Florida Board of Governors

Back-up information on each proposal and action item are all posted via the “meeting materials” link at the home page: www.flbog.edu.

“ACTIONS TAKEN”
MEETING OF THE FLORIDA BOARD OF GOVERNORS, JUNE 23
IN TAMPA

In regular business, here are highlights of the actions taken by the Florida Board of Governors today in Tampa, following committee meeting action in many cases. This list covers most of the volume of business conducted, but consult the web site for agendas and back-up materials, and do not hesitate to inquire about any other agenda issues:

From the Facilities Committee (Chair Charlie Edwards)
Approved three resolutions:
1. Resolution for the Division of Bond Finance, State Board of Administration, to issue up to $47.5 million on behalf of FIU, for construction of a student residence and related improvements on the main campus – 620 beds and 300 parking spaces.

2. Resolution for the Division of Bond Finance, State Board of Administration, to issue up to $33.5 million on behalf of FIU, for construction of a parking garage on the main campus – 2,000 parking spaces.

3. Resolution to allow the UF Athletic Association to Finance up to $15 million in the construction, renovation and equipping of various capital improvements to certain athletic facilities on the main campus, including portions of the O’Connell Center, and softball and tennis venues.

Chair Edwards also presented the Board with some specific comments and the challenges ahead regarding Public Education Capital Outlay construction and maintenance funds, or PECO. Paraphrasing: We will not have official estimates until July, but the inability to bond PECO proceeds at the level the System is used to will create a dismal situation. We can anticipate that the current lack of PECO funding will continue for several more years. This will not only limit university growth but it presents a serious challenge, as everyone knows, in terms of maintaining our existing system of facilities. The System will receive for the FY 2011-12 year approximately $22M for maintenance and infrastructure – or about half of the Board’s request of $43M, which was halved during the legislative process from what the universities originally requested ($107M) and is far less than the $116M received last year for maintenance and infrastructure. Only one major new construction project was funded and not vetoed from the short list originally submitted by the Board of Governors. We have not faced a similar situation since the 1960s, when PECO was established for higher education construction via constitutional amendment. The Board will need to work with the Governor and legislative leaders to discuss how to approach PECO funding and explore the possibility of different methodologies for sustainably funding and maintaining Florida's education infrastructure.

Board staff convened a meeting in early June of the Chief Financial Officers of the universities. This group is developing an initial plan of action, including alternative funding proposals. This will include examining revenue streams previously identified and considered by the Board of Governors during its 2006 Facilities Task Force.


From the Academic and Student Affairs Committee (Chair Ann Duncan)

• Approved the offering of a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering at Florida State University.
  
• Approved the offering of a Ph.D. in Security Studies at the University of Central Florida.
  
• Approved the Public Notice of Intent to Amend Regulation 6.010, Student Affairs Administration simply to comply with new federal requirements. See back-up materials.
  
• Approved the Public Notice of Intent to Amend Regulation 6.017, Criteria for Awarding the Baccalaureate Degree, to align the regulation with provisions of House Bill 7151 passed in the 2011 Session and signed by the Governor. See back-up materials.
  
• Heard a report from the Council of Academic Vice Presidents (provosts) regarding its ongoing work with the “Academic Coordination Project,” which is a comprehensive inventory and updating of all degree offerings across the State University System. The so-called inventory’s results, expected this summer or early fall, are intended to later identify opportunities for leveraging amid universities; ensure that unwarranted duplication is not occurring; and identify needs and opportunities for the future regarding workforce demand and degree demand.
  
• Received the State University System Student Health Insurance Workgroup 2011 Summary Report.

From the Strategic Affairs Committee (Committee meeting chaired by Ava L. Parker for this meeting in Chair Frank Martin’s absence)

• Board of Governors’ updated strategic plan development process: Earlier in June, Chair Martin convened a committee conference call. Both the committee and the full Board meeting today continued the vital discussion regarding early steps being taken in the development of an updated Board of Governors' Strategic Plan for the State University System. This effort would update the current strategic plan, which ends in 2013, and take it through 2025. Phase I of this year’s work is termed “Vision and Overarching Goals.” The ASA staff conveyed to the committee extensive research from other states, an update of our plan contents and what could be included going forward, as well as some of the early concepts from the committee’s leadership for work to be done this summer and this fall so that this phase is concluded this year in consultation with the universities.
  
• “Strategy teams” to be named: In consultation with the committee leadership, Chancellor Frank T. Brogan also announced he will be assembling “strategy teams” from the 11 universities on a host of different issues and academic topics. This will serve as the first step on ensuring a “brain trust” of talent from across the System will be engaged in the development of the updated strategic plan from the start. The first wave of these teams and appointments along with their respective issues and topics will be named later this summer – the Board communications office will send out the list.
  
