Update 5:25 pm: Florida A&M University has suspended its search for a new president. The chairman of the school’s board says it would be “unfair” to bring in a new president as long as the school is dealing with accreditation problems.
FAMU was placed under accreditation probation in the wake of the hazing death of one of the school band’s drum majors. That scandal led to the resignation of former president James Ammons. In a press release, FAMU Board of Trustees Chairman Solomon Badger says the school faces a tight timeline to respond to the accrediting agency and wants to focus on that.
Nearly 30 people applied for the vacant job of university president. Several were senior administrators from other Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Three were from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, a Washington D.C.-based higher education think tank.
In a statement, Badger said the decision to suspend the search isn’t a reflection on the quality of candidates the school received. FAMU’s board was supposed to meet next week in Orlando to pick finalists. That meeting has been cancelled.
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Nearly 30 people have applied for the vacant job of Florida A&M University President and school trustees will meet next week to narrow down the list.
Potential candidates include senior administrators from other Historically Black Colleges and Universities, including FAMU’s in-state rival Bethune- Cookman University, along with three people from the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, a Washington-based higher education think-tank.
FAMU Trustees will meet in Orlando March 18-19 to go through the list. Finalists could be named as early as Tuesday.
The meeting will be webcast.
