By Tom Flanigan
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wfsu/local-wfsu-968681.mp3
Tallahassee, FL – In the wake of the 2011 Florida Legislative Session, many state-supported programs will see drastic cutbacks. That will include the state university system, but Tom Flanigan reports the chancellor of the system's board of governors is looking on the bright side.
Frank Brogan has one of the longer resumes of any state-level public servant in Florida. He's been a classroom teacher, public school superintendent, Florida Commissioner of Education, Jeb Bush's first lieutenant governor, then president of Florida Atlantic University. In 2009 he became the tenth chancellor of the Florida University System Board of Governors.
"We have a seventeen member, constitutionally created board called the Board of Governors. It is made up of gubernatorial appointments as well as a student who represents all eleven universities it has a faculty member who represents all eleven and it has the Commissioner of Education who has been Eric Smith, who sadly will be leaving us come the end of this month or next month. And those seventeen members meet regularly and set the regulatory authority for the state university system."
Recent years have not been the best of times for that system as far as state funding goes. That figure has been steadily shrinking in concert with the general economic turndown. Brogan says he's had a chance to see much of that from a unique perspective.
"For a three-year string while I was president at Florida Atlantic University, we faced about a 25 or 26-percent reduction in our general revenue budgets of the state universities. So last year was a much better year. We were able to hold ground. This year, I believe we're going to be able to hold ground again, generally speaking, from any significant reductions in our budgets. Again, much of that is thankful to the legislature, but also to our students for increasing their contribution."
More on that student contribution in a moment. But, despite Chancellor Brogan's sunny assessment, there are still some tough budget cuts facing many of the state's public universities. The size of those cuts is expected to range from as little as nine million dollars and as much as forty-million dollars. Just to cite a few examples, the University of Florida's hit will be around thirty-three million dollars. Florida State is looking at nineteen million dollars in cuts. The University of South Florida is in better shape. It's looking at only a nine-million dollar reduction. That's because the legislature this year set aside just under three-and-a-half billion dollars for the state university system; about four-percent less than last year. That figure assumes tuition hikes. All schools will be allowed to raise tuition by seven percent right away. Brogan says they can also push for the maximum-allowed hike of fifteen percent, but that must be approved by the Board of Governors on a case-by-case basis.
"Based on the metrics as to how they're doing with the money they currently receive with issues of retention rate, graduation rates, time-to-degree issues, number of degrees offered, and then the Board of Governors in partnership with the institutions will arrive at a final tuition for that institution market-based."
Brogan admits the whole tuition issue, including who gets to set the rate, has been a flash-point with the Florida Legislature for many years. Historically, lawmakers have seemed determined to keep tuition rates, especially for in-state students, as low as possible. As a result, public university tuition rates in Florida rank forty-eighth nationally. But now there are fewer state tax dollars available and a legislature that seems more inclined to let market forces do their thing. Brogan says despite the hardship some students may experience, it's still all about them and the quality of education they receive.
"If they will increase the amount they pay, they will see more sections offered so they can get their degree faster, they will receive more services, etc. number one. Number two, there's just a clear understanding that as states contribute less because of the economy, it has to come from somewhere. And so many members of the legislature have come to the hard, stark realization that if the state can't get us there, we're going to have to ask our students for more."
Brogan says there' are also a few more things that schools can do on the expense side of the ledger, even in the wake of all those ongoing budget cuts. Before the current Board of Governors arrangement, Florida's universities were under the far more tightly controlling Board of Regents. Since its demise, schools were to a large degree allowed to go their own way, creating new departments and programs and all aspiring to be world-class research universities. Now, with money so tight, Brogan sees a more active role for the current oversight body.
"The Board of Governors working now with each of the universities is trying to help each university identify its individual mission, its goals, its priorities and then organize the eleven in a way that will reduce redundancy, get rid of unwarranted, unnecessary duplication of effort when it exists."
Not to mention a lot more involvement in the communities in which these institutions reside. Now, with a much less adversarial relationship between the Board of Governors and the Legislature, Brogan - ever the optimist - is looking ahead to the 2012 session. That's when he and the Board will deliver a comprehensive action plan for Florida's University System, integrating it more closely with the entire education structure, including community colleges, and kindergarten-through-twelfth grade schools.