• “Organizing the System for Success”: This presentation put into context a discussion of three regulations proposed for public notice of intent that will be amended or established (two would be amended, one would be established).
  
• As part of laying the groundwork for the necessary update to the System’s strategic plan, staff have had ongoing reviews of the Board regulations, which number about 100 in total and are grouped in broad subjects, such as student admissions standards to guidance on consistency for a wide range of academic and budget/state funding issues. Regulations are the Board’s legal frameworks to fulfill its statutory and constitutional obligations. Many regulations involve issues that the universities have specific policies to address for their campuses. Most regulations provide flexibility in how they are carried out in university policy. (Eds: The Board “regulation” process is not the same as the state rule-making process. Please do not substitute the word “rule” for “regulation.”)
  
• Of the three regulations up for public notice of intent at this meeting, two were amended from language pre-dating the Board of Governors (Board of Regents, 1970s-1980s) during which time the System was much smaller with fewer universities. Updating these regulations is critical and necessary in order to ensure unwarranted duplication in the System, and to ensure for the Legislature and to stakeholders that the Board is meeting its constitutional obligations.
  
  • Notice of Intent to Amend Regulation 8.002 - Continuing Education
    
  • Notice of Intent to Promulgate Regulation 8.004 - Academic Program Coordination
    
  • Notice of Intent to Amend Regulation 8.009 - Education Sites
  
  Chair Parker asked that a group including Board members, provosts and a university president meet soon in order to review the existing language and receive public comments, and then bring a report and the revised regulation to the September Board meeting.
  
• Received a staff presentation entitled, “What's Next? Expanding the System's Capacity to Help Address Florida's Access Demands and Economic Development Goals,” an exciting project in which – due to all of the steps above – the Board and the System’s 11 universities will have more strategic information in order to align and provide additional data and information to the workforce and economic portfolio needs. This effort coincides and supports the Board’s “New Florida Initiative.” For more, see www.flbog.edu/New_Florida.
  
• Dentistry and Dental Education: Heard three reports, including the presentation of “A Synopsis: Florida Department of Health 2009-10 Workforce Survey of Dentists,” by the Florida Department of Health, regarding the status of the dentistry profession in the state.
  

From the Trustee Nominating Committee (Chair Mori Hosseini)
Certain seats on the 11 universities’ Boards of Trustees are appointed by the Board of Governors. Board of Governors’ members are indicated below who served as liaisons for this process and who handled that university’s applicant interviews. Please remember that all back-up information for Board meetings is located on the web site – in this case, the complete applications for each applicant named below:

University of Central Florida (3 vacancies) - Mr. Hosseini, Mr. Temple
Meg Crofton
Robert A. Garvey
Marcos Marchena

University of Florida (2 vacancies) - Mr. Colson, Mr. Hosseini
Susan M. Cameron
Charles B. Edwards*
*As a result of this vote, Mr. Edwards will be departing the Board of Governors to serve at UF.

University of North Florida (2 vacancies) - Ms. Parker, Mr. Rood
Joan W. Newton
Sharon Wamble-King

University of West Florida (2 vacancies) - Ms. Duncan, Mr. Tripp
David E. Cleveland
Randall W. Hanna

From the Budget & Finance Committee (Chair Tico Perez)

• Consideration of 2011 Tuition Differential Fee Proposals: Please consult the media primers dated June 16 and March 22 for all background and historical data and budget context about base tuition and tuition differential. A PowerPoint presentation was presented by the Chair and added to the web site today – it provides excellent existing data and future trend outlooks: http://www.flbog.edu/pressroom/meeting_items.php?id=126&agenda=530
  

Votes on tuition differential:
***These two were voted on individually by request of the student Governor. All 11 were approved with the student Governor dissenting on two proposals.

Florida A&M University. Its current tuition differential is $12.80 per credit hour. It is requesting a 7 percent increase, which is an increase of $8.62 per credit hour for a total of $21.42 per credit hour.

Florida Atlantic University. Its current tuition differential is $12.80 per credit hour. It is requesting a 7 percent increase, which is an increase of $8.62 per credit hour for a total of $21.42 per credit hour.

***Florida Gulf Coast University. Its current tuition differential is $12.80 per credit hour. It is requesting a 7 percent increase, which is an increase of $8.62 per credit hour for a total of $21.42 per credit hour. Approved.
Governor Long voted no, stating that he did so because the university student Board of Trustees member had done so.

Florida International University. Its current tuition differential is $22.00 per credit hour. It is requesting a 7 percent increase, which is an increase of $10.00 per credit hour for a total of $32.00 per credit hour.

Florida State University. Its current tuition differential is $22.00 per credit hour. It is requesting a 7 percent increase, which is an increase of $10.00 per credit hour for a total of $32.00 per credit hour.

New College of Florida. Its current tuition differential is $12.80 per credit hour. They are requesting a 7% increase which is an increase of $8.62 per credit hour for a total of $21.42 per credit hour.

