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<p>Why?</p>
<p>Why do you think he’ll run off faculty and staff? IF he’s selected, he’s likely to be president for only a few years (he turns 71, later this year), and he’ll be focused on generating revenue (building stuff and increasing faculty pay). He’s likely not to be that involved with academic governance, letting the Provost act as the COE. Check out the FSU Org chart.</p>
<p><a href=“http://hr.fsu.edu/PDF/Publications/classification/President_orgchart.pdf”>http://hr.fsu.edu/PDF/Publications/classification/President_orgchart.pdf</a></p>
<p>The President only has one direct report, the Provost. All of the Sr VP’s report to the Provost. </p>
<p>This wouldn’t be the first time a “none” academic took on the role at a major university. If Thrasher was a liberal, out campaigning against the evil Koch brothers, would he be getting as much push back from the faculty (and a rather small group of activist students)? </p>
<p>Personally, I like at least two of the other candidates for the job, and I think Thrasher’s nomination has been poisoned, and for that reason he’s not the best selection. Even if another candidate is chosen, it’s not in FSU’s best interest to publicly criticize or condemn Sen.Thrasher (or he’s allies in the state legislature). Funding to expand the FAMU-FSU college of engineering can easily be turned into funding to expand UCF’s or USF’s COE. </p>