benefit of the entire Tampa Bay region.
As we continue to navigate the complexities of consolidating our three campuses, our focus is on balancing state law with the plan approved in June by our accrediting agency. We remain committed to maintaining the unique identity of each USF campus as we work together with the communities we serve in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee to strengthen our position as one of the nation’s premier research universities and a leader in student success.
We firmly believe that each of our campuses play a critically important role as we pursue our aspirations to become a top-25 public research university and position ourselves for eligibility for membership in the Association of American Universities.
St Pete has a distinctive campus and culture. The need to protect its autonomy is critical and I’m thrilled that Brandes and Kriseman are speaking out🌟
The StPete Campus has already lost numerous personnel and programs. Let’s stop the bleeding.
The logo situation is out of control – 4 versions in less than 3 years. The addition of ‘campus’ to the most recent logo is ridiculous. This may seem like a minor issue to many, but someone needs to do an audit to show how much has been spent on Redoing collateral, promo items, signs, banners and stationary During the past couple of years of indecision and dispruption. Waste!