The Oct. 6 UF press release that announced Sasse as the finalist mentioned the university courted a dozen highly qualified, diverse candidates — nine of them being current presidents of major research universities.
Negotiations have been open since September. The two groups met via Zoom Monday for the final bargaining session about the graduate assistant contract’s Article 8, which addresses what kinds of leave graduate assistants can take.
During Sasse’s visit, he’s scheduled to participate in open forums with the UF community. Outside Emerson Hall, student activists are planning to give their own feedback through organizing a protest against the Nebraska senator’s candidacy.
Search administrators have lauded Sasse’s experience in academic and public service, while student groups have blasted the senator for his political stances against gay marriage and abortion.
Mark Law and UF administration are publicly at odds about the nature of his termination. Honors students say they were confused about the nature of Law’s firing, and some faculty who already distrusted the administration rallied to Law’s cause.
House Bill 7, dubbed the “Stop WOKE Act” by Gov. Ron Desantis, went into effect July 1, 2022. The law is an expansion on Florida Statute Section 760.10, now including language that prohibits certain material from being taught at universities in the Florida State University System.
The director of UF Honors Program was fired Monday. He said he wasn’t given an explanation by the Board of Trustees.
In the past two years, institutions such as Harvard University, State University of New York at Oswego, Pennsylvania State University and Temple University have undergone or are undergoing their own presidential searches.
A former student’s lawsuit arguing UF violated its contract when it required the student body to pay for on-campus amenities despite COVID-19 restrictions will see the Florida First District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee July 20.
The UF presidential search remains a secret as it enters its fourth month. Public record bills passed in March permit the names of Florida schools' presidential candidates to remain private, but similar questions to recent state searches persist.
The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges determined Thursday UF has operated with integrity as they take steps to protect academic freedom.
During the final listening sessions amid the search for UF's next president, attendees voiced concerns about lack of transparency and trust with university leaders.
The university will host four listening sessions in the next two days as a part of the search for the next president. Faculty and students can provide input on qualities they want the presidential search committee and board of trustees to keep in mind Monday and Tuesday.
A tenured UF English professor is suing several faculty members, including President Kent Fuchs, under the First and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. He claims he was not granted his rights to free speech and due process.
The search for UF’s next president has begun, and graduate students remain frustrated they are not represented on the Presidential Search committee.
Eight professors spoke out in November about their rights being barred by the university, raising questions about the institution’s independence from the state government. Since then, students and faculty have been working to spark change around the campus. The United Faculty of Florida, UF Young Democratic Socialists of America, UF College Democrats and the United Campus Workers organized the coalition and the outdoor event.
Senate Bill 520 and its companion bill, House Bill 703, will keep the identities of presidential candidates out of public records for most of the process. Students and faculty will be able to research and meet with finalists 21 days before a new campus leader is chosen.
UF students lack a proper education in African American history. “I just think that the under-education of our student population is doing us much more harm than it does good,” Stevenson said. Stevenson uses a teaching methodology called critical pedagogy, or teaching through inquiry. He frequently asks students questions about historical people and analyses only to find they have never heard of them.
UF expects to start looking for a new president in March, UF spokesperson Hessy Fernandez wrote in an email. The search has been kept under wraps so far, and SB 520/HB 703 would keep it that way. Meanwhile, Florida’s senators and representatives have filed Senate Bill 520 and House Bill 703, which would delay the release of any information identifying a university’s presidential applicant, including meeting recordings that would disclose such information if obtained through a public records request.
UF President Kent Fuchs announced Wednesday morning that he will be resigning from his position to transition into a professor role. UF released the announcement for Fuchs’ resignation in a campus-wide email and video message. Fuchs, 67, intends to continue his presidential duties for the rest of the year and step down in 2023 once a new president is sworn in. He plans to return to his home department of electrical and computer engineering.
Solutions by The State News
