Machen plans to donate bonus to scholarship program, Independent Florida Alligator

By Thomas Stewart
December 9, 2008

Just in time for the holidays, Bernie’s giving back.About 10 minutes after the Board of Trustees, UF’s highest governing body, voted Monday to give UF President Bernie Machen performance bonuses totaling $285,000, Machen announced he was donating the money to UF.

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FAU staff raises anger faculty, Palm Beach Post

By Kimberly Miller
December 9, 2008


More than 100 Florida Atlantic University staff members got raises of 10 percent or higher this year despite millions of dollars in budget cuts that forced the reduction of 130 jobs during the summer.

School administrators say the university actually saved money by awarding increases to people who took on extra duties, instead of hiring new employees to replace those who left or to fill positions that were vacant. All but about 30 of the jobs cut were unfilled.

But salary bumps of select staff members that were as high as 30 percent have raised the ire of FAU's United Faculty of Florida, which sent a memo to professors this weekend titled "Bargaining Under Brogan's Board."

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Florida A&M trustees warned to plan for tough times, Tallahassee Democrat

By Angeline J. Taylor
December 7, 2008

Florida A&M’s Chief Financial Officer Theresa Hardee offered two words of advice to trustees after summarizing the dismal financial picture facing the university — prioritize now.

Last week, Hardee gave FAMU trustees a look at how much the university will hurt financially if another round of state budget cuts is ordered. FAMU has lost $11.3 million in general revenues since July. However, Hardee said state universities could face an additional 5-percent cut — meaning a $5.3 million loss for FAMU.

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Progressive? CLAS firings reflect bias, not diversity, Independent Florida Alligator

December 4, 2008

Here at the Editorial Board, we have noticed that the repeated appearance of a few key factors in the Alligator has actually presented us with a defined cycle.

The failing economy leads to budget cuts. Budget cuts lead to layoffs. Layoffs lead to finger–pointing and angry protesters. And we get to document all of it.

This time around, the cycle is affecting the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. UF’s recent budget cuts have been widely reported locally, so it was not a surprise to see a large portion of the cutbacks aimed at UF’s largest college.

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Board of Trustees to vote on Machen's bonus, Independent Florida Alligator

By Thomas Steward
December 8, 2008

UF President Bernie Machen’s bonuses, totaling $285,000, will be up for discussion at UF’s Board of Trustees meeting Monday.

The board, UF’s highest governing body, will decide if Machen will receive the bonuses this year.

Last year, the board approved his bonuses by a vote of 12–1, with Trustee Al Warrington voting against the extra pay.

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Legislative pyramid scheme, News Journal

By Mark Lane
December 7, 2008

What is a "leadership institute" and why does Florida higher education demand one in the greater Niceville area of Okaloosa County? That's Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom's $750,000 question.

Rep. Sansom, R-Destin, not only became speaker of the Florida House this month, but he became Northwest Florida State College's vice president of development and planning, earning $110,000 a year.

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Helping hire ed, Florida Today

December 7, 2008

Space Coast parents of students hoping to attend state universities with the help of Bright Futures scholarships should pay close attention to a tuition hike proposal that could soon hit them where it hurts.

The proposal — which comes from Gov. Charlie Crist — does this:

Allows the 11 public universities to raise differential tuition 15 percent a year starting next fall until Florida rates reach the national average, now $6,585. Average tuition at a Florida university this year is $3,800.

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Report: Reversing the Course of Academic Staffing, FACE

By Craig Smith
December 2, 2008

Today, AFT releases a new report, Reversing Course: The Troubled State of Academic Staffing and a Path Forward, which provides further data on higher education's continuing reliance on underpaid contingent faculty and the parallel decline in the number of full-time tenure-track faculty. The report looks not only at the numbers of contingent faculty now in the workforce, but also at the number of classes and students they are teaching as well as what they earn. This analysis is followed by a new interactive model to help colleges, unions and other faculty organizations, or even states begin to calculate the cost of reversing this trend.

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