During a virtual morning presidential search committee meeting Wednesday, its members, made up of university trustees, university foundation members, business leaders, professors, and a student, laid out what they hope for.
John Couris, committee member and CEO of Tampa General Hospital, laid out his priorities: academic output, community outreach, fundraising, and to be a “good partner with our state leaders and our federal leaders. And this, by the way, is not political, it is simply a matter of just good stewardship and leadership.”
Couris made clear he wants a president interested in USF’s mission, not just their own.
“We want a leader who can continue the trajectory that the university is on,” Couris said.
“It’s important for the leader to understand that the university is in really good shape. It is a world-class research organization doing incredible work with incredible faculty and leaders and trustees, really making a difference. This person needs to come in and become part of that team and not upset the apple cart for the sake of making change.”
The University of West Florida, tied for third among public institutions in the state for performance this past year, has been promised to be made over in a more conservative light by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
He started by overhauling its board of trustees, appointing conservative allies. Then President Martha Saunders resigned and the board tapped former education commissioner, GOP senator, and DeSantis ally Manny Diaz Jr. to be interim and potential official president.
Despite DeSantis’ promises, UWF trustees were unable this spring to identify major changes needed to be made in regards to administrative or political problems at the university.
Jennifer Schneider, an education professor and USF committee member, said her No. One priority is academic freedom.
“It’s really important to understand that academics is central to everything else the university wants. Central to athletics, central to the community, central to the fundraising and across faculty and the administrators inside the university, the number one priority is someone who can support academic freedom,” Schneider said. “It’s a non-negotiable, because we have to have the environment of a university inside the university, and that’s what drives the academic enterprise.”
A survey of professors at Florida universities last year found that state government limits on tenure and academic freedom, along with the state’s political climate, have prompted many of them to apply for jobs out of state, the Phoenix reported. One declared, “Academic freedom is on life support.”
Follow advice
The Florida A&M University presidential search, which ended recently and in controversy, included a Board of Governors inquiry to search committee members after concerns surfaced that they may have violated the nondisclosure agreement they signed.
The committee picked Marva Johnson, a former Board of Education member and former lobbyist, over protests and widespread FAMU community pushback that her candidacy was inspired by political motives.
Ken Jones, the Board of Governors’ appointee to the USF committee, may have alluded to the hiccups in that search.
“There are a lot of eyes on this process because of recent searches, and so what I would say is, please, I implore you, whatever the guidance that you’ve been given from the chair and from the staff as a search committee member, please follow it,” Jones said. “It’s so important and some of the things that you’ll see might not seem consequential but they could end up being very, very consequential.”
Rhea Law announced in February she would step down as USF president once a replacement is named.
“Visibility and accessibility of the next president is really crucial to this position. I think it’s going to help build the community ties within the student body and also with the community,” Alexa Grubbs, a student and committee member, said.
Of note is Florida’s deviation from hiring career academics to be university president. Whoever becomes president will take over from Law, an attorney and longtime member of USF’s board of trustees.
Oscar Horton, a USF trustee and CEO of Sun State International Trucks, called for “integrity and inclusion.”
“I’ve been around long enough, I’ve been in and out of enough organizations. You can walk in the room and just by the demeanor of the person, you know who you’re dealing with,” Horton said.
The University of Florida has not made any public announcements about its presidential search, which failed after the Board of Governors rejected UF trustees’ choice Santa Ono because he used to support diversity and inclusion policies.
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This article appears in Jul 31 – Aug 6, 2025.