By the time the USF Board of Trustees concluded their emergency meeting to discuss the stunning proposal by the Florida Senate that would cut their funding by an astounding 58 percent, the mood was more hopeful than despondent, as USF President Judy Genshaft insisted that now was the time for everyone in the USF community to do what they could to stop the cuts.
But whether they'll be successful is anyone's guess. Nobody in the Florida Senate to date has shown any inclination to stop the jihad of Senate Budget Committee Chair J.D. Alexander has declared on the Tampa campus.
Overall, the Senate is recommending that $400 million be cut from the entire state university system, with the most — $74 million — coming from USF. School officials say that the budget cut increases to $128 million once other factors are taken into account, including loss of funding for the pharmacy program, loss of funding for USF Polytechnic and absorbing the costs of salaries for Polytechnic staff and faculty.
USF Chief Operating Officer John Long said that if the cuts go through there would be zero cash reserves, and only $50 million left to run the school. "The rainy day has come and gone because there's no dollars," he said starkly. When asked by an official why USF in particular was being hit so hard, he said the obvious.
"It's political."
He of course was referring to Alexander's personal vendetta against USF after tensions with the school surfaced with his drive to make USF Polytechnic independent last year. After initial resistance by President Genshaft, the state's Board of Governors announced in November that that USF Poly could go independent, in due time.
But a bill passed last week in a committee could allow that split to happen much quicker, and the budget cuts revealed late Friday could devastate much of Florida's higher education system, not just USF.
This article appears in Feb 9-15, 2012.