TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Universities' Overseers Consider Change In Formula For Funding

ADVERTISEMENT

By ADAM EMERSON

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 20, 2008

ORLANDO - Florida's public universities receive state money based on the growth in their enrollment.

But the largest universities, including the University of South Florida, aren't growing much these days.

So their overseers on Thursday began work on a model that would change the way the state funds its universities. It is better, some university leaders say, to support them based on the costs of education that increase annually, something that public school districts already do.

"The only way to get more money now is to grow," said Bill Edmonds, spokesman for the state university system's Board of Governors, which discussed the plan at its meeting Thursday at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

Some universities, including the University of Florida and Florida State University, plan to cut back enrollment by thousands of students as they deal with multimillion-dollar cuts from the state.

The financial outlook delivered to the board Thursday was just as grim. The 11 public universities will have to cut 4 percent of their state budgets in the new fiscal year, which starts July 1.

That cut amounts to $100 million, which is greater than the state payout to the University of North Florida in Jacksonville.

Under the new funding plan, which is in its early stages, a university would ask the state to fund its current enrollment in a way that "weights" some students more than others. Engineering students, for instance, cost more to train than students in the liberal arts.

Taken together, the "weighted" count would result in a per-student appropriation similar to that paid to public school districts. The amount would be negotiated with the Legislature annually, Edmonds said.

Such a model would bankroll the universities in an "appropriate and predictable fashion," said Tico Perez, a member of the Board of Governors. But it's a model that could be a long way off; the board doesn't anticipate perfecting it before the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

Nor would it be bulletproof. With tax revenue dropping, the Legislature last spring cut the per-student appropriation paid to public schools.

In other business, the Board of Governors picked its new leader. Sheila McDevitt, the board vice chairwoman and retired chief legal counsel for TECO Energy, was named chairwoman.

McDevitt replaces Carolyn Roberts, who has led the board since its creation in 2002 and has been its most visible advocate in every legislative session.

When legislative leaders threatened to weaken the board's powers, McDevitt said she lobbied on behalf of the board "every week."

McDevitt, a graduate of FSU's College of Law, is a longtime lawyer in the Tampa area. She climbed the senior ranks at TECO, eventually becoming vice president and general counsel in 1999. She retired from TECO in July 2007.

Board of Governors member Ava Parker, a Jacksonville lawyer, will replace McDevitt as the board's vice chairwoman.

Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285 or

aemerson@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT