Florida Polytechnic University will start its life as the newest state university on July 1st. It was created by allowing the University of South Florida’s polytechnic campus to become independent. But Lynn Hatter reports even though it has a name, it doesn’t have much else at this point.
Florida Polytechnic has no students, no buildings, no president, no administration and no board. What it does have is $33 million in state funding, some assets waiting to be transferred from its parent school, the University of South Florida, land, and the law that created it.
That law says the university should be accredited in about four years, but accrediting officials have said the process could take much longer.
Meanwhile, current students at the University of South Florida’s polytech campus will be allowed to graduate under the USF banner. But the future is less clear for new students, whose financial aid is tied to an accredited program.
These and many other issues still need to be ironed out. The state board that oversees Florida’s public universities has scheduled a meeting for late May to figure out how to proceed.
