Politics
Paula Dockery Wants Governor to Talk with USF-Polytech Students
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Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland
Dockery, who sent her request in a letter to Scott on Tuesday, was one of four Republican senators to vote against the $39 million plan backed by Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, to begin moving the Lakeland campus toward independence.
Scott told reporters Tuesday he is spending a lot of time meeting and listening to people regarding USF-Polytechnic to determine what will help students.
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Courtesy: Dave Heller Video
“In my life, the big thing for me was to be able to get an education, to be able to afford an education, and then be able to get that first job, which for all of us is probably scary.”
No meeting has been scheduled.
In an email Wednesday, Scott’s deputy press secretary Jackie Schutz noted that the governor “has and will continue to listen to the concerns of all interested parties.”
In her letter, Dockery stated the 12th university would have a negative impact on Florida taxpayers.
“These students and faculty members are the ones who will be directly affected. They, like the overwhelming majority of constituents who have contacted my office, are hoping you veto this legislation, and move more cautiously toward independence.
"As the senator who represents the Lakeland community, I can assure you that most of my constituents support a science, technology, engineering and mathematics program and a polytechnic, but they do not support immediate independence and losing the USF presence that Polk County has enjoyed for the past 23 years. There are a few individuals, with financial interests, who are pushing this irresponsible plan to rush the process of creating the 12th university, but they are certainly in the minority.”
The money approved by the Legislature, which is part of the USF funding that would have gone to the Lakeland campus, will be placed under the direction of a new board of trustees that will oversee the separation effort and creation of a campus that is focused on science, technology, engineering and math, and has been a legacy effort of Alexander, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.
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.
Dockery was joined by Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, Greg Evers, R-Crestview, and Steve Oelrich, R-Gainesville, in voting against the bill. The bill, SB 1994, has yet to be sent to the governor.
Reach Jim Turner at jturner@sunshinestatenews.com or at (772) 215-9889.
Comments (7)
Further, USF Polytechnic's budget has been, for years, a separate line item - separate from USF Tampa - in the state's overall budget. The Senate bill intends to take USF Polytechnic's budget - which is separate and distinct from USF Tampa - and transfer it to the new university. The new university is not going to cost taxpayers anymore dollars than they have already been paying for years. Those that would have taxpayers believe they would have to pay above and beyond what they are already paying are intentionally misrepresenting fact.
The creation of an independent polytechinc is supported by many. Senator Dockery's continued efforts to derail the will of the Legislature and the support of President Genshaft can be characterized as the desperate attempts of a lawmaker, whose time in the spotlight, is coming to a sad end.
Further, the "no fiscal impact representations" you refer to are codified in the Senate bill. Moreover, also codified in the bill are the benchmarks laid out by the Board of Governors. To my knowledge, Governor Tripp was the individual who drafted the benchmarks - not Senator Alexander. You are missing the point of the Senate bill. The bill allows for the new polytechnic to obtain its own, independent Board of Trustees. It was always antithetical to the independence concept to have USF Tampa steward Poly to independence. After all, USF Tampa had a high amount of disregard for Poly's bid to become independent, prior to the Board of Governors' decision to grant said independence. However, USF Tampa's thinly veiled attempt to thwart the Board of Governor's mandate is exemplified by appointing Interim Chancellor Touchton. As you are well aware, the Interim Chancellor was on record for opposing Poly's independence.
The new polytechnic should become the 12th university, at this time, because the Board of Governors mandated it; USF Tampa, by virtue of its past actions, cannot be trusted to carry out the Board of Governor’s mandate; and, the new polytechnic should have its own fiduciaries looking out for ITS best interest - not a third party that has shown time and time again it is opposed to the concept.
Your accusations against Senator Alexander, in relation to the new university, are speculative and, most probably, baseless. "Road to nowhere?" That has nothing to do with the new university. However, the Lakeland region is certainly on a “road to nowhere” so long as USF Tampa dictates policy in Polk County.
(1) The Governor say just last week that ""The question on one side is going to be, is this something that we can afford. Can we afford a 12th university when we know it's difficult" . . .
(2) Alexander's budget commission have threatened USF with a 58% cutback in state funding if he didn't get his way while declaring that "I have lost confidence in USF's leadership on that issue"
(3) Why would Speaker Dean Cannon describe the push for USF Polytechnic’s independence as the embodiment of the parochialism he disdains.
(4) Why would others observe that "(Senator) Alexander is acting like an elementary school bully, trying to use his position to "get even" with President Genshaft. Her opposition to his desire to make USF Polytechnic become its own, independent school, is no reason to decimate USF's budget."
(5) Senator Alexander need to sneak in the university's independence into the budget process at the last minute, while declaring that he, as budget chairman, had no knowledge about what was in the budget about the Heartland Parkway that FDOT has recently "justified" because of the new university expansion
(6) There never have been a typical cost-benefit analysis to demonstrate the need for a new university, while the push to instant independence results in an unaccredited university with no students, no faculty and no benchmarks for academic excellence.
This can go on and on, but the basic picture is raw smelly bully politics that stinks to high heaven, with Senator Alexander's empire building right at the center of it all. Otherwise, if this were to be a good idea, able to stand on its own merits, it could have been carried over to next year and thoughfully resolved without all the many threats (spoken and unspoken) and intimidation that were clearly apparent this past session to anyone that had eyes and ears to see and hear.
The truth of the matter is this: I will receive my degree in the Spring of next year(2013). Afterwards, I was planning on attending USF Poly for a masters degree in IT, which I was very much looking forward to. Now that USF Poly is being disbanded, will these programs remain in place? Will I be able to attend a master program in IT? Will I be forced to attend FPU for this program? How can I? I can not afford to pay for the education out of pocket, so how can I possibly afford it?
However, something else needs to be addressed here and no one seems to be picking it up. Maybe now?
We are cutting all of our universities. Some major cuts as you have read about in the previous issues here. The Governor is considering to allow UF and FSU to raise their tuition above the limit allowed.
Yet with all of this we find $39 million dollars for a pet project that will benefit Senator J.D. Alexander directly. Where is the common sense in that?
We do not need a new university. We need to support and fund the ones we have and we need to make sure that the students in our state receive an affordable, quality education.
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