Florida Atlantic University will have to start its tumultuous search for a new president over again, but not quite yet, a state board decided Thursday.
The Board of Governors for the State University System said it first wants to make changes to its regulations on how presidential searches are conducted.
These rules may include prohibiting the chair of a university’s board of trustees from leading a search committee, outlining how search committee votes must be taken and allowing a Board of Governors representative on the search committee to have more authority to intervene if the process goes awry.
The discussion came following a review of the FAU presidential search by Julie Leftheris, inspector general for the Board of Governors, who said FAU violated several state laws and Board of Governors regulations.
The FAU search started nearly a year ago but has been in limbo since July 7, two days after the university announced its finalists. State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues voiced concerns about anomalies that had been reported to him and ordered the investigation.
It’s unclear how long until the search can restart. The Board of Governors plans to discuss new regulations at a Jan. 24 meeting, but they usually have to go through a review period for public input that can take months.
The board may consider passing some emergency regulations next month, which would allow FAU to resume its search while permanent rules are being developed, Alan Levine, a Board of Governors member, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
“I think people want to get this done so we can get the process started again,” Levine said after the meeting.
FAU had selected three finalists for the presidential job: Vice Admiral Sean Buck, who recently retired as superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis; Michael Hartline, dean of the College of Business at Florida State University in Tallahassee; and Jose Sartarelli, former chancellor of the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
The three will need to reapply if they are still interested once the search resumes. Sartarelli told the Sun Sentinel on Thursday he’s still interested. Buck and Hartline couldn’t be reached.
Alan Levine had raised questions about an anonymous voting system used to narrow candidates, the inspector general’s report said, and State Attorney General Ashley Moody agreed the method violates state law. Levine argued, and Moody agreed, that all committee members’ votes must be on the record, even though state law now requires the meetings to be held in closed session.
Although Levine shared his concerns privately in emails and phone calls during the search, he had praised the process publicly at a Board of Governors meeting two weeks before the search was halted.
“I’m proud to report to you that the FAU presidential search committee has made significant progress since our last meeting,” Levine said at the June 22 meeting. “They have identified an exceptionally qualified pool of candidates from which they are working to select finalists for recommendations to the Board of Trustees.”
He later said at the same meeting, “I think FAU is going to merge with an exceptional president once the process is done.”
His comments had a different tone at Thursday’s meeting.
“The reality is that the process didn’t work right, and even if it produced good candidates, that could be fruit from a poison tree, and it’s not something that we should ever entertain,” Levine said at Thursday’s meeting.
The inspector general’s report dismissed concerns from others, including FAU faculty and donors that political leaders in the state was trying to pressure the university to hire State Rep. Randy Fine, of Palm Bay, as FAU’s next president.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office publicly endorsed Fine for the job, and Fine told the Sun Sentinel in October that DeSantis’ office had assured him he’d be a shoo-in for the job.
“Their pitch was everybody wants you. The path has been cleared,” Fine told the Sun Sentinel at the time. “If you say yes, you’re going to waltz right in.”
The report concluded “there is insufficient evidence to support that the university was directed or pressured to advance or select any specific candidate.”
Critics argued that the Board of Governors stopped the search only because Fine didn’t get the job. Fine told the Sun Sentinel he’s unlikely to apply again.
“This has been widely reported that we paused this process or the chancellor paused this process for the purpose of helping a specific candidate,” Alan Levine said at the meeting. “Ascribing that motive to our chancellor was unfair. It was wrong.”
Another Board of Governors member, Aubrey Edge, voiced concern about a July 10 op-ed in the Sun Sentinel written by search committee member Dick Schmidt, whose family had donated more than $50 million to FAU.
“I am excited with the candidates we have put forward,” Schmidt wrote. “I feel personally outraged and slandered by the implications of the chancellor’s letter on me and my colleagues, for what appears to be an attempt to unwind our successful, hard work and reopen a search for a candidate more to the liking of certain politicians.”
Although Schmidt didn’t name Fine in the opinion piece, the inspector general alleged the column violated a non-disclosure agreement that members of the search committee had signed. They had agreed not to discuss candidates and to allow only Brad Levine, the chairman of the search committee and Board of Trustees, to speak publicly about the search. Brad Levine is not related to Alan Levine.
The report said records show that Brad Levine, FAU General Counsel David Kian and FAU Vice President Peter Hull met with Mr. Schmidt about the op-ed before its publication.
“Mr. Kian provided suggested edits; and Mr. Hull provided media contact information for distribution,” the report said. “This level of FAU employee involvement appears to make it a communication on behalf of the university, and therefore a violation of the signed non-disclosure agreement.”
Edge questioned whether there should be any action taken related to the employees who assisted with the op-ed.
Rodrigues said he’d speak with the FAU Board of Trustees “on their thoughts and what proposal for the employees’ involvement would be and circle back to the Board of Governors.”
Schmidt couldn’t be reached for comment. FAU spokesman Joshua Glanzer said, “The university does not comment on personnel matters.”
Leftheris’ report also recommended not allowing Brad Levine to chair FAU’s next presidential search committee due to the problems identified. While the board didn’t take any specific action on this, the new regulations to be discussed next month are expected to prohibit anyone from serving the dual role of chair of a university’s Board of Trustees and its presidential search committee.
Brad Levine declined to comment when reached by the Sun Sentinel.
FAU has been without a permanent president since January, when John Kelly retired after eight years. Stacy Volnick, a longtime administrator at FAU, has been serving as interim president.
Some faculty members and donors have wanted the university to offer the permanent job to Volnick. She had agreed at the time of her appointment not apply for the job. She was approached during the search process about applying but declined, the inspector general’s report said.
Board of Governors regulations don’t allow her to be appointed to the permanent job unless she’s selected at the end of a job search, Alan Levine told the Sun Sentinel. She will remain interim until a permanent president is named, and she will be allowed to apply for the permanent job once the new search starts, the FAU Board of Trustees agreed.
The FAU presidential search drama has frustrated many faculty members, who say the university’s lack of permanent leadership has hindered its ability to fill key positions, including a provost, a chief fundraiser and deans.
“I am thankful the Board of Governors has provided us with the next steps in our presidential search,” said Kim Dunn, president of the Faculty Senate. “We will continue focusing on our core mission of educating our students as we look forward to selecting our eighth president.”