University of Central Florida. Their current tuition differential is $15.88 per credit hour. They are requesting a 7% increase which is an increase of $9.08 per credit hour for a total of $24.96 per credit hour.

University of Florida. Their current tuition differential is $22.00 per credit hour. They are requesting a 7% increase which is an increase of $10.00 per credit hour for a total of $32.00 per credit hour.

***University of North Florida. Their current tuition differential is $12.80 per credit hour. They are requesting a 7% increase which is an increase of $8.62 per credit hour for a total of $21.42 per credit hour.
Governor Long voted no, stating that he did so because the university student Board of Trustees member had done so.

University of South Florida and their branch campus. We will take these up individually as well. The Tampa campus current tuition differential is $22.00 per credit hour. They are requesting a 7% increase which is an increase of $10.00 per credit hour for a total of $32.00 per credit hour.

USF St. Petersburg campus. Their current tuition differential is $12.80 per credit hour. They are requesting a 7% increase which is an increase of $8.62 per credit hour for a total of $21.42 per credit hour.

USF Sarasota/Manatee campus. Their current tuition differential is $12.80 per credit hour. They are requesting a 7% increase which is an increase of $8.62 per credit hour for a total of $21.42 per credit hour.

USF Polytechnic campus. Their current tuition differential is $12.80 per credit hour. They are requesting a 7% increase which is an increase of $8.62 per credit hour for a total of $21.42 per credit hour.

University of West Florida. Their current tuition differential is $12.80 per credit hour. They are requesting a 7% increase which is an increase of $8.62 per credit hour for a total of $21.42 per credit hour.

The remainder of the consent agenda passed from this Committee.

• Public Notice of Intent to Amend Board Regulations. These are now in public comment period.

Regulation 7.001 - Tuition and Associated Fees: Adjusts the base tuition from $95.67 to $103.32 in regulation, simply to reflect the 8 percent base tuition increase. Related to the Governor’s signing of SB 2150, this amendment would allow that a portion of the 30 percent “set-aside” devoted to need-based financial aid can be spent on other undergraduate education expenses if the entire tuition and fees of resident students who have applied for and received Pell Grant funds has been met by a university.

Regulation 7.003 - Fees, Fines and Penalties: SB 2150 signed by the Governor authorizes a transient student fee not to exceed $5 per distance learning course for accepting a transient student and processing the student’s admissions application. SB 2150 modifies the existing excess hour fee with the intent to ensure students are progressing in a timely fashion toward their degrees. All undergraduate students entering for the first time in Fall 2011 shall pay an excess-hours fee equal to 100 percent (was 50 percent) of the undergraduate tuition in excess of 115 percent (was 120 percent) of the number of credit hours required to complete the baccalaureate degree. In March Governor Perez indicated that he would look at amending the regulation to include additional new fee guidance based on discussions that occurred during this committee back in February and at the March board meeting. Those additional criteria were drafted and shared with the Tuition and Fee Workgroup and are incorporated here:

• The fee cannot be an extension of, or cover the same services, as an existing statutory fee;
  
• The fee cannot be utilized to create additional bonding capacity in an existing fee;
  
• The fee cannot be used to support services or activities that have been paid for with education and general funds; and
  
• The fee should support a service or activity in which a majority of students are able to participate or derive a benefit.
  

• Consideration of Collegiate License Plate Expenditure Modifications: This action affects FGCU, NCF and FAMU who have sent letters to the Board (see web site back-up). This simply aligns or updates university expenditure procedures related to funds raised by specialty license plates.

On the Calendar
The next meeting of the Board of Governors is Sept. 14-15 at Florida International University in Miami. Any committee meetings that may be held in the interim will be noticed on the web site. None are scheduled at this time. The Board meeting calendar and university sites taking us through calendar year 2012 is posted on the web site. For more: http://www.flbog.edu/pressroom/news.php?id=361


About the State University System of Florida
The State University System is comprised of 11 institutions with a total enrollment of more than 320,000 students, making it the fourth-largest public university system in the nation in terms of enrollment (some states have more than one university system). The Florida Constitution (Article IX, Section 7) was amended by the state's voters in 2002 to establish a statewide system of governance for all Florida public universities. As a result, the Florida Board of Governors was created in 2003 to oversee the State University System of Florida. Responsibilities include defining the distinctive mission of each institution and ensuring the well-planned coordination and operation of the System. The Board is comprised of 17 appointed members – 14 are appointed by the Governor and three are members by virtue of their designations (a faculty member, a Florida Student Association student representative, and the Commissioner of Education). The Board of Governors appoints a Chancellor who serves as the chief executive and administrative officer of the State University System. For more, including the Board’s Annual Report that reflects accountability measurements and benchmarks occurring at each institution, see www.flbog.edu.

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