Governor Rick Scott’s higher education panel is in its “brainstorming” phase. Recommendations for making the state’s colleges and universities more efficient are due to the Governor in the next few months. At meeting in St. Petersburg Thursday, the group discussed the need for the state’s many higher education systems to be more organized and affordable.
State University System Frank Brogan told the panel that it should consider making state funding and tuition more predictable and focus on attracting top students and faculty. He also says there needs to be more collaboration between the schools and the state:
“As we all know, every governance structure, if it’s not predicated on collaboration it doesn’t matter what the boards are, what the boxes on the governance chart are. If it doesn’t start with collaboration it doesn’t work.”
The panel also heard recommendations for giving institutions greater authority. And university faculty told the group that the state’s low-tuition rates don’t translate to a quality system. The panel’s recommendations are due to the governor by the end of October.
