Higher-ed leaders slam Genshaft in firing of USF Poly chief

She was slammed Thursday by members of the Board of Governors for her handling of the removal of the chancellor of the University of South Florida's Polytechnic campus in Lakeland.

But at least one board member and one state senator think the group is sticking its nose where it doesn't belong and that it should leave President Judy Genshaft alone.

"I don't think this committee should be in the hiring and firing business," said Dick Beard, a Tampa resident and member of the board's select committee on Polytechnic. "It's not our job to hire and fire. Second-guessing all of this is not very productive."

In a hastily arranged conference call three days before Christmas – one person taking part on the call was dialing in from a sailboat – Genshaft was taken to task for a lack of collaboration and communication with the board that just last month set a road map in place for the eventual independence of the Polk County campus.

The conference call never should have taken place, said state Sen. Mike Fasano, a Republican from New Port Richey. He added that he believes the board overstepped duties outlined by state statutes, and he blamed state Sen. JD Alexander for the mess.

"This is nothing but politics," said Fasano, who listened in to the hour-long meeting on the phone. "I've never seen the Board of Governors before micromanage any of our state universities."

Alexander, who wields much power in the Legislature as head of the Senate's budget committee, is a strong backer of an independent Polytechnic – and the sooner, the better. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Early in the conference call, some board members expressed exasperation at the week's events, which began Tuesday when Genshaft removed Marshall Goodman as the chancellor of the Lakeland campus.

"I think it would have been nice if we had an opportunity to hear why she wanted to make a change," said Norman Tripp, a Fort Lauderdale attorney and a member of the board's select committee on Polytech. "What she has really said to us is, 'It's my decision and I don't care what you think anyway.' ''

Tripp questioned what was so urgent that Genshaft could not wait until the Jan. 12 meeting of the board to discuss her plans to remove Goodman.

"When did he fall off the cliff and become so bad he couldn't do the job he was hired to do?" Tripp asked. "She is the one who hired him in the first place."

Tripp and others said Genshaft should have let them know of her plans to hire David Touchton, who had been an outspoken critic of the plan, as interim leader.

Genshaft apologized repeatedly for the way the replacement was handled.

"I want to extend my deepest apologies that you all did not feel I was collaborative enough," she said. "I was not trying to hold anything back. I was not trying to hide anything."

Genshaft said that in her 35 years at universities, a faculty has never expressed "no confidence" in a leader, as was the case with Goodman.

She said that she had to make the move now, during USF's winter break, so the campus would have a fresh start with the new semester in January.

"She felt there was no possible way she could continue to work with this guy and keep the institution in his hands during this interim stage," board member Beard said after meeting.

Touchton, a 68-year-old USF graduate who is a certified public accountant with no academic background, also addressed the committee.

He said he originally opposed the plan for independence because it didn't allow time for enough study. Haste could jeopardize the future of the Polytechnic campus, he said.

Touchton pledged to work with USF and the Board of Governors to put in place the steps needed to gain independence while a search for a permanent leader is under way.

"I am not a university president on a permanent basis," he said, "and I have no desire to be one."