A report on how the state can revamp Floridas higher education, expected to closely follow many of the proposals brought forward by state legislators earlier this year, should be ready for the governor in mid-November.
The report, the work of a task force created by Gov. Rick Scott, is expected to help craft the governors agenda prior to the 2013 legislative session.
Members of the Blue Ribbon Task Force on State Higher Education Reform, meeting via teleconference Wednesday, set meeting dates -- 8:45 a.m. June 11 for its first meeting -- and final report benchmarks for itself during its organizational meeting.
Task force chairman Dale Brill, president of the Florida Chamber Foundation, said governance and tuition will be among the priority areas to be reviewed.
We are not to reinvent the wheel," Brill said. "There has been considerable work done ...recent bills that have been before the Legislature and the governors office, certainly reports that come to mind ... [which] is the seminal work of the Florida Council of 100 report on closing the talent gap."
Scott called for the task force a week after vetoing a wide-ranging higher education bill. The bill sought to increase research activity, require higher grade-point averages of incoming freshmen, and would have allowed universities to seek unlimited tuition hikes as a means to bolster revenue for science and technology programs.
Scott had repeatedly said he opposed tuition increases.
The task force:
- Governor Scott appointee: Dale A. Brill, chair.
- Senate President Mike Haridopolos appointee: Jeff Shuman, senior vice president, chief human resources and administrative officer, Harris Corp.
- Senate President-designate Don Gaetz appointee: educator Frank Fuller.
- Speaker Dean Cannon appointee: Rep. William "Bill" Proctor, R-St. Augustine.
- Speaker-designate Will Weatherford appointee: Rep. Marlene O'Toole, R-Lady Lake.
- Board of Governors Chair Dean Colson appointee: Joseph Caruncho, CEO of Preferred Care Partners.
- Board of Governors Vice Chair Mori Hosseni appointee: John A. Delaney, University of North Florida president.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
