When Gov. Rick Scott asked for input from Florida college presidents this spring on the controversial Texas higher education reforms he supports, he received a three-page letter in July extolling the achievements of Florida colleges over their Texas counterparts.
The letter crows that Florida colleges, for instance, have a three-year graduation rate 24 percent better than Texas.
It ends with a request that Scott meet with college presidents.
At a meeting Friday in Pensacola, college presidents said their most pressing concern with Scott's interest in the Texas higher education plan, which promotes accountability of teachers similar to the push that's been going on for years at the K-12 level, is the lack of responsethey've gotten when trying to engage the governor in a two-way discussion.
"He candidly asked, and we have responded," said Katherine Johnson, president of Pasco Hernando Community College and head of the College Council of Presidents. "We are certainly hoping to have an audience with him."
On Friday, Education Commissioner Gerard Robinson assured college presidents there would be "dialogue" going forward. Speaking at Pensacola State College, Robinson said "no major decisions" had been made yet on the efforts to introduce changes to higher education in Florida.
The controversial Texas plan, called the "Seven Breakthrough Solutions," was a popular topic on Friday.
The plan calls for tying university performance to state funding and would change how faculty are awarded tenure, provide performance pay based on grades and classes taught, and require more teaching over research.
"We should be proactive on that issue," said Joe Pickens, president of St. Johns River State College in Palatka. "There are certainly others discussing our future."
Colleges are handling Scott's interest in making changes to higher education with less alarm than universities.
That's because the Texas plan would affect research universities the most because it concentrates on emphasizing teaching over research. For instance, professors would have to teach more courses to get tenure.
"We don't have a research function, by and large," said Pickens, a former state legislator. "Our faculty teach. That is what they do."
Florida's 28 public colleges have undergone a dramatic evolution over the last 10 years, with most offering not just two-year associate's degrees but also four-year bachelor's degrees and changing their names from community colleges to state colleges or sometimes just "college," putting them more in line with four-year institutions.
The reaction from universities to Scott's higher education agenda has varied. State University System Chancellor Frank Brogan said in an interview last month that some of the reforms have merit and encouraged a discussion about it among university presidents.
"We should be looking at quality," Brogan said, saying he supports "accountability-based funding."
Florida State University president Eric Barron presented an alternative to the Texas higher education plan this week to his board of trustees that is more palatable to faculty and the university.
Critics of the push for a Texas model say universities and colleges are playing ball with Scott because they have to. The Legislature and governor hold considerable sway over the state budget, which has a big impact on the schools, especially when it comes to funding needed classroom construction projects.
"This is how people are told to get in line," said United Faculty of Florida President Ed Mitchell.
