Whither Gator Nation: Is this a positive, negative, or neutral for UF?
He made changes to the tenure system, and many faculty were very unhappy with decisions he made while president. Hopeful a replacement will be a better fit with the faculty.
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To clarify: He made many changes, including to the tenure system, and many faculty were very unhappy with decisions he made while president. Hopefully a replacement will be a better fit with the faculty.
He installed what the current Governor wanted - I’m sure the next will as well.
How people view that - from students to alums to faculty - is likely different depending on how they see the gist of the moves.
I don’t think, for example, DEI type things come back with a new person. Or Profs looking to leave will change their thought process.
The next person will be similar….whether their presence and demeanor are the same …who knows.
Moreso someone who wants to run a school with the mindset of Hillsdale.
He was an interesting choice to begin with - was President of a small school but also voted to impeach President Trump - which wouldn’t go well with the Florida Government.
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I wish his wife the best, she’s quite young to have gone through so many health problems and with a 13yr old at home, it’s very sad.
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Rumor in UF circles is that Kent Fuchs, the previous president before Sasse, will be coming back until they find someone new. I suppose that’s an improvment because students seemed to like him.
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Was this supposed to be a comment on how recent policies against DEI and such could make UF and Gator Nation more White?
Dozens of major corporations are downsizing or eliminating DEI staff. This is probably the result of the high likelihood of change coming in 2025 in America.
Reminder that this thread is not in the political forum.
Please stay on topic.
Thank you.
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Related to Sasse, because he was part of all this: Watching Board of Trustees meetings (bc my kid is there and very happy/successful – but I don’t love FL politics), I was interested in how little time they spent focused on DEI stuff – and how much time they devoted to presentations and data about increasing the number and support of first gen students. They are expanding and doubling down on programming to bring in more low income students, including what seemed to be targeted outreach to certain Florida schools and more financial support and mentoring. It was interesting. The Board seemed very focused on increasing UF’s national profile, including by USNews rankings, and USNews rankings value social mobility… (as well as continuing to lower the faculty/student ratio – despite concerns raised above, UF has been on a serious hiring spree over the past 5 years, including last year – and supporting faculty publications and prominence).
Fuchs would be a good interim. I hope/think the UF Board of Trustees has enough clout to avoid the fate of New College; Sasse oversaw some controversial things, but he built more support as faculty/staff worked with him (at least from what I heard and local news reports). The changes at New College and that board is an entirely different animal. I have long known and loved the whole New College vibe – but it is unique place without much clout in the Florida legislature, and was an easy target for the anti-woke agenda. What has happened there is so sad to me. UF is different. But we will see.
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Hah, no! Just my lazy fingers on the keypad. It has been corrected.
I wish more folks would watch an actual Board of Trustees meeting and pay less attention to X, reddit and the media (in general).
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Honestly, I am a freak for watching them – even though it is mostly having them on in background while doing other things or watching the parts of the recordings that are relevant after-the-fact. They are very long and full of minutiae. But it is interesting to see the discussions and what the trustees care about. It’s made me curious about other university Boards of Trustees, though not curious enough to find if they have public online meetings I could listen to, let along then actually listen to them. Maybe when my younger kid is in college, though if she winds up at a private school, I assume there would be less transparency.
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The Alligator reports that Sasse greatly increased spending in the president’s office.
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Seems pretty damning.
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My level of respect for Ben Sasse just dropped significantly. Among other things:
in his 17-month term at the university’s helm, hiring six ex-Senate staffers and two former Republican officials to high-paying, remote jobs at the university.
Under Sasse’s administration, two of his former Senate staffers — Raymond Sass and James Wegmann — were among the highest-ranking and highest-paid officials at UF. Both worked remotely from the D.C. area, roughly 800 miles from UF’s main campus in Gainesville.
Sass, Sasse’s former Senate chief of staff, was UF’s vice president for innovation and partnerships — a position which didn’t exist under previous administrations. His starting salary at UF was $396,000, more than double the $181,677 he made on Capitol Hill.
Wegmann, Sasse’s former Senate communications director, is UF’s vice president of communications, a position he works remotely from his $725,000 home in Washington, D.C.
Salaried at $432,000, Wegmann replaced Steve Orlando, who made $270,000 a year in the position and had nearly 30 years of experience in media relations at UF before he was demoted to be Wegmann’s deputy.
I absolutely agree with you.
It just seems like business as usual, Washington, D.C.-style.
Or is it DeSantis style ? He’s the driver.
DeSantis appears to be taking a look into Sasse’s expenses: https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4830541-desantis-former-uf-president-ben-sasses-expenses/
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There’s also a whiff of bigger back room dealing here: Nebraska governor names Pete Ricketts to fill U.S. Senate seat vacated by Ben Sasse
Ricketts family contributes big money to Pillen and DeSantis (https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/08/us/politics/ron-desantis-2024-fundraising-trump.html). Sasse announces he’s stepping down to become UF president in an opaque process run by DeSantis-appointed UF trustees. Pillen appoints Ricketts to open Senate seat. Sasse hires former (now out of work) Senate staff members to highly paid, remote positions in UF president’s office.
And as @gandalf78 notes, looks like they’re now hanging Sasse out to dry.
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