Four months after UF President Bernie Machen announced he will step down from his post next year, nobody is sure who will replace him.
On-campus interviews will start soon, and updates from search committee chairman David Brown suggest the university is getting a lot of interest from leaders at other academic institutions.
Names like Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and UF Provost Joe Glover have been floating around as candidates for the job, but as of now, anyone can be nominated.
According to the presidential search committee’s list of desired criteria, UF’s next leader should have “an academic background and credentials, including a Ph.D. or highest degree in the chosen field,” who is “recognized as a national and international scholar of distinction” and “has experience in an administrative leadership position at a major university.”
One of the things often mentioned is that UF is looking for a leader at an institution belonging to the Association of American Universities.
Of the 61 AAU universities in the U.S., UF is the only one in Florida.
Whoever the university chooses, the new president is going to face challenges, particularly of the financial variety.
According to UF budget documents, the state has cut roughly $183 million from UF’s operating budget from 2008 to 2013.
UF Vice President and CFO Matt Fajack said the university’s funding for new buildings has been cut drastically.
While $183 million in lost state revenue sounds like a big number, it should be put in perspective.
UF has a yearly budget of $4.6 billion, 10 percent of which are state dollars.
Even if the state government decides to pull its punches when it comes to university funding, there’s still the federal government to worry about, said Cheri Brodeur, Faculty Senate chairwoman and a member of UF’s Board of Trustees.
Brodeur said the federal government is discussing cutting down on research funding. With that as a possibility, Brodeur said it’s going to be important for administration to do what it can to retain faculty and students.
“We want to avoid a brain drain,” she said.
Faculty, she said, can attract students. If key faculty leave, students could leave as well.
“People think there’s still some fat out there,” she said. “Personally, I don’t see it.”
But Fajack and UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes say the time for cutting is over, and the time for growth is now.
In fact, because Florida took cuts early on, Sikes said, Florida might be a better position for an incoming president because he or she wouldn’t have to make a series of unpopular cuts off the bat.
While the position carries an enormous amount of prestige, not everyone is chomping at the bit to lead the Gator Nation.
Twenty other institutions are searching for new presidents or chancellors, including Princeton University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Louisiana State University and the University of Georgia.
Brown said 10 of the 20 are interested in candidates who are similar to those UF hopes to attract.
An additional hurdle is Sunshine Law, Brodeur said.
The Sunshine Law is a public records law in Florida that requires virtually all government business to be done in the public eye.
With UF being a state institution, almost everything is documented as a matter of public record, including the list of those who have applied to the job.
However, some sitting presidents at other research institutions won’t even consider the position because of this law.
The major deterrent isn’t necessarily because they don’t want their on-campus business done in the open, Brodeur said. Instead, it’s more about the types of questions they might face from their own Board of Trustees and other interested parties back at home if they didn’t get the position.
“We’ve got a long way to go before we know where we are,” she said.
Still, UF administration is confident the university has a lot to offer over other universities.
It is, according to the U.S. News and World Report, the top-ranked public school in the state.
Also, it is one of only 74 universities in the nation with land-grant status.
It boasts an athletic department that not only operates in the black but gives money back to the university’s academic fund.
“We’re still the University of Florida,” Brodeur said. “We’re not a lightweight.”
UF President Bernie Machen waves to Gators during the BEAT LSU T-Shirt Giveaway at Emerson Hall on the morning of Oct. 5. Among other guest speakers, Machen spoke to students about the Florida Opportunity Scholars Program.
