Rep. Bill Proctor is optimistic that a blue ribbon panel announced Friday will take up many of the higher education proposals that he championed in the recent legislative session.

“I don’t see it doing any harm and I would hope it would do some good,” said Proctor, R-St. Augustine. “The task force is going to look at the same facts we looked at. They don’t change.”

A week after vetoing a wide-ranging higher education bill that in part would have allowed universities to seek unlimited tuition hikes as a means to bolster revenue for science and technology programs, Gov. Rick Scott announced on Friday the formation of a blue ribbon task force on higher education reform.

“The state has a vested interest in ensuring its higher education system produces world-class talent to serve as engaged citizens and meet the demands of Florida’s emerging knowledge-based economy,” Scott stated in a release. “It’s time to assess the progress of prior reform efforts and identify strategies to improve efficiencies and enhance the system’s effectiveness as an economic catalyst.”

Dale A. Brill, president of the Florida Chamber Foundation and a member of Florida State University’s faculty, will head the seven-member committee. Leaders of the Senate, House and Board of Governors will each select two members.

In rejecting the higher tuition bill on May 27, Scott expressed concerns about increasing student debt and called on the state Board of Governors to review each of the state’s universities for further cost savings, while at the same time developing a statewide plan with a clear and distinct mission plan for each university. Scott also announced that he will initiate a further review of higher education options.

On Tuesday, Proctor cautioned members of the Higher Education Coordinating Council to focus on future academic and funding priorities, and look beyond the veto and $300 million in cuts legislators placed in the budget for the coming year.

Leaders from Florida State University and University of Florida had sought to exceed the annual 15 percent maximum on  tuition increases as a means to build up the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) programs and improve their schools' national rankings.

Proctor was charged with heading the Legislature's look into higher education after Scott and House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, called for reforming upper academic programs at the start of the regular session.

State University System Chancellor Frank T. Brogan earlier in the week noted that each school has been directed to outline its long-term goals to the Board of Governors by the June 20 meeting.

“The future of public higher education in Florida has been traveling toward a new frontier of accountability, and the Board of Governors already has produced a three-part framework that will create the most accountable public university system in America,” Brogan stated in a release Friday. “In particular, the board’s Strategic Plan and Annual Accountability Report provides more than 60 system-wide comparative data points at-a-glance. I am confident that these products taken together can provide the strongest possible foundation for this group’s discussion.”

The State University System currently enrolls more than 324,000 students, offering 1,800 degree programs.

Florida Board of Governors Chairman Dean Colson wrote that support for Florida’s public universities is always welcomed.

“During the past two years, the Board of Governors has laid out a comprehensive vision through three significant work products: a new 2025 Strategic Plan, transformed metrics in the Annual Accountability Report, and a three-year work plan template that each university will present annually,” Colson stated in a release. “We look forward to a meaningful dialogue that bolsters a shared vision for the State University System.”

Proctor said the 14 proposals from the Legislature remain valid despite the veto.

Among the proposals were increasing research activity and requiring higher grade-point averages of incoming freshmen.

Proctor said the schools need to take a serious look at themselves as freshmen retention is already below 85 percent at seven of the 11 universities, while more than half are able to graduate one-quarter of their freshmen within four years.  

Florida Polytechnic University in Lakeland comes into existence July 1.

“I think that program can be implanted; if it is implemented it should be reflected in the Board of Governors' budget requests,” Proctor said. “But I don’t see that as a problem, but as something the task force can critique and maybe make better.”

Scott’s task force, which is to have its final recommendation ready by Oct. 31, is to focus on the State University System’s governance model, particularly the interaction between the Board of Governors and the individual universities, according to the release from the governor's office.

Among the charges for the task force members who will not be paid but can be compensated for travel expenses:

• Catalog and consolidate the recommendations of the various efforts addressing Florida’s higher education system, with respect to the State University System.
• Assess strengths and weaknesses of the State University System’s governance model related to its constitutional charge.
• Analyze the ability of state universities to contribute to the State University System's  strategic plan.
• Recommend strategies, such as incentive systems and governance improvements, to encourage cooperation between institutions leading to reduced duplication and improved efficiencies.
• Recommend amendments to statutes and Board of Governors' regulations necessary to improve accountability and transparency on the part of state universities to the Board of Governors, and the Board of Governors to the Legislature and governor;
• Conduct a review and analysis of efforts to achieve national pre-eminence and academic and research excellence by Florida universities, including elements that may be considered for future legislation to advance higher education.

A webpage has been set up for the task force at: www.FLHigherEd.org.

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