Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, got to make a last-minute pitch Thursday for Gov. Rick Scott to maintain funding for the birth of the state’s 12th university focused on science and math.

And while Scott hasn’t indicated what he’ll do with the bill, Alexander left upbeat that the governor wouldn’t veto the $39 million designated by the Legislature for the new campus when the deadline for the bill is up at the end of next week.

A big reason for Alexander’s positive outlook upon leaving the meeting is that campus and school wouldn’t get the money designated by the Legislature for the new campus if Scott vetoes the bill, HB 1994.

“There wouldn’t be any funding for the existing Polytech,” Alexander said while in the lobby of the governor’s Capitol office Thursday. “I think that is not a good idea.”

Alexander was able to land an hour of the governor’s time on Thursday, something that has eluded Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, who has opposed making the University of South Florida-Polytechnic campus in Lakeland an independent university.

Dockery, out of the country on Thursday, wasn’t immediately available for comment.

On her Facebook page, Dockery noted: “Seems Governor is only meeting with one side represented by lobbyists and those hoping to profit from the $10's of millions of taxpayers dollars. Students and faculty have no say?”

Dockery has claimed the creation of a 12th state university would have a negative fiscal impact on Florida taxpayers.

Alexander brought to the meeting about a half-dozen business and community leaders from Polk County, including the heads of the Lakeland and Winter Haven chambers of commerce.

“I knew he was hearing input from all sides and I wanted to make sure that any question he had was answered by the folks that actually knew what they were talking about,” Alexander said. “Some of the folks that purport to represent USF-Poly don’t always know all the facts of what this thing really does. Or if they know them, they don’t always present them fairly.”

The Alexander-Scott sit-down followed a conference in the Cabinet meeting room on the tuition hikes for state universities to cover the cost of expanding science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs that Scott must also decide by next Friday.

Scott, a proponent of creating more STEM majors out of Florida’s universities, said he and his office are weighing the tuition hikes and the economic benefits of creating a 12th university.

“We’ve got to make sure we can afford it, afford a 12th university,” Scott said prior to meeting with Alexander. “We can’t do anything to harm any of our other great universities like the University of South Florida. So you’ve got to look at the benefits of doing it and the costs of doing it and see if our budget can afford it.”

If Scott vetoes the bill, the new university effort would continue, but not as quickly.

Last fall, the Florida Board of Governors set a list of benchmarks for the polytechnic campus to be spun off into an independent university, including receiving accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Accreditation typically takes three to five years.

If approved, the break would be effective July 1, with students now at the Lakeland being allowed to continue with their education there as part of the Tampa-based USF program until they earn their degree.

While students at the Lakeland campus have voiced opposition, University of South Florida President Judy Genshaft and other campus leaders who questioned the split have been mostly silent since the Legislature agreed in March to increase funding for the Tampa-based school to help absorb the transition costs.

Alexander said the state needs the STEM-focused university.

“If you look at the programs that are offered by the universities, there are a lot of programs that are not producing jobs for students,” Alexander said. “They go out, they can’t get jobs. They finish their degrees, they can’t get jobs. They’ve got a ton of debt. Some of it, you can’t even get forgiven.”

Alexander dismissed concerns expressed by state university leaders regarding the $300 million taken from the $859 million the schools have held in reserve.

In addition to the Lakeland campus, Scott has until the end of next week to decide on tuition hikes for programs in STEM fields the Legislature approved in HB 7129.

While Scott has said he opposes tuition increases, they are supported by Florida State University President Eric Barron and University of Florida President Bernie Machen.

"It doesn't make sense to charge the same price no matter what you deliver," Barron said.

The increases are intended to make the Florida schools offering high research programs, and that require advanced grade point averages from new students, competitive with other national universities.

House Education Committee Chairman Rep. William “Bill” Proctor, R-St. Augustine, said the higher increase would only be felt by about 10 percent of the undergraduate students and those are students who would need to meet higher acceptance qualifications.

“The 10 percent are going to have Bright Futures (scholarships). They’re going to have pre-paid,” Proctor said. 



Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.